Meridian Trading — Balance Sheet

Six transactions, one balance sheet

Meridian Trading Inc. issues shares, buys equipment, buys and sells inventory partly on credit, pays an expense, and pays a cash dividend to shareholders. The worked solution builds a full balance sheet from those six events and proves Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Equity with a Difference row that lands on zero.

A cash dividend is a direct distribution of profit to shareholders, not an expense — it reduces Cash and Retained Earnings by the same amount, but never touches Revenue.

Using the calculator

1. Type your own figures into the six yellow Your Inputs cells (shares issued, PP&E, inventory cost and cash paid, % sold with revenue and cash received, expense).
2. The balance sheet below rebuilds live from formulas referencing those inputs — nothing is hardcoded.
3. Confirm Total Assets equals Total Liabilities & Equity at the bottom.