scholarly journals Discretionary accruals and the predictive ability of earnings in the forecast of future cash flows: Evidence from Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 597-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Farshadfar ◽  
Reza Monem
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Australian Context ◽  
Out Of Sample ◽  
Aggregate Earnings ◽  
Flow Components ◽  
Future Cash Flows

We examine whether discretionary and non-discretionary accruals improve the predictive ability of earnings for forecasting future cash flows in an Australian context. Using both within-sample and out-of-sample forecasting tests; we demonstrate that discretionary accruals improve the predictive ability of earnings in the forecast of future cash flows. Further, discretionary and non-discretionary accruals and direct method cash flow components together are more useful than (i) aggregate earnings, (ii) aggregate cash flow from operations and total accruals, and (iii) aggregate cash flow from operations, discretionary accruals and nondiscretionary accruals.

scholarly journals Foreign Monitoring and Predictability of Future Cash Flow

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4832
Author(s):  
Jaehong Lee ◽  
Eunsoo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Future Cash Flow ◽  
Flow Components ◽  
Future Cash Flows

A company’s sustainability is generally determined by whether it is able to create a positive long-term cash flow. This paper investigates whether the predictive ability of cash flows and earnings in forecasting future cash flows differs depending on the foreign investors’ ownership. Based on firms listed in the Korea Stock Exchange market from 2000 to 2017, we find that earnings and cash flow components of financial statements enhance the predictability of future cash flow in the Korean stock market. Conversely, foreign investors showed a tendency to decide on investments based on operating cash flow instead of earnings when predicting future cash flow. These findings indicate that reliability towards earnings may fall since foreign investors’ concerns are on the prospects of earnings management. These results were strengthened by the addition of several more analyses including cluster analyses, consideration of information asymmetry and the chaebol governance.

Accruals and the Prediction of Future Cash Flows

2001 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Barth ◽  
Donald P. Cram ◽  
Karen K. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Accounts Receivable ◽  
Accounts Payable ◽  
Aggregate Earnings ◽  
Industry Membership ◽  
Future Cash Flows

Building on the Dechow et al. (1998) model of the accrual process, this study investigates the role of accruals in predicting future cash flows. The model shows that each accrual component reflects different information relating to future cash flows; aggregate earnings masks this information. As predicted, disaggregating accruals into major components—change in accounts receivable, change in accounts payable, change in inventory, depreciation, amortization, and other accruals—significantly enhances predictive ability. Each accrual component, including depreciation and amortization, is significant with the predicted sign in predicting future cash flows, incremental to current cash flow. The cash flow and accrual components of current earnings have substantially more predictive ability for future cash flows than several lags of aggregate earnings. The inferences are robust to alternative specifications, including controlling for operating cash cycle and industry membership.

scholarly journals Cash flow disaggregation and prediction of cash flow

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Khansalar ◽  
Mohammad Namazi
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Balance Sheets ◽  
Income Statement ◽  
Aggregated Model ◽  
Flow Components ◽  
Future Cash Flows

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the incremental information content of estimates of cash flow components in predicting future cash flows. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine whether the models incorporating components of operating cash flow from income statements and balance sheets using the direct method are associated with smaller prediction errors than the models incorporating core and non-core cash flow. Findings Using data from US and UK firms and multiple regression analysis, the authors find that around 60 per cent of a current year’s cash flow will persist into the next period’s cash flows, and that income statement and balance sheet variables persist similarly. The explanatory power and predictive ability of disaggregated cash flow models are superior to that of an aggregated model, and further disaggregating previously applied core and non-core cash flows provides incremental information about income statement and balance sheet items that enhances prediction of future cash flows. Disaggregated models and their components produce lower out-of-sample prediction errors than an aggregated model. Research limitations/implications This study improves our appreciation of the behaviour of cash flow components and confirms the need for detailed cash flow information in accordance with the articulation of financial statements. Practical implications The findings are relevant to investors and analysts in predicting future cash flows and to regulators with respect to disclosure requirements and recommendations. Social implications The findings are also relevant to financial statement users interested in better predicting a firm’s future cash flows and thereby, its firm’s value. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing literature by further disaggregating cash flow items into their underlying items from income statements and balance sheets.

scholarly journals The usefulness of operating cash flow information: Does format matter?

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Farshadfar
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Indirect Method ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Indirect Methods ◽  
Flow Information ◽  
Operating Cash Flow ◽  
Future Cash Flows ◽  
Direct And Indirect Methods ◽  
Level Analysis

This study investigates whether the direct method of presenting cash flows from operations is superior to the indirect method in its ability to forecast future cash flows. It also considers the effect of industry characteristics on the relative usefulness of direct and indirect methods of cash flow presentation. The study, which uses a sample of Australian firms, finds that both the direct and indirect methods improve the forecast of future cash flows. However, the indirect method of reporting cash flows from operations is more relevant than the direct method in predicting future cash flows. Evidence from the industry-level analysis overall reinforces the main results.

scholarly journals Predictive ability of accruals before and after IFRS in the Brazilian stock market

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (78) ◽  
pp. 375-389
Author(s):  
Terence Machado Boina ◽  
Marcelo Alvaro da Silva Macedo
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Accounting Quality ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Accounting Choices ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Future Cash Flows

ABSTRACT This study aimed to analyze and assess the predictive ability of discretionary accruals (DAs) and non-discretionary accruals (NDAs) for forecasting future cash flows before and after the convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Brazil. The study is warranted due to the scarcity of research in Brazil on the subject and is relevant because it aims to shed light on whether the changes occurring due to convergence with IFRS in Brazil have improved accounting quality. The accounting choices of managers and accountants in the Brazilian stock market, enabled by IFRS, contribute to an apparent improvement in accounting quality in terms of reliability, the faithful representation of entities’ equity and financial positions, and in particular, the predictive ability for forecasting future cash flows. The population was composed of publicly traded companies listed on the Bovespa and São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBovespa) in 2004 to 2007 and 2010 to 2015. The non-probability convenience sample is composed of 715 enterprises, once companies from the “finance and insurance” and “funds” sectors and even those considered as “holding” were excluded. The data were pooled by year, as they contain different companies over the time series (unbalanced panel data). The DAs and NDAs produced prior to full convergence with IFRS are negative and statistically significant for predicting future cash flows in the Brazilian stock market, which indicated opportunistic/contractual earnings management. One of the possible explanations for this would be the influence of government tax authorities on Brazilian accounting norms, which could induce managers to manipulate accounting results with the aim of reducing earnings in order to pay fewer taxes, for example. The DAs and NDAs produced after IFRS are positive and statistically significant for predicting future cash flows in the Brazilian stock market, signaling the motivation of discretionary accounting choices under the informational aspect. Current DAs and NDAs add informational power compared to current aggregate accruals. It has also been observed that the current DAs and NDAs originating after IFRS in Brazil, compared to current aggregate accruals, have an informational gain in relation to those produced before.

scholarly journals Do Direct Cash Flow Disclosures Help Predict Future Operating Cash Flows and Earnings?

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 893-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven F. Orpurt ◽  
Yoonseok Zang
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Balance Sheets ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Future Performance ◽  
Forecasting Performance ◽  
Earnings Forecasting ◽  
Future Cash Flows ◽  
Stated Purpose

ABSTRACT: Motivated by recent FASB, IASB, and CFA Institute comments, we explore the predictive value of direct method cash flow disclosures. A primary stated purpose of the direct method is to better forecast future performance. To examine this purpose, we first document that direct method line items, such as cash received from customers, are not reliably estimable using income statements and either balance sheets or indirect method statements of cash flows. When these stimation (articulation) errors are included in cash flows and earnings forecasting models, forecasting performance significantly improves. In addition, employing a future ERC (FERC) methodology, we find evidence suggesting that market participants utilize direct method disclosures for their stated purpose: to better forecast future operating performance. After conducting several tests for self-selection concerns, we conclude that the direct method is valuable to investors when forecasting future cash flows and earnings.

scholarly journals An Analysis Of The Comparative Predictive Abilities Of Operating Cash Flows, Earnings, And Sales

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Jordan ◽  
Marilyn A. Waldron ◽  
Stanley J. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Power ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Share Price ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Aggregate Earnings ◽  
Future Cash Flows ◽  
Better Than

<p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 34.2pt 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Prior studies (e.g., Greenburg et al., 1986; Murdoch and Krause, 1989) provide evidence that earnings outperforms historical cash flows in predicting future cash flows. Later research (e.g., Barth et al., 2001) demonstrates that the major accrual components of earnings each possess significant explanatory power in predicting future cash flows and that they augment, rather than replace, the predictive ability of aggregate earnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The current study furthers this work by examining the predictive power of another major component of earnings, i.e., sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Using share price as the dependent variable and as a proxy for future cash flows, this study compares the predictive abilities of changes in operating cash flows, earnings, and sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Similar to the findings in prior research, earnings predicts better than operating cash flows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>More importantly, however, sales predicts with greater accuracy than either operating cash flows or earnings.</span></span></p>

The relative predictive ability of earnings and cash flows

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-380
Author(s):  
Varun Dawar
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Models ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aggregate Earnings ◽  
Future Cash Flows

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative predictive abilities of current earnings (and its components) and cash flows for next period cash flows in case of Shariah-compliant companies in India. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses the list of CRISIL NSE Index (CNX) Nifty Shariah Index companies as its sample for a period of 10 years for conducting the analysis. The study utilizes the cash flow prediction models to examine the relative predictive abilities of current earnings (and its components) and cash flows for next period cash flows. Findings – The study report that contrary to Financial Accounting Standard Board assertion, current cash flows have superior predictive ability of next period cash flows than current aggregate earnings in case of Shariah-compliant companies in India. The results further show that there are no gains from decomposing earnings into accruals and cash flows in predicting future cash flows. There is no increase in explanatory power (measured by adjusted R2) when aggregate earnings are disaggregated into accruals and cash flows to predict next period cash flows. Practical implications – The empirical findings of the study will enable the Shariah compliant investors to understand the role of current earnings (and its components) and cash flows in predicting next period cash flows in case of Shariah-compliant companies in India. Originality/value – To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first study which examines the relative predictive abilities of current earnings (and its components) and cash flows for next period cash flows in case of Shariah-compliant companies in India.

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