Appropriated Retained Earnings

Start with the "retained earnings" part: Retained earnings refers to the amount of dough your company has made once it has paid out dividends. If retained earnings are appropriated, this means that they are allotted for another use. Or taken. That is, "appropriate" = taken. And not just in Russia.

For example, you may have total retained earnings of $100,000, but your board of directors allots $7,000 of this for property improvement. This would reflect appropriated retained earnings, which you would see as a separate line item on the balance sheet. In other words, these funds are spoken for (just like that darned portion of your paycheck that you swear you should be able to keep without Uncle Sam dipping his fingers into it so deeply).