Record a Dividend Payment

Broadly speaking, you can take dividends whenever you like and for as much as you like, but you must ensure that the total of all dividends in a year do not exceed the company’s accumulated profits (after corporation tax). The treatment in AccountsPortal depends on when you make the payment

1. Payment Date same as Dividend Date

Use the Spend Money (type 'General Payment') transaction to reflect the dividend paid out. Assign the line item of the transaction to the 'Retained Income' account and clearly mark it as a dividend payment in one of the transaction text fields.

2. Payment Date later than Dividend Date

a. Enter a Journal transaction to reflect the dividend declared and payable. The first line item should be a Debit amount assigned to the 'Retained Earnings' account. The second line item should be a Credit amount assigned to the 'Dividend Payable' account.

b. Use the Spend Money (type 'General Payment') transaction to reflect the subsequent payment. Assign the line item of the transaction to the 'Dividend Payable' account.

If you would like to have your Dividends report separately to your 'Retained Earnings', then use the 'Dividends Paid' account instead of the 'Retained Earnings' account in the steps above.