Cash Dividend

What are Cash Dividends?

As per the cash dividend definition, it is defined as the distribution of money or funds that are paid to the stockholders usually as a part of the accumulated profits or current Earnings of the corporation. Cash dividends are usually paid in the form of cash in opposition to getting paid in the form of a stock dividend or some other value type.

The board of directors is expected to declare the dividends & their issuing while deciding whether or not the dividend payment should change or remain the same. Long-term investors who are looking forward to maximizing the overall gains can consider reinvesting the respective dividends. Most brokers are also known to provide the option of either accepting or reinvesting cash dividends.

Cash Dividends Overview

Cash dividends can be referred to as the common way companies look forward to returning the respective Capital to the shareholders as a type of periodic cash payments –usually done in a quarterly manner. However, some stocks are known to pay the given bonuses on a semiannual, monthly or annual Basis.

While most organizations out there are known to pay dividends regularly, there are special forms of cash dividends that might be distributed to the respective shareholders after specific non-recurring events like borrowing money for one-time, large cash distributions or legal settlements. Each company is known to establish its respective dividend policy while periodically assessing if the dividend cut or the given increase has been warranted. Cash dividends are mostly paid on the per-share basis.

Cash Dividends Timings

The board of directors of the company is known to announce the cash dividend on some declaration date. This entails that the company is expected to pay a specific amount of money for every common share. After the given notification, there is the establishment of a Record Date. It is the date on which an organization determines its respective shareholders on record who might be eligible for receiving the payment.

Additionally, stock exchanges or other forms of appropriate security-based organizations are known to determine the ex-dividend rate. This is typically known to refer to two business days before the given record date. An investor who might have bought some common shares way before the date for ex-dividend might be entitled to the cash dividend that has been announced.

Cash Dividends Accounting

When an organization is known to declare the dividend, it tends to debit the respective retained earnings while crediting the liability account –known as “dividend payable.” On the given date of its payment, the organization tends to reverse the dividend payable with the given debit entry while crediting the cash account for its cash outflow.

Cash dividends are not known to affect the Income statement of the company. Firms are expected to report cash dividends as payments in the respective financial activity part of the respective cash flow statement.