How is the cash flow statement different from the income statement?
Jackson Reed
Updated on January 02, 2026
A cash flow statement sets out a business’s cash flows from its operating activities, its financing activities, and its investment activities. An income statement provides users with a business’s revenues and gains, as well as expenses and losses, over a specific period of time.
What is the difference between cash flow balance sheet and income statement?
A balance sheet is a summary of the financial balances of a company, while a cash flow statement shows how the changes in the balance sheet accounts–and income on the income statement–affect a company’s cash position.
What is the difference between P&L and cash flow?
The key difference between cash flow and profit is that while profit indicates the amount of money left over after all expenses have been paid, cash flow indicates the net flow of cash into and out of a business.
Is revenue included in cash flow statement?
We can see that the cash flow statement shows the debits and credits to the cash position of the company. However, revenue is the money earned from sales and other various income-producing activities. It’s important to note that a company could have a significant amount of cash flow but weak revenue generation.
Is accounts receivable on the income statement?
Accounts receivable is the amount owed to a seller by a customer. This amount appears in the top line of the income statement. The balance in the accounts receivable account is comprised of all unpaid receivables.
How does debt affect the three cash flow statements?
Financing events such as issuing debt affect all three statements in the following way: the interest expense appears on the income statement, the principal amount of debt owed sits on the balance sheet, and the change in the principal amount owed is reflected on the cash from financing section of the cash flow …
Is a P&L a cash flow statement?
Profit and Loss (P&L) statement shows If your business is making money or losing it. Cash Flow statement tracks all the movement of your cash. Although normally associated with bookkeeping and accounting, these statements can help your business a lot.
Does a write off of accounts receivable affect net income?
Collecting accounts receivable that are in a company’s accounting records will not affect the company’s net income. (Generally speaking, net income is revenues minus expenses.) Cash receipts from collecting accounts receivable or from the proceeds of a bank loan are not revenues.
Why is a balance sheet important?
A balance sheet, along with the income and cash flow statement, is an important tool for investors to gain insight into a company and its operations. The purpose of a balance sheet is to give interested parties an idea of the company’s financial position, in addition to displaying what the company owns and owes.
A cash flow statement shows the exact amount of a company’s cash inflows and outflows over a period of time. The income statement is the most common financial statement and shows a company’s revenues and total expenses, including noncash accounting, such as depreciation over a period of time.
Which expense does not represent actual cash flowing out of the firm?
Depreciation expense
Depreciation expense is excluded because it does not represent an actual cash flow; interest expense is excluded because it represents a financing expense. Capital spendingis just money spent on fixed assets less money received from the sale of fixed assets.
What two items do you find in net income that are not in operating cash flow?
Non-cash expenses, such as depreciation, amortization, and share-based compensation, must be included in net income, but those costs do not reduce the amount of cash a company generates in a given period. As a result, these expenses are added back into the cash flow statement.
What goes into a cash flow statement?
The main components of the cash flow statement are cash from operating activities, cash from investing activities, and cash from financing activities. The two methods of calculating cash flow are the direct method and the indirect method.
What are the three major components of a cash flow statement?
Key Takeaways The main components of the cash flow statement are cash from operating activities, cash from investing activities, and cash from financing activities.
Why are revenue and cost figures not representative of cash flows?
Why is it that the revenue and cost figures shown on a standard income statement may not be representative of the actual cash inflows and outflows that occurred during a period? The recognition and matching principles in financial accounting call for revenues, and the costs associated with producing those revenues, to be “booked” when the
Why is interest expense excluded from operating cash flow?
Explain what each is and why it is excluded in operating cash flow. Depreciation is a non-cash deduction that reflects adjustments made in asset book values in accordance with the matching principle in financial accounting. Interest expense is a cash outlay, but it’s a financing cost, not an operating cost.
Why does standard accounting practice focus on historical cost rather than market value?
In preparing a balance sheet, why do you think standard accounting practice focuses on historical cost rather than market value? Historical costs can be objectively and precisely measured, whereas market values can be difficult to estimate, and different analysts would come up with different numbers.
When is an expense a cash outlay or an operating cost?
expense is a cash outlay, but it’s a financing cost, not an operating cost. Under standard accounting rules, it is possible for a company’s liabilities to exceed its assets. When this occurs, the owners’ equity is negative.