Week 8 - The statement of cash flows Flashcards
What is the Statement of Profit or Loss (Income Statement)?
It is a core financial statement that reports a company’s financial performance over an accounting period. It shows all income (revenues, gains) and expenses (costs, losses), leading to the net profit or loss for the period.
What components are included in the Statement of Profit or Loss?
Revenue or Sales
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
Gross Profit
Operating Expenses (e.g., salaries, rent, utilities)
Operating Profit
Finance Costs (e.g., interest)
Tax Expense
Net Profit or Loss
What is the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)?
It is a snapshot of a company’s financial condition at a specific point in time, usually the end of an accounting period. It lists all assets, liabilities, and equity, showing what the company owns and owes.
What is the basic accounting equation shown in the Statement of Financial Position?
Assets = Liabilities + Equity
This reflects that the company’s resources (assets) are funded by debt (liabilities) and owners’ capital (equity).
What are the three main sections of the Statement of Financial Position?
Assets: Current (e.g., cash, inventory) and non-current (e.g., equipment, property)
Liabilities: Current (e.g., accounts payable) and non-current (e.g., long-term loans)
Equity: Share capital, retained earnings, reserves
What is the Statement of Cash Flows?
This statement shows how cash is generated and used during an accounting period. It helps explain changes in cash balances from the beginning to the end of the period.
What are the three main sections of the Statement of Cash Flows?
Operating Activities: Cash from core business operations (e.g., receipts from customers, payments to suppliers)
Investing Activities: Cash from buying/selling assets (e.g., equipment, investments)
Financing Activities: Cash from borrowing or repaying loans, issuing shares, or paying dividends
What is meant by “flow” and “snapshot” in financial statements?
Flow: Shows performance over a period of time (e.g., the Profit or Loss Statement and Cash Flow Statement).
Snapshot: Shows the financial position at a specific point in time (e.g., the Statement of Financial Position).
How does the Statement of Financial Position relate to the Statement of Profit or Loss?
The Statement of Financial Position at the start of Year 1 provides the opening balances.
The Statement of Profit or Loss shows how income and expenses changed these balances during the year.
The resulting end-of-year balances are reflected in the Statement of Financial Position at the end of Year 1.
How does profit affect the Statement of Financial Position?
Net profit increases retained earnings (a component of equity) in the Statement of Financial Position.
A net loss reduces retained earnings.
What is the link between the Cash Flow Statement and the Statement of Financial Position?
The cash/overdraft balance at the start of the year is taken from the opening Statement of Financial Position.
The Statement of Cash Flows explains how that balance changed over the year.
The ending cash/overdraft is shown in both the Cash Flow Statement and the closing Statement of Financial Position.
How are multiple years of financial statements connected?
Year 1’s end-of-year Statement of Financial Position becomes the opening balance for Year 2.
The Profit or Loss and Cash Flow Statements for Year 2 explain the changes leading to the Year 2 closing balances.
Why is it important to understand the linkage between the statements?
It allows users to track how operational results (profit/loss) and cash movements affect the company’s financial health over time.
Helps assess liquidity, profitability, and financial stability.
What is the conceptual challenge with understanding the Statement of Cash Flows?
It requires you to reverse the effects of accruals accounting and focus solely on actual cash movements, not on when revenues or expenses are recognised in the Profit or Loss statement.
What is accruals accounting?
Accruals accounting records income and expenses when they are earned or incurred, not when cash is received or paid. This can cause timing differences between profit and cash flow.
What is revenue recognition under accruals accounting?
Revenue is recorded when goods or services are delivered, even if payment hasn’t been received yet.
For example, a credit sale increases revenue and accounts receivable, but does not involve cash.
What is the matching principle?
Expenses are matched to the revenue they help generate — they’re recorded in the same period as the related income, even if the cash is paid at a different time.
What’s an example of an expense that affects profit but not cash flow?
Depreciation — it reduces profit as a non-cash expense but has no impact on cash flow.
Why can accrual accounting lead to major differences between profit and cash flow?
Because revenue and expenses can be recognised before or after the actual cash moves — leading to situations where a company reports profit but has poor cash flow (or vice versa).
How does the Statement of Cash Flows adjust for accrual accounting?
In the indirect method, the cash flow from operating activities starts with net profit and adjusts for:
Non-cash items (e.g., depreciation)
Changes in working capital (e.g., receivables, payables, inventory)
What is the purpose of the Statement of Cash Flows?
The Statement of Cash Flows explains how a company’s cash and cash equivalents (bank balances, short-term investments, etc.) have changed between two periods — typically from last year’s to this year’s Statement of Financial Position. It shows how cash has been generated and used over the year.
Why is the Statement of Cash Flows important?
It provides key insights into a company’s liquidity and its ability to meet short-term obligations. It helps users of the financial statements understand:
Where cash comes from (operating, investing, financing activities)
How cash is spent (e.g., on operating costs, capital expenditures, debt repayment)
How is the Statement of Cash Flows related to the Statement of Financial Position?
The Statement of Cash Flows shows the change in cash and cash equivalents from one period to the next, which is directly reflected in the Statement of Financial Position at the end of the accounting period.
How does the Statement of Cash Flows fit within the set of financial statements?
It is the third main financial statement, alongside:
The Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
The Statement of Profit or Loss (Income Statement)
Together, these provide a complete picture of the company’s financial health, performance, and cash management.