what is shareholders equity in the accounting equation 
shareholders equity is the total value of the company expressed in dollars put another way it is the amount that would remain if the company liquidated all of its assets and paid off all of its debts the remainder is the shareholders equity which would be returned to them the bottom linethe accounting equation is based on the premise that the sum of a company s assets is equal to its total liabilities and shareholders equity as a core concept in modern accounting this provides the basis for keeping a company s books balanced across a given accounting cycle 