In: Accounting
Why does capital budgeting rely on analysis of cash flows rather than on net income? Base your answer on the accounting principles of recognizing and reporting revenue and expenses.
The investment decisions of a firm
are generally known as the capital budgeting, or capital
expenditure decisions. The firm's investment decisions would
generally include expansion, acquisition, modernization and
replacement of the long-term assets. Sale of a division or business
(divestment) is also as an investment decision.
Decisions like the change in the methods of sales distribution, or
an advertisement campaign or research and development programs have
long-term implications for the firm's expenditures and benefits,
and therefore, they should also be evaluated as investment
decisions. Several different procedures are available to analyze
potential business investments.
Cash flow rather than net income is used in capital budgeting analysis because the primary concern is with the amount of actual dollars generated. For example, depreciation is subtracted out in arriving at net income, but this non-cash deduction should be added back in to determine cash flow or actual dollars generated.