Why does retained earnings go on an income statement?

Problem: Retained earnings is a balance sheet account. Therefore, you might not expect it to appear on an income statement. Explanation: A complete set of financial statements includes an income statement, a balance sheet, a statement of cash flows and a statement of retained earnings. But the statement of retained earnings can be very short (sometimes only 3 lines). As a convenience, it is frequently presented at the bottom of the income statement (Net Income + Beginning Retained Earnings - Dividends paid = Ending Retained earnings). One reason the Statement of Retained Earnings may be included on the Income Statement is that while the Income Statement only provides information about an entity's Net Income for one year, the Retained Earnings Statement provides the cumulative Income (that was not paid out in Dividends to stakeholders) since the entity began. * Net Income shows the growth of the business due to Profit for one year. * Retained Earnings show the growth of the business due to Profit since it began.