In: Accounting
1. How does a parent company account for its investments in subsidiaries past the acquisition date (in subsequent years) on its own books ? What are some of the additional documents an accountant will have to prepare in addition to the consolidated balance sheet subsequent to an acquisition?
Meaning : A subsidiary is a company that is controlled by another company that owns 50% or more of its voting stock. The controlling company, also called the parent company, is said to have a controlling interest in the subsidiary. This type of parent-subsidiary relationship typically comes about as the result of acquisitions or heavy investment by a large corporation in another company. Parent companies will need to account for transactions with the subsidiary as well as prepare consolidated financial statements.
Record the parent’s purchase of the subsidiary’s stock. To do this, debit Intercorporate Investment and credit Cash.
Adjust intercorporate stock-holdings. Intercorporate stock holding issues cause an overstatement of the outstanding stock balance by reporting subsidiary stock owned by the parent as outstanding stock. This can be remedied with a debit to the subsidiary's common stock, paid-in capital in excess of par, and retained earnings accounts and a credit to the investment in stock of subsidiary account for an equal amount.