“My bank says I have $5000, but my Profit and Loss says I made $10,000… huh?!”
Ever asked this question?
With this post, let’s dive into one of the most mis-understood and under-used reports that you have in your accounting software arsenal: Statement of Cash Flows (aka Cash Flow Statement). This statement will answer the very question may have plagued you for some time now.
In short, this report follows one of the most important things in your business: CASH. It tracks where the cash came from, and where it went. The report breaks up your income and spending into three different categories: Operating, Investing, and Financing activities.
Here’s a brief explanation of each:
- Operating Activities: this is income and expenses from regular revenue and expenses in your business. For example, sale of services/products that you provide, and money spent on supplies.
- Investing Activities: this is money spent on selling and purchasing assets. For example, you buy a new computer and sell an old vehicle that the business owns.
- Financing Activities: this is money that you or an investor infuses into the business, or money taken out by owners. For example, you contribute money into the business to cover expenses, or you take money out of the business to pay your self as an owner/shareholder.
Now, let’s show you what a statement looks like. For this post, we’re using a statement from Xero. QuickBooks will give you one that looks a little bit different, the differences are minor, and it tells you the same thing.
Or, here’s a downloadable version of the same report:
Demo Company (US) – Cash Summary
This report answers the question “where did my cash go?”, and will show you where the cash went. At the very least, this report should help you understand your business activities so that you can make better decisions. If you need further help making sense of this, or maybe your business has a unique situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us.