Cash Flow Statement Template with a Worked Example
Prepare a simplified historical cash-flow statement using the indirect method. Start with net income, adjust for noncash charges and operating working-capital movements, then add investing and financing cash flows. Keep noncash transactions separate and tie the result to reconciled cash.
Inspect the worked example
What you download
- Instructions
- Indirect-method policy, sign rules, source requirements and limitations.
- Blank Statement / Sources / Noncash
- Statement inputs and formulas, 100 source-evidence rows and 100 separate noncash-disclosure rows.
- Example Statement / Sources / Noncash
- Fictional Maple Studio historical month with depreciation, working-capital changes and noncash equipment financing.
Scope: Simplified educational indirect statement. Not a forecast, a professional review claim or a complete statutory-reporting package.
Follow the numbers
Fictional educational example. Not customer records or professional accounting advice.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net income | $2,400 |
| Depreciation add-back | +$600 |
| Receivables / inventory / payables adjustments | -$1,000 / -$300 / +$400 |
| Operating cash flow | $2,100 |
| Investing cash flow | -$1,800 |
| Financing cash flow | +$1,500 |
| Beginning cash → ending cash | $5,000 → $6,800 |
| Cash tie difference | $0 |
Use it with your records
Set the historical reporting period
Use one entity and currency, a closed income statement, comparative balance sheets and reconciled beginning and ending cash. This workbook explicitly uses the indirect method.
Bridge profit to operating cash
Enter net income and noncash adjustments. Enter changes as ending balance minus beginning balance: increases in receivables, inventory and prepayments are subtracted, while increases in operating payables are added. Exclude financing and noncash changes from these operating movements.
Enter investing and financing cash
Enter actual cash receipts as positive and cash payments as negative. Use fixed-asset and debt roll-forwards to separate paid purchases and loan receipts from noncash acquisitions.
Disclose noncash activity separately
The example equipment acquired with $3,000 of direct financing affects equipment and debt but never the cash totals. Depreciation of $600 is added back once because it reduced net income without consuming current cash.
Tie cash and review the evidence
Beginning cash plus the net movement must equal the independently reconciled ending cash. Link every input to Sources, record preparation and review details and investigate any unexplained difference.
Worked indirect-method calculation
Maple Studio starts with net income of $2,400, adds $600 depreciation, subtracts a $1,000 receivables increase and a $300 inventory increase, and adds a $400 operating-payables increase. Operating cash is $2,100. Cash equipment purchases are $1,800. A $2,000 cash loan receipt less $500 principal repayment gives $1,500 financing inflow. Net cash increases $1,800, from $5,000 to $6,800.
The debt schedule moves from $4,000 to $8,500: add $2,000 cash borrowing, subtract $500 principal and add $3,000 noncash equipment financing. Equipment cost moves from $10,000 to $14,800: $1,800 cash purchases plus $3,000 financed purchases. Merely subtracting balance sheets would incorrectly treat the financed equipment as a cash transaction.
Records a bank export cannot supply
You also need the income statement, opening and closing trial balances, receivables and payable reconciliations, inventory and prepaid schedules, depreciation, asset disposals, debt and equity movements, and noncash transaction documents. Record cash-equivalent and restricted-cash policies consistently.
This simplified educational example has no tax, interest, dividends, foreign-exchange, restricted-cash or disposal-gain complexity. Obtain accounting advice on the applicable framework and classification before adapting it for statutory reporting. The workbook is not presented as a complete GAAP or IFRS disclosure set.
Download the XLSX file, keep an untouched copy, then upload a working copy to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets if desired. Check formulas, dates, validation and print layout after import. No hosted Sheets copy or tested spreadsheet-application compatibility is claimed.
Questions about this resource
Is this the direct or indirect method?
Indirect. It starts with net income and reconciles noncash charges and operating working-capital movements. It is not a direct-method listing of gross customer receipts and supplier payments.
Why is depreciation added back?
It reduced net income but did not itself use cash during the period. Cash purchases of long-lived assets belong in investing activities, not in the depreciation add-back.
Can Fulla exports produce a complete cash-flow statement?
No. Fulla can supply reviewed bank-transaction exports, but the indirect statement also needs profit, comparative balances, noncash records and classification judgments.
Sources and documentation
- SEC: cash flow statements, operating adjustments, investing and financing activities(opens in a new tab)
- Cornell University: reconciling asset and liability balances and evidence of review(opens in a new tab)
Examples are educational. Check your records and accounting policy before posting entries or relying on a forecast.
Statement rows still trapped in a PDF?
Fulla turns bank-statement PDFs into rows you review against the source before exporting CSV, Excel, OFX or JSON. These free workbooks are separate manual tools, not automatic accounting or financial advice.