Retained Earnings

Statement of Retained Earnings

A statement of retained earnings reconciles the beginning and ending balances of the account , This statement is reported as part of the statement of changes in equity in a separate column. Account registers can be accessed from the Chart of Accounts. Every Balance Sheet account in QuickBooks has a register except for the Retained Earnings account. A couple benefits to using account registers is that you can view your transactions as well as see the cleared status of your transactions. A “C” next to a transaction means the transaction has been marked cleared, but not reconciled. One the other hand, an “R” means the transaction has been reconciled using the Reconcile tool.

Retained Earnings is not:

Increased by net income
Decreased by expenses
Increased by revenues
Decreased by dividends declared
Decreased by gains and losses

Chart of Accounts

Account Chart in Accounting is a must. Usually included on General Ledger or Trial Balance. Chart of Accounts consists of Account Code, Account Name or Account Shortcut being use in General Ledger or Journal Entry. Aside from Account Code and Account Name, Beginning Balance, Debit, Credit and Ending Balance are being listed along with transaction entries. Chart of accounts is a list of the accounts used by an organization. The list can be numerical, alphabetic, or alphanumeric. The structure and headings of accounts should assist in consistent posting of transactions. Each nominal ledger account is unique to allow its ledger to be located. The list is typically arranged in the order of the customary appearance of accounts in the financial statements, profit and loss accounts followed by balance sheet accounts.