Question

A business will construct its financial statements in a particular order because they are interrelated. This means that items formulated in an earlier statement feed into the subsequent statements, and changes to items on one financial statement can have compounding effects on the overall financial position of a company. Which of the following is one reason the statement of owner's equity is prepared after the income statement?
a. Retained earnings are computed on the income statement.
b. Net income is the beginning retained earnings amount.
c. Retained earnings is really an asset.
d. Net income is part of the computation for ending retained earnings.

Answer 1

Answer: d. Net income is part of the computation for ending retained earnings.

Explanation:

In the statement of owner's equity, Retained earnings are calculated and it is done with the Net Income. This is why when the net income is calculated from the Income Statement it is transfered to the SOE and used to calculate Retained Earnings.

Retained Earnings are calculated by the formula,

Ending Retained = Opening Retained Earnings + Net Income (losses) - Dividends

Net income is added to (or subtracted from if it is a Net loss) the Opening Retained earnings balance. Net dividends are also subtracted.