Dividends are after-tax cash payments to shareholders. The retained-earnings account in the stockholders' equity section of the balance sheet holds the accumulated profits, minus dividend payments.

The three financial statements that every company produces include the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of cash flows. The cash flow statement provides information about the state ...

The cash flow statement reveals a lot about a business that you can't immediately find on the income statement or balance sheet. For example, many companies are profitable on the income statement, ...

Cash flow is essential to running a successful business. As a business owner, you need to have a good read on your company’s fiscal health; cash flow statements can help you with this. These reports ...

Tracking your cash in and cash out is an important part of running your business. Learn how to calculate the flow. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners ...

Cash generation is “king” for many investors selecting stocks. Earnings, dividends and asset values may be important factors, but it is ultimately a company’s ability to generate cash that fuels the ...

Calculating the internal rate of return, or IRR, of an investment is a powerful tool for businesses. When a manager is faced with a capital intensive decision, IRR can quickly compare the financial ...

The basic premise of finance is that money has time value -- a dollar in hand today is worth more than a dollar in the future. The study of finance seeks to make it possible to compare the value of a ...

IRR measures the rate needed to break even on an investment. Calculate IRR by setting NPV to zero and solving for the discount rate. Use Excel's IRR function by inputting initial cost and cash inflow.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

Calculating the internal rate of return, or IRR, of an investment is a powerful tool for businesses. When a manager is faced with a capital intensive decision, IRR can quickly compare the financial ...