What is an Accumulated Deficit?
The Accumulated Deficit line item arises when a company’s cumulative profits to date have become negative, which most often stems from either sustained accounting losses or dividends.
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How to Calculate Accumulated Deficit
An accumulated deficit occurs when a company has incurred more losses than profits since its inception.
On the balance sheet, a company’s retained earnings line item — the cumulative earnings carried over and not distributed to shareholders as dividends — serves virtually the same purpose as the accumulated deficit.
Hence, the term “accumulated deficit” can be used interchangeably with “retained loss.”
But for purposes of financial reporting, companies with a negative retained earnings balance will often opt to report it as an accumulated deficit.
Accumulated Deficit Formula
The formula for accumulated deficit equals the prior year’s retained earnings plus the current period’s net income, less any dividends paid out to shareholders.
Note that the resulting figure must be negative for the metric to be termed, “Accumulated Deficit”.
Otherwise, the metric would be recorded as “Retained Earnings” on the balance sheet.
How to Interpret Negative Retained Earnings Balance
If a company’s retained earnings balance becomes negative, that could often be a cause for concern. But negative retained earnings should be interpreted as a bad sign only if the cause is mounting accounting losses.
In the worst-case scenario, the company has frequently sustained significant losses (i.e. negative net income), resulting in a negative retained earnings balance.
But one consideration is where the company is currently at in its lifecycle. For instance, growth-oriented startups and early-stage companies reinvesting heavily into themselves to support future growth and scale will incur substantial capital expenditure (CapEx), sales & marketing expenses, and research and development (R&D) expenses.
Other exceptions where negative retained earnings are not necessarily a negative sign include the payout of dividends, which contributes to lower (or even negative) retained earnings.
In the case of dividends, the cause of the negative retained earnings is actually beneficial to shareholders since more capital is distributed to shareholders (i.e. direct cash payments are received).
Accumulated Deficit Example: Tesla (TSLA)
In Tesla’s 2021 10-K, we can see how their balance sheet’s retained earnings line is stated as “Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)”.
Tesla Balance Sheet (Source: TSLA 10-K)
When Tesla’s retained earnings balance was negative in FY-20, it was reported as an accumulated deficit.
Accumulated Deficit Calculator
We’ll now move to a modeling exercise, which you can access by filling out the form below.
Accumulated Deficit Calculation Example
In a financially stable company, if a company with a retained earnings balance of $10 million just generated $6 million in net income and paid $2 million in dividends, the retained earnings for the current period is $14 million.
- Retained Earnings = $10 million + $6 million – $2 million = $14 million
Conversely, suppose a different company with a retained earnings balance of $2 million just incurred a loss of $4 million in net income and paid no dividends.
In that case, the retained loss for the current period is negative $2 million.
- Accumulated Deficit = $2 million – $4 million = – $2 million
If the accumulated deficit keeps on increasing year after year how do we account for that and the business has no loans
Hi, Ncamiso, We would account for it as shown in the article, by subtracting the net loss from accumulated deficit, which would grow each year. This would not be sustainable for a company that was expected to earn income, however, because it would have to cover all of its costs… Read more »