The account of income summary is used for closing-entry recording at the end of an accounting period. This final income summary balance is then transferred to the retained earnings or capital accounts at the end of the period after the income statement is prepared. This income balance is then reported in the owner’s equity section of the balance sheet. The business is said to make profits if the credit portion of the income summary statement is more than the debit side of the income summary statement. Similarly, the business is said to make losses if the debit portion of the income summary statement is more than the credit side of the income summary statement. All temporary accounts of revenue and expenses have to be first transferred into the temporary statement of income and summary account.

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• The contra accounts noted in the preceding table are usually set up as reserve accounts against declines in the usual balance in the accounts with which they are paired.
• Currently, the monthly budgets allows departments to spread their annual budget into 12 different buckets.
• When preparing an income statement, revenues will always come before expenses in the presentation.
• Since the income statement shows financial activity over a given fiscal period, internal management and external users can use this information to compare one fiscal period to the next.
• A net loss would decrease retained earnings so we would do the opposite in this journal entry by debiting Retained Earnings and crediting Income Summary.
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After the accounts are closed, the income summary is then transferred to the capital account of the owner and then closed. So for example there are contra expense accounts such as purchase returns, contra revenue accounts such as sales returns and contra asset accounts such as accumulated depreciation. Each of the accounts in a trial balance extracted from the bookkeeping ledgers will either show a debit or a credit balance. The normal balance of any account is the balance (debit or credit) which you would expect the account have, and is governed by the accounting equation. After these two entries, the revenue and expense accounts have zero balances.

What is the closing entry process?

To update the balance in Retained Earnings, we must transfer net income and dividends/distributions to the account. By closing revenue, expense and dividend/distribution accounts, we get the desired balance in Retained Earnings. If there was a profit in the period, then this entry is a debit to the income summary account and a credit to the retained earnings account.

If you look in the balance sheet columns, we do have the new, up-to-date retained earnings, but it is spread out through two numbers. If you combine these two individual numbers ($4,665 – $100), you will have your updated retained earnings balance of $4,565, as seen on the statement of retained earnings. Unearned revenue had a credit balance of $4,000 in the trial balance column, and a debit adjustment of $600 in the adjustment column.

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Income Summary vs Income Statement

The Printing Plus adjusted trial balance for January 31, 2019, is presented in Figure 5.4. It is important to note all of the differences between the income and balance statements so that a company can know what to look for in each. Permanent account – The most basic difference between the two accounts is that the income statement is a permanent account, reflecting the income and expenses of a company. The income summary, on the other hand, is a temporary account, which is where other temporary accounts like revenues and expenses are compiled. Additionally, it is important to note that the income summary account plays both roles of the debit and the credit at the same time when the company closes the income statement at the end of the period.

Explanation of Income Summary Account

Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as a university accounting instructor, accountant, and consultant for more than 25 years.

Next Steps

In addition, it summarizes all the business functions, especially the operating and non-operating activities. While income summaries can provide significant benefits to companies that use them for accounting purposes, there are also some disadvantages to keep in mind. Many of these come in the form of understanding what each section of the document means and interpreting it.

UCO is currently evaluating including other budget options within the financial statement reports for those units who do not complete monthly budgets. Since the income statement shows financial activity over a given fiscal period, internal management and external users can use this information to compare one fiscal period to the next. In order to truly recognize patterns and trends, users are encouraged to review multiple fiscal years from the Controller’s Office Reporting Tools. The business has earned interest income of $8,000, revenues of $90,000, and miscellaneous income of $7,400.

Debits and Credits Outline

We also have an accompanying spreadsheet which shows you an example of each step. This section outlines requirements and best practices related to Accounting Fundamentals – Normal Balances. While not required, the best practices outlined below allows users to gain a better picture of the entity’s financial health and help identify potential issues on a more frequent basis. This allows organizations to identify errors, mistakes and pitfalls which can be remedied quickly and prevent larger issues in the future. Mary Girsch-Bock is the expert on accounting software and payroll software for The Ascent.

Ending retained earnings information is taken from the statement of retained earnings, and asset, liability, and common stock information is taken from the adjusted trial balance as follows. Corporations will close the income summary account to the retained earnings account. This process resets both the income what is a debenture and how does it work and expense accounts to zero, preparing them for the next accounting period. Closing entries are completed at the end of each accounting period after your adjusted trial balance has been run. LO 5.1Correct any obvious errors in the following
closing entries by providing the four corrected closing entries.