A cash flow statement is a financial reporting document displaying the cash outflows and inflows of a company on a monthly or quarterly basis. This report reflects the effects of changes to the balance sheet and income accounts on the cash position as well as analyzing the operating, investing and other financial aspects of the company. When analyzed, the cash flow statement helps assess the short term capability and practicality of the company as to whether it will be able to fulfill its obligations to pay its bills or not.

Those who may be interested in studying the cash flow statement include:

-The accounting department

-Creditors and other lenders who need to assess the repayment capability of the company

-Investors who will judge whether the company is economically sound and viable

-Contractors and would-be employees who need to know whether the company will be able to fulfill its financial obligations

Companies that have limited fluid assets and which are just beginning operations are most in need of cash flow statements because they may be vulnerable and may experience cash shortfalls in spite of having healthy Accounts Receivables balances.

It is important to design a good cash flow statement that will translate the accrual basis of preparing an income statement as well as the balance sheet back into cash basis. The importance of this method is underscored when considering the fact that cash basis statements help in analyzing the actual amounts of cash flowing in and out of the business. Though the accrual basis may accurately reflect the company revenue and expenses the cash flow statement will additionally map out what happens when changes to the balance sheet are made. There are four different kinds of cash flow statements:

-Net cash flow statements that reflect operating activities. The generation of cash inflows and outflows that reflect the daily operating behavior of the business and includes cash received from customers, cash paid to suppliers and employees, and operating expenses, interests as well as taxes, and cash income received from dividend payouts.

-Net cash flow statements pertaining to investing activities. Mainly reflects the sale or purchase of equipment.

-Net cash flow from financing actions. Inclusive of common stock, short or long term loans changes as well as paid out dividends.

-Net changes in cash as well as marketable securities. To check whether the calculated amounts of increases or decreases in cash and marketable securities as arrived at from the above three points are in tune with those reflected in the balance sheet to help ascertain if the calculations were correctly made.

Though there are a number of different people interested in viewing the cash flow statement, each wanting their own perspective of the business, this financial statement is most important to management, lenders, tax officials and investors. The importance of this report is that it reveals the entire picture about the business and this is very helpful as it will reveal whether the business has enough cash or not to meet its obligations.

With cheap cash flow statement documents being available for as low as US$10 it is indeed a bargain to purchase one and use it for one’s business instead of going through the hassles of preparing one from scratch. These prepared documents usually take into account the various needs of different businesses and can also be tailor-made to suit individual needs.



Thanks to Wade Anderson for contributing this article to our Factoring blog:

Cash Flow Funding

Cash flow is a term usually used to define a revenue of expense stream that changes an account over time, or the general amount of cash received and used by a company during a specific period. Cash flows are essential to solvency and can be a record of past events or events expected to happen in the future. It is essential to an entity’s survival as it determines whether or not there is sufficient cash to pay off creditors. Cash flow is not the same as taxable income as many things can be subtracted from cash flow such as loan income, depreciation, and amortization deductions and things can be added to it such as retired loans and long-term assets.

Cash flow is a generic term used to describe different ideas depending on the context. In accounting, for example, there is the statement of cash flows which is used to determine a company’s ability to invest further cash into creating a profit. This statement is different from an income statement as it is only concerned with actual cash on hand and not cash owed. Cash flow is derived from three major sources: operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. Operating activities include cash used during the regular course of business. Investment activities include cash used or earned from investments or acquisitions. Financing activities involves cash used or earned from financing, Loans, stock, or dividends.

The Cash flow statement is one of the four main statements a company produces for accounting purposes. There are many reasons for measuring cash flow such as: to evaluate the state a business is in, to determine if there are any liquidity problems, to project a rate of returns, and to measure the income or growth of a business.

Cash flow matching is when a company or person matches their cash inflows to their cash outflows. It is an effective but impractical method of doing away with interest rate risk. If an investment has a positive cash flow its market value will increase or decrease inversely with the spot interest rate of maturity. An investment is matched when every cash outflow is equal to every cash inflow on the same date and vice versa.

Whenever cash flow is mentioned in the media, what is being referred to is often operating cash flow and this can cause a misleading view of the figures as investment activities and financing activities aren’t’ accounted for. Businesses can often reclassify financial and investment activities as operating activities in order to provide a more positive outlook of their figures. This can be done by: selling receivable for cash, not paying vendors for a couple weeks after period end, buying leased equipment, etc.

As you can see, cash flow is a complex subject and the term cash flow covers many different subjects. The term’s meaning is relative depending on the specific context surrounding it when it’s brought up. Its general meaning regardless of subject concerns on hand cash paid and earned during a specific period.



Thanks to Usha Pradhan for contributing this article to our Factoring blog:

Non Recourse Factoring