I have a rudimentary understanding of "accounting" principals, that being I don't understand how something like depreciation would or could show up as a positive number on the cashflow statement. I understand the cashflow statement captures both the current operating results and the accompanying changes in the balance sheet. But how depreciation in an asset finds its way to cashflow as some sort of income seems to elude me. Any
Why does the cashflow statement show depreciation and amortization as cashflow positive number?
Answers
It's not income, it's an add-back. The cash flow statement starts with your net income for the period. But the net income includes a reduction for depreciation expense, which is a non-cash expense (you've recognized a cost in the income statement, but you haven't paid out cash for it). Therefore, you need to add that back to the net income to determine your cash flows. Conversely, if you purchase a capital asset (one that gets depreciated), that has to be subtracted in the cash flow statement (as "investing activities"), because you've laid out the cash but it wasn't recognized in net income.
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