Friday, 2 December 2011

Calculating a Missing Amount within Owner’s Equity

The income statement for the calendar year 2010 will explain a portion of the change in the owner’s equity between the balance sheets of December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010. The other items that account for the change in owner’s equity are the owner’s investments into the sole proprietorship and the owner’s draws (or withdrawals). A recap of these changes is the statement of changes in owner’s equity. Here is a statement of changes in owner’s equity for the year 2010 assuming that the Accounting Software Co. had only the eight transactions that we covered earlier.

Accounting Software Co.
Statement of Changes in Owner’s Equity
For the Year Ended December 31, 2010
Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2009$0
Add: Owner’s Investment10,000
        Net Income180
               Subtotal10,180
Deduct: Owner’s Draws100
Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2010$10,080


Example of Calculating a Missing Amount
The format of the statement of changes in owner’s equity can be used to determine one of these components if it is unknown. For example, if the net income for the year 2010 is unknown, but you know the amount of the draws and the beginning and ending balances of owner’s equity, you can calculate the net income. (This might be necessary if a company does not have complete records of its revenues and expenses.) Let’s demonstrate this by using the following amounts.

Assets as of December 31, 2009$100,000
Liabilities as of December 31, 200940,000
Assets as of December 31, 2010128,000
Liabilities as of December 31, 201034,000
Owner investment in business in 201010,000
Owner draws in 201040,000



Step 1.
The owner’s equity at December 31, 2009 can be computed using the accounting equation:

Assets=Liabilities + Owner’s Equity
$100,000=$40,000 + Owner’s Equity
$100,000–$40,000=Owner’s Equity
$60,000=Owner’s Equity at Dec. 31, 2009



Step 2.
The owner’s equity at December 31, 2010 can be computed as well:

Assets=Liabilities + Owner’s Equity
$128,000=$34,000 + Owner’s Equity
$128,000–$34,000=Owner’s Equity
$94,000=Owner’s Equity at Dec. 31, 2010



Step 3.
Insert into the statement of changes in owner’s equity the information that was given and the amounts calculated in Step 1 and Step 2:

Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2009$60,000(Step 1)
Add: Owner’s Investment+10,000(given)
        Net Income+?
Subtotal?
Deduct: Owner’s Draws40,000(given)
Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2010$94,000(Step 2)



Step 4.
The “Subtotal” can be calculated by adding the last two numbers on the statement: $94,000 + $40,000 = $134,000. After this calculation we have:

Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2009$ 60,000(Step 1)
Add: Owner’s Investment+ 10,000(given)
        Net Income+?
Subtotal134,000(Step 4)
Deduct: Owner’s Draws 40,000(given)
Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2010$ 94,000(Step 2)



Step 5.
Starting at the top of the statement we know that the owner’s equity before the start of 2010 was $60,000 and in 2010 the owner invested an additional $10,000. As a result we have $70,000 before considering the amount of Net Income. We also know that after the amount of Net Income is added, the Subtotal has to be $134,000 (the Subtotal calculated in Step 4). The Net Income is the difference between $70,000 and $134,000. Net income must have been $64,000.



Step 6.
Insert the previously missing amount (in this case it is the $64,000 of net income) into the statement of changes in owner’s equity and recheck the math:

Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2009$ 60,000(Step 1)
Add: Owner’s Investment+ 10,000(given)
        Net Income+ 64,000(Step 5)
Subtotal134,000(Step 4)
Deduct: Owner’s Draws 40,000(given)
Owner’s Equity at December 31, 2010$ 94,000(Step 2)


Since the statement is mathematically correct, we are confident that the net income was $64,000.

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