METHODIST UNIVERSITY

MBA PROGRAMME
MBAD 505: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

Introduction

The basic purpose of a statement cash flows is to provide information about the
sources and application of cash and cash equivalents of an entity. Information
about cash receipts and cash payments of an entity during an accounting period
would help creditors and others in assessing:

a) the entity’s ability to generate positive cash flows in future periods.

b) the entity’s ability to meet its obligations and to pay dividends.
c) the reasons for the difference between the accounting net income and the
related net cash flows from operations of an entity for an accounting
period.
d) both the cash and non-cash aspects of an entity’s investment and
financing transactions for the period.

The two key financial objectives of every entity are to operate profitably and
stay liquid and solvent. The income statement is designed to measure the
results of operations of an entity in meeting its profit objective for a given period
of time. The statement of income is based on accrual accounting. Therefore, the
revenues, expenses, gains, and losses reported in the statement of income do
not necessarily represent cash inflows and outflows. In general, five distinct
classes of items cause differences between income flows and cash flows:

a) Items that appear on the statement of income that do not represent cash
inflows and outflow, such as depreciation, amortization expense and
depletion. Such items are referred to as non-cash items.
b) Operating cash flows that do not appear on the statement of income but
appear instead on the statement of financial position as prepayments,
deferrals, unearned revenue, or reductions of accruals.
c) Credit items that have been included in the calculation of operating profit
but do not affect the cash inflows and outflows in the same period.
Examples include credit sales, credit purchases and accrued expenses.
d) Activities that result in changes in size and composition of equity capital
and borrowings of the enterprise. Such activities referred to as financing
activities, usually affect cash but may not be reflected fully in the
statement of income. Examples include the issuing of shares, redemption
of shares, borrowings and repayment of the principal amount borrowed.
e) Activities that result in the acquisition and disposal of long term assets
and other investments not included in cash equivalents. Such activities,
referred to as investing activities, usually affect cash flows but may not be
fully reflected on the statement of income. Examples include the purchase

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 or sale of equity and or debt instruments of other enterprises and the
purchase or sale of items of property, plant and equipment.

The statement of financial position reflects the financial position of an entity at a

particular point in time. To some extent, the statement of financial position may
be able to reflect the liquidity and solvency of an accounting entity. Users of
accounting information, however, require more information to enable them
assess the ability of an entity to meet her obligations as and when they fall due.
This need is best served through the preparation and presentation of a
statement of cash flows.

Unlike the statement of financial position and the statement of income, which
are required by the Companies Act, the statement of cash flows is a requirement
of the International Financial Reporting Standards, International Accounting
Standard No.7 in particular. The statement of cash flows or statement of
sources and application of funds or statement of changes in financial position is
not a legal requirement.

Benefits of cash flow information.

a) A statement of cash flows when used in conjunction with the rest of the
financial statements provides information that enables users to evaluate
the changes in net assets of an enterprise, its financial structure (i.e.
liquidity and solvency) and its ability to affect the amounts and timing of
cash flows in order to adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities.
b) Cash flow information is useful in assessing the ability of the enterprise to
generate cash and cash equivalents and enables users to develop models
to assess and compare the present value of the future cash flows of
different enterprises.
c) A statement of cash flows enables the comparability of the reporting of
results by different enterprises because it eliminates the effects of using
different accounting treatments for the same transactions and events.
d) Cash flow information is also useful in checking the accuracy of past
assessments of future cash flows and in examining the relationship
between profitability and net cash flow and the impact of changing prices.
e) Historical cash flow information is often used as an indicator of the
amount, timing and certainty of cash flows.

Definitions

a) Cash comprises of cash on hand, and demand deposits (including those in

foreign currencies) net of bank overdrafts.
b) Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are
readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which are not subject to
any significant risk of changes in value. They include short-term
securities; investments that have a short maturity of three months or less
from the specified redemption date.

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c) Cash flows are inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents.

Presentation of statements of cash flows.

The statement of cash flows should classify cash flows during the period
between:

a) operating activities,
b) investing activities, and
c) financing activities.

Operating activities.

Cash flows from operating activities are primarily derived from the principle
revenue producing activities of an enterprise. They generally arise from
transactions that involve the determination of net profit. Examples of operating
activities include:

a) cash receipts from the sale of goods and rendering of services;

b) cash receipts from royalties, fees, commissions and other revenues;
c) cash payments to suppliers for goods and services;
d) cash payments to and on behalf of employees;
e) cash receipts and payments of an insurance enterprise for premiums and
claims, annuities and other policy benefits; and
f) cash payments or refunds of income taxes unless they can be specifically
identified with financing and investing activities; and

Where an enterprise holds securities for trade purposes, cash flows arising from
the sale or purchases of such securities are classified as operating activities
since they are similar to inventory acquired specifically for resale.

In the case of financial institutions, cash advances and loans made by them are
classified as operating transactions since they relate to the main revenue
producing activities of that enterprise.

Investing activities.

These are the acquisition and disposal of long term and other investments not
included in cash equivalents. Separable disclosure of cash flows arising from
investing activities is important because the cash flows represent the extent to
which expenditures have been made for resources intended to generate future
income and cash flows. Examples of cash flows arising from investing activities
are:

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 a) cash payments to acquire property, plant and equipment, intangibles and
other long term assets. These payments include those relating to
capitalized development costs and self constructed property, plant and
equipment;
b) cash receipts from sales of property, plant and equipment, intangibles and
other long-term assets;
c) cash payments to acquire equity or debt instruments of other enterprises
and interests in joint ventures (other than payments of those instruments
considered to be cash equivalents and those held for dealing or trading
purposes);
d) cash receipts from sales of equity or debt instruments of other enterprises
and interests in joint ventures (other than receipts for those instruments
considered to be cash equivalents and those held for dealing or trading
purposes);
e) cash advances and loans made to other parties (other than advances and
loans made by a financial institution); and
f) cash receipts from the payment of advances and loans made to other
parties (other than advances and loans for a financial institution).

Financing activities.

These are activities that result in changes in size and composition of the equity
capital and borrowings of the enterprise. Examples of cash flows arising from
financing activities are:

a) cash proceeds from issuing shares or other equity instruments;

b) cash payments to owners to acquire or redeem the enterprise’s shares;
c) cash proceeds from issuing debentures, loans, notes, bonds, mortgages
and other short or long-term borrowings;
d) cash repayments of amounts borrowed; and
e) cash payments by a lessee for the reduction of outstanding liability
relating to a finance lease.

Investing and financing transactions that do not require the use of cash or cash
equivalents should be excluded from a statement of cash flows. Such
transactions should be disclosed else where in the financial statements in a way
that provides all the relevant information about these investing and financing
activities. Examples of such transactions include:

a) the conversion of debt into equity;

b) the acquisition of an entity by means of an equity issue; and
c) the acquisition of assets either by assuming directly related liabilities.

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Format of Presentation:

Enterprises are required to report cash flows from operating activities using
either the

a) direct method, or
b) indirect method.

The direct method:

Under this method information about major classes of gross cash receipts and
gross cash payments are disclosed.

Illustrative format
XYZ CO. LTD.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2008.

Cash flows from operating activities:

Sh. Sh.
Cash receipts from customers XX
Cash paid to suppliers and employees (XX)
Cash generated from operations XX
Income taxes paid (XX)
Net cash from operating activities XX

Cash flows from investing activities:

Interest received XX
Dividends received XX
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities XX
Purchase of marketable securities (XX)
Purchase of plant and equipment (XX)
Proceeds from sale of equipment XX
Net cash from investing activities XX

Cash flows from financing activities

Proceeds from issue of share capital XX

Proceeds from long term borrowing XX
Interest paid (XX)
Dividends paid (XX)
Net cash from financing activities XX
Change in cash and cash equivalents XX

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 Add: Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period XX
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period XX

The indirect method

Illustrative format
XYZ CO. LTD.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2008

Cash flows from operating activities

Sh.
Sh.
Net profit before tax
XX
i. Adjustments for items included in the determination

of net profit but do not involve movement of cash in

the current accounting period:
Depreciation of tangible assets XX
Amortization of intangible assets XX
ii. Adjustment for items included in profit determination
but do not relate to operating activities (in the cash flow sense)
Gain on asset disposal (XX)
Loss on asset disposal XX
Investment income (XX)
Interest expense XX
Operating profit before working capital changes
XX
(Increase) Decrease in receivables (XX)/XX
(Increase) Decrease in inventory (XX)/XX
(Increase) Decrease in prepayments (XX)/XX
(Decrease)Increase in accruals (XX)(XX
(Decrease) Increase in trade payables (XX)/XX
Cash generated from operations
XX
Income taxes paid
(XX)
Net cash from operating activities XX

Cash flows from investing activities

Interest received XX
Dividends received XX
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities XX

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 Purchase of marketable securities (XX)
Purchase of plant and equipment (XX)
Proceeds from sale of equipment XX
Net cash from investing activities
XX

Cash flows financing activities

Proceeds from issue of share capital XX

Proceeds from long-term borrowing XX
Interest paid (XX)
Dividends paid (XX)
Net cash from financing activities
XX
Change in cash and cash equivalents
XX

Add: Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

XX
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
XX

Alternative presentation (indirect method)

As an alternative, in an indirect method cash flow statement, operating profit

before working capital changes is sometimes presented as follows:

XYZ CO. LTD.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2008

Cash flows from operating activities

Sh.
Sh.
Revenues excluding investment income
XX
Operating expenses excluding depreciation
XX
Operating profit before working capital changes
XX

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