Understanding Stockholders' Equity
Understanding Stockholders' Equity
Stockholders' Equity
Stockholders' equity is often referred to as the book value of the company and it comes from
two main sources. The first source is the money originally and subsequently invested in the
company through share offerings. The second source consists of the retained earnings the
company accumulates over time through its operations. In most cases, especially when dealing
with companies that have been in business for many years, retained earnings is the largest
component.
Conceptually, stockholders' equity is useful as a means of judging the funds retained within a
business. If this figure is negative, it may indicate an oncoming bankruptcy for that business,
particularly if there exists a large debt liability as well.
Retained Earnings
Retained earnings are a company's net income from operations and other business activities
retained by the company as additional equity capital. Retained earnings are thus a part of
stockholders' equity. They represent returns on total stockholders' equity reinvested back into
the company. Retained earnings accumulate and grow larger over time. At some point,
accumulated retained earnings may exceed the amount of contributed equity capital and can
eventually grow to be the main source of stockholders' equity.
Treasury Shares
Companies may return a portion of stockholders' equity back to stockholders when unable to
adequately allocate equity capital in ways that produce desired profits. This reverse capital
exchange between a company and its stockholders is known as share buybacks. Shares bought
back by companies become treasury shares, and their peso value is noted in the treasury
stock contra account. Treasury shares continue to count as issued shares, but they are not
considered to be outstanding and are thus not included in dividends or the calculation of
earnings per share (EPS). Treasury shares can always be reissued back to stockholders for
purchase when companies need to raise more capital. If a company doesn't wish to hang on to
the shares for future financing, it can choose to retire the shares.
Existence
A firm records the equity interest of each of its investors on its balance sheet. For publicly
traded companies, these records are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As
a means of gathering evidence, an auditor can gauge the records a public or private firms
keeps of its assets and liabilities -- in addition to the firm's equity interests -- to ensure
complete records of a firm's financial position exist. A firm must disclose all of its shareholder
equity to an auditor.
Rights and Obligations
Managers and shareholders in a firm have certain rights and obligations pertaining to the
firm's equity. An entity, be it an individual or a group investor, is entitled to the equity it
purchased from the firm and is obliged to cover all liabilities it undertook. The company's
management is responsible for asserting this information to the auditor in compliance with
PFRS. Management must also disclose each transaction pertinent to an entity's equity,
including evidence to support that each entity involved met its obligations.
Completeness
In addition to recording and disclosing all of a firm's equity interests, each disclosure made to
an auditor must be factually complete and accurate. All assets, liabilities and equity interests
that management should have recorded must be recorded on the firm's balance sheet. An
auditor should pay attention to the completeness of all records pertaining to cash transactions;
Employees can often overlook or fail to report cash receipts.
Additionally, mistakes lead to errors in equity accounting. Such mistakes might occur if the entity
sells complex equity instruments.
As you think about these risks, consider the control deficiencies that allow equity misstatements.
In light of my risk assessment and substantive procedures, the equity work papers normally
includes:
In Summary
In summary, we’ve reviewed the keys to auditing equity. Those keys include risk assessment
procedures, determining relevant assertions, performing risk assessments, and developing
substantive procedures. The most important issues to address are usually (1) equity accounting
(especially when there are more complex types of equity transactions) and (2) the classification
of equity.
Shareholders’ equity
Shareholders’ equity is the residual interest in the assets of a corporation after deducting all its
liabilities.
Preferred Stock Stock that has special rights and takes priority over common stock
Share System
In the absence of restrictive provisions, each share carries the following rights:
1. To share proportionately in profits and losses.
2. To share proportionately in management (the right to vote for directors).
3. To share proportionately in assets upon liquidation.
4. To share proportionately in any new issues of shares of the same class—called
the preemptive right.
Issuance of Shares
Accounting problems:
1. Par value shares.
2. No-par shares.
3. Shares issued in combination with other securities.
4. Shares issued in non-cash transactions.
5. Costs of issuing shares.
No-Par Shares
Reasons for issuance:
Avoids contingent liability.
Avoids confusion over recording par value versus fair market value.
No-par value shares is one without peso value fixed in the articles of incorporation. However,
a no-par value share has a stated value which is also indicated in the articles of incorporation
but not on a share certificate issued. Par value and no-par value share are distinguished by the
presence or absence of a value per share on the share certificate issued. Under the
Corporation Code, no-par value shares should not be issued for a consideration less than 5
pesos per share. Upon issuance the excess of issued price over the stated value s credited to
share premium.
Pro forma entry upon issuance:
Cash xx
Share capital xx
Share Premium xx
Illustration:
Ozz Corp. issues 1,000 5 par value ordinary shares and 1,000 20 par value preference shares
for a lump sum of 60,000. At the issue date, the ordinary shares were selling for 36 and the
preference shares were selling for 28.
The entry to record the issuance is as follows:
Cash 60,000
Preference Share 20,000
Ordinary Share 5,000
Share Premium – PS 6,250
Share Premium – OS 28,750
Illustration:
On December 1, 2024, Tris Corporation exchanged 20,000 shares of its 10 par value ordinary
shares held in treasury for a used machine. The treasury shares were acquired by Tris at a cost
of 40 per share, and are accounted for under the cost method. On the date of the exchange,
the ordinary shares had a fair value of 55 per share (the shares were originally issued at 30
per share).
Entry:
Machinery 1,100.000
TS 800,000
Shares issued for services or property other than cash should be recognized at:
1. fair value of the goods or services received.
2. If the fair value of the goods or services cannot be measured reliably, use the fair value
of the shares issued.
Since the fair value of property received is not determinable, priority 2 shall be used.
FV of shares (20,000 x 55) = 1,100,00; the difference between FV and cost of TS is
share premium
These expenditures, called share issuance cost, are deducted from any resulting share
premium from the issuance. If share premium is insufficient, the excess is charge to retained
earnings.
Illustration:
On January 1, 20x1, XYZ Co. issued 1,000 shares with par value of 100 for 120 per share.
Share issuance cost amounted to 5,000.
The entries are as follows:
Cash (115 x 1,000) 115,000
Share Capital (1,000 x 100) 100,000
Share Premium ((120-5-100) x 1,000) 15,000
Reacquisition of Shares
Corporations purchase their outstanding shares to:
Provide tax-efficient distributions of excess cash to shareholders.
Increase earnings per share and return on equity.
Provide shares for employee compensation contracts or to meet potential merger
needs.
To reduce the number of shareholders.
Make a market in the shares.
Illustration:
On January 1, 20x1, the statement of financial position of XYZ Co. shows the following
information:
Share capital (100 par) 800,000
Share premium 160,000
Retained earnings 540,000
Total shareholders’ equity 1,500,000
When treasury shares are subsequently reissued at below cost, the excess of cost over the
reissuance price is debited to the following order of priority:
a. Any balance in “share premium – treasury shares” arising from the same class of share
capital.
b. If the balance in “share premium – treasury shares” is insufficient, any excess is debited
to retained earnings.
When shares are reacquired and immediately retired, the excess of cost over the original issued
price shall be charge to:
1. Share premium from treasury stock
2. Retained earnings
MODULE # 9 Post-test
APPLIED AUDITING – REVIEW
AUDIT OF EQUITY
1. The following data were compiled prior to preparing the balance sheet of Angel Corporation as
of December 31, 2025:
REQUIRED:
2. The “shareholders’ equity” account of Joseph Corporation, after its initial year of operation in
2024 shows the following:
QUESTIONS:
Based on the information presented above and the result of your audit, answer the following.
5. The book value per share of Joseph Corporation on December 31, 2024 was
a. 140.00 c. 128.20
b. 132.22 d. 125.29
Transactions during 2025 and other information relating to the stockholders’ equity accounts
were as follows:
On January 26, Jerome reacquired 75,000 shares of its ordinary stock for P11 per share.
On April 4, Jerome sold 45,000 shares of its treasury stock for P14 per share.
On June 1, Jerome declared a cash dividend of P1 per share, payable on July 15, 2025 to
stockholders of record on July 1, 2025.
On August 15, each stockholder was issued one stock right for each share held to purchase
two additional shares of stock for P12 per share. The rights expire on October 31, 2025.
On September 30, 150,000 stock rights were exercised when the market value of the stock
was P12.50 per share.
On November 2, Jerome declared a two for one stock split-up and changed the par value of
the stock from P10 to P5 per share. On November 20, shares were issued for the stock
split.
QUESTIONS:
Based on the above and the result of your audit, determine the following as of December 31,
2025:
1. Ordinary stock
a. 12,600,000 b. 10,800,000 c. 10,050,000 d. 12,300,000
2. Share premium
a. 1,485,000 b. 1,575,000 c. 3,825,000 d. 1,275,000
4. Angel Corporation was authorized at the beginning of 2024 with 300,000 authorized shares of
P100, par value ordinary stock. At December 31, 2024, the stockholders’ equity section of
Angel was as follows:
On June 15, 2025, Angel issued 50,000 shares of its ordinary stock for 6,000,000. A 5% stock
dividend was declared on September 30, 2025 and issued on November 10, 2025 to
stockholders of record on October 31, 2025. Market value of ordinary stock was P110 per
share on declaration date. The net income of Angel for the year ended December 31, 2025 was
475,000.
March 1 Angel reacquired 3,000 shares of its ordinary stock for P95 per share.
May 31 Angel sold 1,500 shares of its treasury stock for P120 per share.
August 10 Issued to stockholders one stock right for each share held to purchase two
additional shares of ordinary stock for P125 per share. The rights expire on
December 31, 2026.
September 15 25,000 stock rights were exercised when the market value of ordinary stock
was P130 per share.
October 31 40,000 stock rights were exercised when the market value of the ordinary
stock was P140 per share.
December 10 Angel declared a cash dividend of P2 per share payable on January 5, 2027
to stockholders of record on December 31, 2026.
December 20 Angel retired 1,000 shares of its treasury stock and reverted them to an
unissued basis. On this date, the market value of the ordinary stock was
P150 per share.
QUESTIONS:
Based on the above and the result of your audit, determine the following as of December 31,
2026:
1. Ordinary stock
a. 21,400,000 b. 21,300,000 c. 14,800,000 d. 21,250,000
2. Share premium
a. 4,627,500 b. 3,007,500 c. 4,632,500
d. 4,592,500
3. Retained earnings
a. 600,000 b. 565,000 c. 557,000 d. 560,000
4. Treasury stock
a. 10,000 b. 47,500 c. 50,000 d. 0
5. In connection with your audit of the Trisha Corporation, you were able to obtain the following
information pertaining to the corporation’s equity accounts.
Trisha Corporation has 32,000 shares of P2 par value ordinary stock authorized. Only 75% of
these shares have been issued, and of the shares issued, only 22,000 are outstanding. On
December 31, 2024, the stockholders’ equity section revealed that the balance in share
premium in Excess of Par Value – ordinary was 832,000, and the Retained Earnings balance
was 220,000. The Treasury stock was purchased at an average price of P37.50 per share.
Jan. 15 Trisha issued, at P55 per share, 1,600 shares of P50 par, 5% cumulative
preference stock; 4,000 shares are authorized
Feb. 01 Trisha sold 3,000 shares of newly issued P2 par value ordinary stock at P42 per
share.
Mar. 15 Trisha declared a cash dividend on ordinary stock of P0.15 per share, payable on
April 30 to all stockholders of record on April 1
Apr. 15 Trisha reacquired 400 shares of its ordinary stock for P43 per share.
Employees exercised 2,000 stock options granted in 2024. When the options were
granted, each option entitled the employees to purchase 1 share of ordinary stock
for P50 per share. The share price on the date of grant was also P50 per share.
Trisha issued new shares to the employees.
31 Trisha sold 300 treasury shares reacquired on April 15 and an additional 400
shares costing 15,000 that had been on hand since the beginning of the year. The
selling price was P57 per share.
Sept.15 The semiannual cash dividend on ordinary stock was declared, amounting to
P0.15 per share. Trisha also declared the yearly dividend on preference stock.
Both are payable on October 15 to stockholders of record on October 1.
QUESTIONS:
Based on the above and the result of your audit, determine the balances of the following as of
December 31, 2025:
1. Preference stock
a. 86,000 b. 80,000 c. 90,000 d. 84,000
2. Ordinary stock
a. 63,320 b. 183,320 c. 23,320 d. 58,000
4. Treasury stock
a. 64,300 b. 92,200 c. 77,200 d. 75,000
6. You were able to gather the following information in connection with your audit of Tricia
Corporation:
On January 1, 2022, Tricia Corporation granted share options to officers and key employees
for the purchase of 30,000, P10 par value, ordinary shares of the company at P25 per
share. The options are exercisable within a 5-year period beginning January 1, 2024 by
grantees still in the employ of the company, and expiring December 31, 2024. The service
period for this award is 2 years. The fair value option pricing model determined total
compensation expense to be 525,000. The share was selling at 35 at the time the options
were granted.
On April 1, 2023, 3,000 options were terminated when the employees resigned from the
company. The market value of ordinary share was P35 per share on this date.
On March 31, 2024, 18,000 option shares were exercised when the market value of ordinary
share was P40 per share.
QUESTIONS:
Based on the above and the result of your audit, determine the following:
3. The exercise of the 18,000 options will result in a credit to Share premium - excess over par
of
a. 585,000 c. 270,000
b. 620,000 d. 450,000
Feb. 1 Key executives exercised 6,750 options outstanding at December 31, 2024.
The market price per share was P44 at this time.
Apr. 1 The company issued bonds of 3,000,000 at par, giving each P1,000 bond a
detachable warrant enabling the holder to purchase two shares of stock at P40
each for a 1-year period. The bonds would sell at P996 per 1,000 bond without
the warrant.
July 1 The company issued rights to stockholders (one right on each share,
exercisable within a 30-day period) permitting holders to acquire one share at
P40 with every 10 rights submitted. All but 9,000 rights were exercised on July
31, and the additional stock was issued.
Oct. 1 All warrants issued in connection with the bonds on April 1 were exercised. 40)
Dec. 1 The market price per share dropped to P33 and options came due. Because
the market price was below the option price, no remaining options were
exercised.
Based on the above and the result of your audit, determine the following as of December 31,
2025:
1. Ordinary stock
a. 1,165,950 b. 1,250,775 c. 1,275,075 d. 1,273,050
3. Retained earnings
a. 870,750 b. 1,095,750 c. 1,287,000 d. 981,225
Faced with prosecution, the treasurer offered to surrender 6,000 Kaila Farms shares owned by
him. The board of directors accepted the offer, with the agreement that the treasurer would pay
any deficiency between the shortage and the book value of the shares, after adjusting for the
fraud. The corporation would in turn pay the excess, if any, of the book value over the shortage.
As of December 31, 2025, there were 40,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding with a par
value of P100; Retained earnings as of January 1, 2024 was 1,600,000 and net income from
2024 operations was 1,400,000.
REQUIRED:
1. What would be the book value per share for purposes of the agreement?
a. 175 b. 206 c. 150 d. None of these
3. Assuming further the company distributes the 6,000 shares as dividend to the remaining
stockholders, what would be the balance of the Retained earnings as of December 31,
2024?
a. 1,950,000 b. 2,100,000 c. 1,764,000 d. None of these
11. Presented below is the stockholder’s equity of the comparative balance sheet of Ozz Co. on
December 31, 2025 and 2024:
The following stockholders’ equity transactions were recorded in 2024 and 2025:
2024
May 1 Sold 4,500 common shares for P24 par value P20
June 30 Sold 350 preferred shares for P124, par value P100
Aug. 1 Issue an 8% stock dividend on common stock. The market
value of the stock was P30 per share.
Sept. 1 Declared cash dividends of 12% on preferred stock
and P3 on common stock
Dec. 31 Net income for the year is 632,400
2025
Jan. 31 Sold 1,100 common shares for P30
May 1 Sold 300 preferred shares for P128
June 1 Issued a 2-for-1 split of common stock. The par value of
common stock was reduced to P10 per share
Sept. 1 Purchased 500 common shares for P18 to be held as treasury stock.
Oct. 1 Declared cash dividends of 12% on preferred stock and P4
per share on outstanding common stock
Nov. 1 Sold 500 shares of treasury stock for P22
12. The capital structure of Jerome Corporation on December 31, 2024 follows:
1. The balance of Preference share at Dec. 31, 2025 statement of financial position is
a. 5,200,000 b. 6,000,000 c. 6,080,000 d. 6,800,000
2. The balance of Ordinary Share at December 31, 2025 statement of financial position is
a. 4,650,000 b. 4,625,000 c. 5,000,000 d. 10,000,000