This affects both net income and the investment balance on the balance sheet. The Treasury Stock account should be viewed under the cost method as contra to all of the stockholders‘ equity rather than any particular equity account. In the event that the proceeds exceed the original cost, the Additional Paid-In Capital account should be credited. If the proceeds are less than the original cost, Additional Paid-In Capital should be debited.

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The Future of Treasury Stock

The cash account will be debited the full $100,000 to account for the full amount received from the sale. When stock is reissued below its original purchase price, the previous paid-in capital account balance is decreased and any additional losses will come from the company profits account or its retained earnings. The most common method of accounting for treasury stock is the cost method. Under the cost method, treasury stock is recorded as a negative number under shareholders‘ equity.

• The cost method is the most widely used and simple method of accounting for the repurchase of stock.
• The cost of treasury stock reacquired is charged to a contra account, in this case a contra equity account that reduces the stockholder equity balance.
• When a company initially issues stock, the equity section of the balance sheet is increased through a credit to the common stock and the additional paid-in capital (APIC) accounts.
• The cash account will be debited the full $100,000 to account for the full amount received from the sale.
• Similarly, the value of the preferred stock is calculated by multiplying the number of preferred shares issued by the par value per share.

The amount of stock issued does not change, since the portion of the stock issued is now treasury stock held by the company, reducing only the amount outstanding by the amount of the treasury share stock. By contrast, under the par value method, share buybacks are recorded by debiting the treasury stock account by the shares’ total par value. If the board elects to retire the shares, the common stock and APIC would be debited, while the treasury stock account would be credited.

Accounting Methods for Treasury Stock

Besides options, other examples of dilutive securities include warrants and restricted stock units (RSUs). Treasury stock method is an accounting approach in which the cost or par value of shares bought back, if any, is deducted from the additional paid-in capital account. These shareholders buy the ownership of the company in form of shares. These shares are initially issued by the company and subsequently traded on the stock market. Any person can buy or sell their shares on the stock market without their transaction having any affect on the company or its activities. Common stock is stock that has been issued by a company and is owned by shareholders.

Here, the cost method neglects the par value of the shares, as well as the amount received from investors when the shares were originally issued. On the cash flow statement, the share repurchase is reflected as a cash outflow (“use” of cash). One common reason behind a share repurchase is for existing shareholders to retain greater control of the company. We can then subtract the 5,000 shares repurchased from the 10,000 new securities created to arrive at 5,000 shares as the net dilution (i.e., the number of new shares post-repurchase). Note that only the securities deemed “in-the-money” are assumed to have been exercised, therefore those “out-of-the-money” are not included in the new share count.

Share Buyback Rationale and Impact on Share Price

Under the cost method, if the company repurchased 5,000 shares at $16 per share, the company would debit treasury stock for $80,000 and credit cash for $80,000. Next, Company X must divide its exercise proceeds of $200,000 by the current market share price of $50, which results in $4,000. The shares repurchased by the company are called treasury stock, hence the name of this method. Repurchasing shares aims to minimize the dilutive effect of in-the-money securities. Treasury stock is stock taken off the market and not yet retired, thereby reducing the number of shares outstanding.

This can occur prior to stocks being issued or after they have been purchased back from investors on the open market. In other words, treasury stock is owned by the issuing company itself either because it bought the shares back or never issued them in the first place. If treasury stock is acquired through a stock buyback, the treasury shares will be classified as issued but not outstanding. Company X wants to account for their in-the-money securities that have not yet been exercised. To do this, Company X must multiply the potential shares issued by the average exercise price to calculate the total proceeds assuming the holder exercises them. To get to its diluted earnings per share (EPS), a company has to factor in the additional shares gained through the treasury stock method.