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Why is the cash flow statement more important than income statement?

Author

Andrew Campbell

Updated on December 28, 2025

The statement of cash flows is very important to investors because it shows how much actual cash a company has generated. The income statement, on the other hand, often includes noncash revenues or expenses, which the statement of cash flows excludes.

Why is the statement of cash flows useful?

Why Cash Flow Statement is Important? The cash flow report is important because it informs the reader of the business cash position. It needs cash to pay its expenses, to pay bank loans, to pay taxes and to purchase new assets. A cash flow report determines whether a business has enough cash to do exactly this.

Why is a cash flow statement important how does it provide a link between the income statement and the balance sheet?

Statement of Cash Flows is primarily linked to balance sheet as it explains the effects of change in cash and cash equivalents balance at the beginning and end of the reporting period in terms of the cash flow impact of changes in the components of balance sheet including assets, liabilities and equity reserves.

How does the statement of cash flows explain the reasons for the change in cash between balance sheet dates?

Balance sheet account changes are the basic building blocks for preparing a statement of cash flows. A liability decrease during the period decreases cash flow from profit. An asset decrease during the period increases cash flow from profit. A liability increase during the period increases cash flow from profit.

What is the relationship between the income statement and the balance sheet?

The income statement gives your company a picture of what the business performance has been during a given period, while the balance sheet gives you a snapshot of the company’s assets and liabilities at a specific point in time.

What are the components of 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 elements of cash flow statement?

What are the three main components of 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 is a statement of cash flows a useful financial statement?

A cash flow statement is a valuable measure of strength, profitability, and the long-term future outlook for a company. The CFS can help determine whether a company has enough liquidity or cash to pay its expenses.

How the statement of cash flows can provide useful additional information to the users of financial statements?

Measure liquidity and the capacity to change cash flows in future circumstances. Provide additional information for evaluating changes in assets, liabilities, and equity. Compare between different firms’ operating performance. Predict the amount, timing, and probability of future cash flows.

Why is it necessary to use the income statement the balance sheet and additional information when we prepare a cash flow statement?

You use information from your income statement and your balance sheet to create your cash flow statement. The income statement lets you know how money entered and left your business, while the balance sheet shows how those transactions affect different accounts—like accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable.

What is the most important part of cash flow statement?

Regardless of whether the direct or the indirect method is used, the operating section of the cash flow statement ends with net cash provided (used) by operating activities. This is the most important line item on the cash flow statement.

What should the net change in cash section of the statement of cash flows always reconcile with?

What should the net change in cash section of the statement of cash flows always reconcile with? The net change in the cash section of the statement of cash flows reconciles the statement of cash flows. It is computed by combining the cash provided for or used by operating, investing, and financing activities.

Why does statement of cash flows provide useful information?

Explain why the statement of cash flows provides useful information that goes beyond income statement and balance sheet data. The income statement and balance sheet are based on the accrual method of accounting, which attempts to match revenues and expenses in the period in which they occur.

How is net cash flow calculated on a balance sheet?

Another technique, called the direct method, can also be used to prepare the cash flow statement. In this case, the money received is subtracted from the money spent to calculate net cash flow. The cash flow statement and the income statement are integral parts of a corporate balance sheet.

Why is accrual accounting included in the statement of cash flows?

The statement of cash flows enables users of the financial statements to determine how well a company’s income generates cash and to predict the potential of a company to generate cash in the future. Accrual accounting creates timing differences between income statement accounts and cash.

What are the different types of financial statements?

There are five main financial statements, the cash flow statement, income statement, the balance sheet, the statement of comprehensive income and the statement of changes in shareholder’s equity. Most often, investors tend to focus on just two of the above, the cash flow and the income statement.