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How can a company with net profit show a negative cash flow?

Author

Emma Miller

Updated on December 31, 2025

You can make a net profit and have negative cash flow. For example, your bills might be due before a customer pays an invoice. When that happens, you don’t have cash on hand to cover expenses. You can’t reinvest cash into your business when you have negative cash flow.

How do you Analyse a negative cash flow company?

The most effective way to evaluate a negative cash flow situation is to calculate a company’s free cash flow. Free cash flow is the money the company has left after paying for capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses.

How can a company have negative earnings but positive revenue?

It is possible for a company to have positive cash flow while reporting negative net income. If net income is positive, the company is liquid. If a company has positive cash flow, it means the company’s liquid assets are increasing.

What if a company has negative free cash flow?

A company with negative free cash flow indicates an inability to generate enough cash to support the business. Free cash flow tracks the cash a company has left over after meeting its operating expenses.

Can a company be profitable but not liquid?

Yes, a company can be profitable but not liquid because of accrual basis of accounting. In case of accrued income, prepaid expense, credit sales etc , there can be shortage of liquidity.

What major advantage does a company that has a positive free cash flow have over a company that has negative free cash flow?

When free cash flow is positive, it indicates the company is generating more cash than is used to run the company and reinvest to grow the business. A negative free cash flow number indicates the company is not able to generate sufficient cash to support the business.

Should operating cash flow be positive or negative?

Without a positive cash flow from operations a company cannot remain solvent in the long run. A negative operating cash flow would mean the company could not continue to pay its bills without borrowing money (financing activity) or raising additional capital (investment activity).

Why is cash flow most important?

In this example, cash flow is more important because it keeps the business running while still maintaining a profit. Alternately, a business may see increased revenue and cash flow, but there is a substantial amount of debt, so the business does not make a profit.

What major advantage does a company that has positive free cash flow have over a company that has negative free cash flow?

How do you handle negative cash flow?

5 tips to manage negative cash flow

  1. Be mindful of your spending and investing.
  2. Create a cash flow statement and forecast regularly.
  3. Review outgoing expenses regularly.
  4. Reduce expenses.
  5. Create an emergency budget to accommodate unexpected expenses.

Is negative cash flow always a bad sign?

Negative cash flow occurs when a company’s cash outflow over a certain period of time is higher than its cash inflow. Negative cash flow at the end of a month or quarter can be a bad sign, but it is not necessarily a sign of financial weakness.

What does negative cash flow statement mean?

What Is a Cash Flow Statement? A cash flow statement is a financial statement that provides aggregate data regarding all cash inflows a company receives from its ongoing operations and external investment sources. It also includes all cash outflows that pay for business activities and investments during a given period.

What are two ways to reverse a negative cash flow?

To recover from negative cash flow, try the following tips.

  • Look at your financial statements. If you want to fix a problem, you need to get to the root of the issue.
  • Modify payment terms. Negative cash flow can be due to customers not paying you.
  • Cut expenses.
  • Increase sales.
  • Work with vendors, lenders, and investors.

How can a company have a profit but not have cash?

In its first month, the company had a profit of $8,000 (revenues of $10,000 minus $2,000 of expenses), but its cash decreased by $1,100 (cash receipts of $0 with cash payments of $1,100).

How does a manager use a variance analysis?

A manager needs to be cognizant of his or her organization’s goals when making decisions based on variance analysis. Management can use standard costs to prepare the budget for the upcoming period, using the past information to possibly make changes to production elements.

Which is an example of a recognizable cost variance?

A recognizable cost variance could be an increase in repair costs as a percentage of sales on an increasing basis. This variance could indicate that equipment is not operating efficiently and is increasing overall cost.