Cash Flow Statement Preparer

Operating {{ resultsReady ? formatMoney(computation.values.operating_usd) : '—' }} Net change {{ resultsReady ? formatMoney(computation.values.net_change_usd) : '—' }} Needs classification {{ resultsReady ? computation.values.unclassified_count : '—' }}

Entity name:

Replace the sample name before using the statement for review.

Reporting period starts:

First calendar date included in this statement.

Reporting period ends:

Final calendar date included in this statement.

Opening cash and cash equivalents:

$ USD

Verified balance at the start of the period; arithmetic is exact to cents.

Cash movements:

{{ movements.length }} / 200

Positive amounts are receipts; negative amounts are payments. Unclassified rows stay visible but do not enter the reconciliation.

Date	Section	Description	Source ref.	USD amount	Remove

Prepared by:

Optional; an empty value does not alter the statement.

Reviewer note:

Optional; keep transaction-specific evidence in the source records.

The chart renderer is unavailable. The same reconciliation remains available in the statement ledger.

Section	Cash movement	Date / source	USD	Copy
{{ row.section }}	{{ row.description }}	{{ row.source }}	{{ formatMoney(row.amount) }}

Review notes

{{ finding.title }}

Scope: Direct-method preparation aid in USD. It does not decide transaction classification, cash-equivalent policy, or framework-specific disclosures.

Reconciliation: Opening cash plus classified net change equals {{ formatMoney(computation.values.closing_cash_usd) }}.

Prepared by: {{ prepared_by }}

Reviewer note: {{ reviewer_note }}

Verify classifications, completeness, foreign-exchange effects, restricted cash, non-cash transactions, and required disclosures with a qualified accountant before relying on the statement.

Profit and cash answer different questions. A business can report profit while customers have not yet paid, or show a loss while cash rises after taking a loan. A cash flow statement follows actual cash and cash-equivalent movements during a reporting period, making it easier to see where liquidity came from and where it went.

The statement groups movements by their economic purpose. Operating activities come from the main revenue-producing work of the business. Investing activities usually involve acquiring or disposing of long-term assets and investments. Financing activities change borrowings or contributed equity. The classification depends on the transaction and the applicable accounting policy, not merely on whether money entered or left the bank account.

Illustrative cash flow statement classifications
Activity	Typical examples	Common mistake
Operating	Customer receipts, supplier payments, and payroll	Treating every routine bank transfer as operating without checking its purpose.
Investing	Cash purchase or sale of equipment and other long-term assets	Including depreciation, which is a non-cash expense.
Financing	Loan proceeds, debt principal repayment, and owner capital	Confusing loan proceeds with revenue.

The direct method lists major classes of gross cash receipts and payments. That makes bank-backed movements easy to trace, but the ledger still needs source evidence and accounting judgment. Non-cash investing and financing events do not belong in the cash arithmetic even when they require separate financial-statement disclosure.

A basic reconciliation begins with verified opening cash, adds the net classified movement, and arrives at closing cash. If that closing figure does not agree with the cash and cash-equivalent records for the same scope and date, the statement is incomplete, duplicated, misclassified, or based on a different opening balance.

This preparation step is useful for internal review and drafting. It does not replace a general ledger, bank reconciliation, consolidation process, foreign-currency treatment, or the presentation and disclosure requirements that apply to formal financial statements.

How to Use This Tool:

Start from a reporting period and opening cash balance that have already been reconciled to the source records.

Replace the sample Entity name, choose the inclusive start and end dates, and enter opening cash in U.S. dollars to no more than two decimal places.
Add each cash movement with a date, description, unique source reference, section, and non-zero signed amount. Use a positive amount for an inflow and a negative amount for an outflow.
Keep every movement date inside the reporting period. The statement accepts 1 to 200 movements and rejects duplicate source references.
Use Unclassified only as a temporary review state. Resolve every unclassified movement before treating the draft as complete because it is excluded from operating, investing, financing, net change, and closing cash.
Compare calculated closing cash with the independently verified closing balance. Investigate any difference in the source ledger rather than forcing an amount into a section.

Interpreting Results:

Read the three section totals with their signs. A positive operating total means operating cash inflows exceeded operating cash outflows for this ledger; it does not by itself prove profitability, sustainability, or complete accounting coverage. Negative investing cash flow may reflect asset purchases rather than weak performance, while positive financing cash flow may indicate new borrowing rather than operating strength.

The strongest check is reconciliation. Confirm that Closing cash equals the verified external balance for the same entity, period, currency, and definition of cash equivalents. A zero unclassified count is necessary, but it does not prove that the chosen activity categories are correct.

Technical Details:

Amounts are parsed as decimal U.S. dollar values and converted to integer cents, so statement arithmetic is exact to the cent. Rows are ordered by date within each section, with their movement identifier used to break a same-date tie.

Formula Core:

Only movements assigned to operating, investing, or financing activities enter the reconciliation.

\begin{matrix} Operating & = & \sum_{operating rows} Amount \\ NetChange & = & Operating + Investing + Financing \\ ClosingCash & = & OpeningCash + NetChange \end{matrix}

Rule Core:

Cash movement inclusion and validation rules
Rule	Effect
Reporting dates	Start and end must be valid dates from 1900 through 2200; end must be on or after start; every movement date is included only when it falls from start through end.
Movement amount	Non-zero decimal value with at most two places and magnitude no greater than $1 trillion.
Evidence identity	Every movement has a unique internal movement id and a unique case-insensitive source reference.
Unclassified movement	Retained for review and counted in overall inflow or outflow summaries, but excluded from the three statement sections and closing-cash reconciliation.
Method and currency	Direct-method presentation in USD; no currency conversion or indirect-method reconciliation from profit is performed.

Worked Examples:

Quarterly cash reconciliation

Opening cash of $5,000 combines with $3,200 of customer receipts and $1,800 of supplier and payroll payments, giving $1,400 from operating activities. An equipment purchase contributes -$750 from investing, and $1,000 of loan proceeds contributes $1,000 from financing. Net change is $1,650, so closing cash is $6,650. The result is useful only if all four movements belong to the period and $6,650 agrees with the independently reconciled closing balance.

Limitations:

This draft supports arithmetic and evidence review, not accounting or assurance advice.

It does not determine the correct classification for ambiguous interest, dividend, lease, tax, acquisition, or supplier-finance cash flows.
It does not model exchange rates, restricted cash, subsidiaries, intercompany eliminations, or non-cash disclosures.
Applicable IFRS, U.S. GAAP, local law, and entity policy may require presentation or disclosure beyond this direct-method ledger.

References:

IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows overview, IFRS Foundation.