Accumulated deficit
In accounting, accumulated deficit means retained earnings below zero — cumulative losses exceeding cumulative earnings, presented as a negative within equity, as at almost every venture-funded startup.
- Layer
- Lexicon
- Defined in
- Lexicon
- Nearby
- 4
Authority
This definition follows ASC 505.
Every citation in this system, with the text we read and the date we checked it, is in US GAAP and where these rules come from.
For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
- Balance sheet explained for startupsAssets equal liabilities plus equity. What each startup line means, from deferred revenue to the SAFE and the accumulated deficit, and why it must balance.
- How to read an income statement (P&L)Revenue, cost of revenue, gross margin, operating expenses and net income, read line by line, on accrual basis, with the mistakes founders make most.
- Chart of accounts for startups: a starting templateA starting chart of accounts for a US startup: number ranges, the expense accounts you need, and when to add an account versus a class or tracking tag.
What it is not called
Each of these is a real word for a different thing. Using it here is what makes a product read as though it was built by someone who has not done the work.
- negative equity (equity can stay positive after paid-in capital)
Nearby in the catalog
No component names this concept outright. These are the ones in its part of the system, which is a weaker claim — but a component nothing links to is a component nobody finds.
Terms this one depends on
Also in Equity & financing
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two cannot disagree.