Cash Flow Analysis (Examples) | Step by Step Guide 01/12/2021, 11:21 AM

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Cash Flow Analysis

Article by Reviewed by
Sayantan Mukhopadhyay Dheeraj Vaidya, CFA, FRM

What is a Cash Flow Analysis?

The cash flow Analysis refers to the examination or analysis of the
different inflows of the cash to the company and the outflow of the
cash from the company during the period under consideration from the
different activities which include operating activities, investing
activities and financing activities.

IronMount Corp and BronzeMetal Corp (both hypothetical companies) had

identical cash positions at the beginning and end of 2007. Each company
also reported a net income of $225,000 for 2007. Which company is
displaying elements of cash flow stress? What factors cause you to reach
this conclusion?

Let’s say Company ABC has just started a business and earned revenue of
$100 this year. And as per the record, their expenses are the $60. Now in
general terms, you would say Company ABC has made a = $(100 – 60) =
$40 profit. However, in the case of Company ABC, it’s seen that they have a
revenue of $100 this year, but they have collected the only $80 this year and
the remaining they will collect in the next year. In the case of expenses, they
have only paid the US $50 this year and the remaining in the next year. So if

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we calculate the net cash inflow this year, it would be $(80 – 50) = $30.

So, even if Company ABC has made a profit of $40 this year, its net cash
inflow is $30.

In Cash Flow Analysis, we will not only include the cash related to operations,
but rather we will also include expenses and incomes from investing and
financing activities.

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Step by Step Cash Flow Statements Analysis

Cash Flow Analysis is divided into three parts – Cash flow from Operations,
Cash flow from Investments, and Cash flow from financing. We discuss each
of these one by one.

#1 – Cash flow from Operations

Cash flow from the operation means taking into account cash inflows
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generated from the normal business operations and its corresponding cash
outflows.

There are two ways to calculate cash flow from operations – 1) Direct method
and 2) Indirect method.

The indirect method is used in most of the cases.

Here we will look at only the indirect method for computing cash flow from
Operations.

Computation of Cash Flow from Operations:

Before you start thinking about cash flow statement analysis, have a
look at the income statement first. Now start with net income.

You need to add back non-cash expenses like depreciation,

amortization, etc. The reason behind adding back non-cash expenses
is they are not actually expensed in cash (but in the record).

This is the same with any sort of sale of assets. If there is any loss on the
sale of assets, we need to add back, and if there is any gain on sale of
assets, we need to deduct.

And then we need to take into account any changes in

non-current assets.

Finally, we need to include changes in current assets and current

liabilities (in current liabilities, we shouldn’t include dividend payable &
notes payable.

Learn Cash Flow from Operations in detail – Cash Flow from Operations

Colgate’s Cash Flow from Operation Example

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source: Colgate SEC Filings

Even though Colgate’s Net Income of 2015 is $1,548 million, its cash
flow from Operation seems to be in line with the past.

If you look closely at the 2015 Cash Flow from operations, there is a
charge for Venezuela accounting change that has contributed $1,084
million in 2015. This was absent in 2013 and 2014. If you remove this
charge, Colgate’s Cash Flow From Operations will not look too exciting.

#2 – Cash Flow from Investment Activities

Other than operations, the company also invests in assets that can provide
them with greater returns. We need to find out how many cashless (loss or
gain) activities are done during the period so that we can take them into
account while ascertaining the net cash inflow. Cash Inflow from investing
activities would include activities like purchasing long-term assets or
securities or selling them (except cash) and also providing and taking loans.

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Though there is nothing much to be talked about here, there are two things to

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First, we need to add back losses (if any) while selling any long term
assets or marketable securities. These losses should be added back
as there is no cash outflow for the losses.

Second, we need to deduct profits (if any) while selling any long term
assets or marketable securities. These profits should be deducted
because there is no cash inflow for the profits the company has made.

Learn Cash Flow from Investments in detail – Cash flow from Investments

Colgate’s Cash Flow from Investment Example

source: Colgate SEC Filings

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Colgate’s Cash Flow Analysis from Investing Activities was at -685

million in 2015 and -859 million in 2014.

Colgate’s core capital outlay was -691 million in 2015 as compared to

-757 million in 2014.

In 2015, Colgate got proceeds of $599 million from the sale of

marketable securities and investments.

Additionally, Colgate received $221 million from proceeds from the sale
of South Pacific laundry detergent business. !

#3 – Cash Flow from Financing Activities

First, if there is any buying back or issuing stocks, it will come under
financing activities in cash flow analysis.

Borrowing and repaying loans on a short term or long term issuing notes
and bonds, etc.) will also be included under financing activities.

We also need to include dividend paid (if any). However, we need to

make sure that we don’t include accounts payable or accrued liabilities
(because they would be taken into account in net cash flow from
operating activities).

Colgate’s Cash Flow from Financing Example

source: Colgate SEC Filings

Colgate’s Financing activities have been pretty stable for the years

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2015, 2014 and 2013.

Colgate’s principal repayment on debt was -9,181 million in 2015, and its
issuances stood at $9,602 million.

Colgate has a stable dividend policy. They paid -1,493 million in 2015
and -1446 million in 2014.

As a part of its share buyback program, Colgate buys back shares at

regular intervals. In 2015, Colgate purchased $1551 million worth of
shares.

Learn Cash Flow from Financing Activities in detail –

Cash Flow from Financing Activities

Cash Flow Analysis Example – IronMount vs.

BronzeMetal
Let go back to the earlier cash flow analysis example that we started with –
IronMount Corp and BronzeMetal Corp had identical cash positions at the
beginning and end of 2007. Each company also reported a net income of
$225,000 for 2007.

Perform its Cash Flow Analysis.

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IronMount and Bronze Metal, both companies have the same end of the year
cash of $365,900. Additionally, changes in cash during the year are the
same at $315,900. Which company is displaying elements of cash flow
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stress?

We note that Cash Flow from Operations is negative for IronMount at

-21,450. Gain on sale of equipment is deducted as this is not an
operating cash flow. IronMount sale of equipment adds 307,350, which
contributes to the increase in the cash.

On the other hand, when we look at BronzeMetal, we note that its cash
flow from operations is strong at $374,250 and seems to be doing great
in its business. They are not relying on the one-time sale of equipment
to generate cash flows.

With this, we conclude that IronMount is showing signs of stress due to

low core operating income and its reliance on other one-time items to
generate cash.

Cash Flow Analysis Example – Alphabet

(Google)

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source: ycharts

Cash Flow From Operations – Google’s Cash Flow from Operations

are generated from advertising revenues by Google properties and
Google Network Members’ properties. Additionally, Google generates
cash through sales of apps, in-app purchases and digital content,
hardware products, licensing arrangements, and service fees received
for Google Cloud offerings. Google’s Cash flow from operation shows an
increasing trend primarily due to an increase in Net Income. Google’s
Net Income was $14.14 billion in 2014, $16.35 billion in 2015, and
$19.48 billion in 2016.

Cash Flow From Investing Activities – Google’s investing activities

primarily include the purchases of marketable securities, cash collateral
paid related to securities lending, and spends related to acquisitions.

Cash Flow from Financing Activities – Cash Flow from Financing is

driven by proceeds from the issuance of debt, debt repayments,
repurchases of capital stock, and net payments related to
stock-based award activities. Google’s Cash Flows from Financing
activities are decreasing each year due to the increase in shares
repurchased. In 2016, Google repurchased shares worth $3.304 billion
as compared to $2.422 billion in 2015.

Cash Flow Analysis Example – Amazon

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source: ycharts

Cash Flow from Operations – Amazon’s Cash Flow from Operations is

derived from the cash received from consumer, seller, developer,
enterprise, and content creator customers, advertising agreements, and
co-branded credit card agreements. We note that Cash Flow from
Operations has been increasing steadily. This is primarily due to the
increase in net income. Amazon’s Net Income was -$241 million in 2014,
$596 million in 2015, and $2,371 million in 2016.

Cash Flow from Investing – Cash Flow from Investment for Amazon
comes from cash capital expenditures, including leasehold
improvements, internal-use software and website development costs,
cash outlays for acquisitions, investments in other companies and
intellectual property rights, and purchases, sales, and maturities of
marketable securities. Cash Flow from Investing was -$9.9 billion in
2016 as compared to -6.5 billion in 2015.

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Cash Flow from Financing Activities – Amazon’s Cash Flow from

Financing activities comes from cash outflows resulting from the
Principal repayment of long-term debt and obligations related to capital
and financial leases. Amazon’s cash flow from Financing Activities was -
$2.91 billion in 2016 and -$3.76 billion in 2015.

Cash Flow Analysis Example – Box Inc

source: ycharts

Cash Flow from Operations – Box generates in Cash Flow from

operations by providing its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud content
management platform to organizations to manage their content along
with secure and easy access and sharing of this content. Unlike the
other two examples of Amazon and Google, Box Cash Flow from
Operations and weak due to continued losses over the years. Box CFO
was -$1.21 million in 2016 as compared to -$66.32 million in 2015.

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Cash Flow from Investing Activities – Box Cash Flow from Investing
activities was at -$7.57 million in 2016 as compared to -$80.86 million
in 2015. This was primarily due to reduced capex in the core business.

Cash flow from Financing Activities – Box Cash Flow from Financing
Activities have shown a variable trend. In 2015,
Box came up with its IPO, and therefore its Cash Flow from Financing
increased to $345.45 million in 2015. Prior to its IPO, Box was financed
by Private Equity Investors.

Limitations
Even if cash flow analysis is one of the best tools for investors to find out
whether a company is doing well or not, cash flow analysis also has a few
disadvantages. We will have a look at them one by one.

One of the most significant things about cash flow analysis is that it
doesn’t take into account any growth in the cash flow statement. The
cash flow statement always shows what happened in the past. But past
information may not be able to portray the right information about a
company for investors who are interested in investing in the company.
For example, if the company has invested a large amount of cash into
R&D and would generate a huge amount of cash through its ground-
breaking idea, these should come in the cash flow statement (but they
don’t get included in the cash flow).

Another disadvantage of the cash flow statement is this – it can’t be

easily interpreted. If you ask any investor to interpret the
cash flow statement, he wouldn’t be able to understand much without
the help of the income statement, and the other information about
transactions occurred throughout the period. For example, it’s difficult to

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understand from a cash flow statement whether a company is paying off

its debt or investing more in assets.

Cash Flow Statement is inappropriate if you want to understand the

profitability of the firm because, in the cash flow statement, non-cash
items are not taken into account. Thus, all the profits are deducted, and
all the losses are added back to get the actual cash inflow or outflow.

Cash Flow Statement is articulated on the basis of the cash basis of

accounting, and it completely ignores the accrual concept of
accounting.

Summary

Line Item Comments

Cash flow from operating activities

From the Net Income line on the income

Net Income
statement

Adjustments for

From the corresponding line item in the

Depreciation & Amortization
Income Statement

From the change in the

Provision for losses on
allowance for doubtful accounts in the
accounts receivables
period

From gain/loss accounts in the Income

Gains / Loss on sale of a facility
Statement

Change in trade receivables during the

Increase/Decrease in trade receivables
period from the balance sheet

Increase/Decrease in inventories Change in inventory during

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the period from the balance sheet

Change in trade payable during the period

Increase/Decrease in trade payables
from the balance sheet

Summary of preceding items in the

Cash generated from Operations
Section

Cash Flow from Investing Activities

Itemized in the fixed asset accounts

Purchase of Fixed Assets
during the period

Itemized in the fixed asset accounts during

Proceeds from the sale of Fixed Assets
the period

Summary of preceding items in the

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities
Section

Cash Flow from Financing Activities

Net Increase in Common Stock &

Proceed from the issuance of common
additional paid-in Capital accounts
stock
during the period

Proceeds from Itemized in the Long Term Debt accounts

issuance of Long Term Debt during the period

Itemized in the Retained Earnings

Dividends Paid
accounts during the period

Summary of preceding items in the

Net Cash Used in Financing Activities
Section

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Net Change in Cash & Cash Equivalents Summary of All the Preceding Subtotals

Conclusion
If you want to understand a company and its financial affairs, you need to
look at all three statements and all the ratios. Only cash flow analysis would
not be able to give you the right picture of a company. Look for net cash
inflow, but also make sure that you have checked how profitable the
company is over the years.

Also, cash flow analysis is not an easy thing to calculate. If you want to
calculate cash flow analysis, you need to understand more than the basic
level of finance. And you also need to understand financial terms, how they
are captured in the statements, and how they reflect the income statement.
Thus, if you want to do a cash flow analysis, first know how to see the income
statement and understand what to include and what to exclude in the cash
flow statement.

Cash Flow Analysis Video

Cash &ow Analysis - Overview, Examples, What is Cash Flow Statement …

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Comments

1. Aziz Ur Rahman says

Thank you for such professionally excellent analysis of cash flow

Dheeraj Vaidya says

thanks Aziz!

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