Needed a Document for Cash flow statment? Related: Cash Flow Stateme...
Three document cornerstones of any business are the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. Of the three, the statement of cash flows may be the most important because it's the one document that tells you whether you're going to have the money you need to run your business. It describes the flow of funds (which is your working capital) in and out of your business in the given accounting period and shows you where the business is trending—what's working well and where improvements are needed.
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, as well as all cash outflows that pay for business activities and investments during a given period.
The cash flow statement is focused on cash accounting, whereas there are two forms of accounting, accrual and cash. Most public companies use accrual accounting, which means the income statement is not the same as the company's cash position.
For example, a company may sell product and extend its customers credit. It still recognizes that sale as revenue, but the company may not receive cash until a later date. The company is earning a profit on the income statement and will pay income taxes on it, but the business may bring in more or less cash than the sales or income figures. Even profitable companies can fail to adequately manage cash flow, which is why the cash flow statement is a critical tool for companies, analysts and investors. The cash flow statement is broken down into three different business activities: operations, investing and financing.