9. Cash dividends debited against paid-in capital accounts are called liquidating dividends
because they represent a return of amounts originally invested in the corporation by the
stockholders. (They are a return of, not a return on, capital contributions.)
10. Declaring a stock dividend has no effect on assets, liabilities, or total equity. Also, the
subsequent distribution of the stock dividend has no effect on these items. Instead, the
stock dividend simply increases the number of shares outstanding and results in a
transfer of equity from retained earnings to paid-in capital.
11. A stock dividend results in a distribution of additional shares to stockholders and the
capitalization of retained earnings. A stock split calls in the old shares and replaces
them with a different number of new shares with a new par value. Also, no entry is made
to any of the equity accounts with a stock split. In spite of these technical differences,
there is no practical difference in most cases between a stock split and a large stock
dividend.
12. A treasury stock purchase reduces total assets and total equity by equal amounts.
13. With a simple capital structure, earnings per share is calculated by first subtracting any
declared and cumulative preferred dividends from net income, and then dividing the
difference by the weighted-average number of shares of outstanding common stock.
The resulting figure is called the basic earnings per share.