Skills / Reconciliation and close

Cash flow statement tie-out

What it does

Derives an indirect-method statement of cash flows from the balance sheet and income statement, and compares it line by line to the statement the client presented.

The statement of cash flows is the only primary statement that must reconcile to another one by construction. Net income plus adjustments plus working capital movements, across all three sections, has to equal the change in cash. There is no judgment in that requirement — it either foots or it does not.

Which is exactly why it is so often wrong. It is usually prepared last, under time pressure, by plugging whichever line nobody will question. The plug hides inside "changes in other assets and liabilities" or "other operating activities," and it survives review because reviewers check that the bottom line agrees to cash rather than that each line agrees to the balance sheet. So each working capital movement is derived from the balance sheet itself rather than accepted from the statement.

Contra-asset accounts are deliberately excluded from working capital: their movement is the non-cash charge added back separately, so deriving them too would double-count it. Each non-operating movement is instead cross-checked — contra accounts against the non-cash charge, PP&E against capital expenditure, debt against draws and repayments, equity against net income and distributions.

What it proves

Six tests, and no clean statement unless:

  • Net change in cash equals the balance sheet movement — operating + investing + financing (+ FX) = closing cash − opening cash, to the cent.
  • Every working capital line agrees to the balance sheet movement for that account, or carries a named non-cash adjustment explaining the difference.
  • The balance sheet balances in both periods — a cash flow built on an unbalanced balance sheet is meaningless, so this is checked first.
  • There is no unexplained residual — a difference appears as an explicit UNEXPLAINED — DO NOT PLUG line rather than being absorbed into an "other" caption.

Nothing is allowed to feed no section. An account excluded from all three sections is the definition of a hidden plug, and the script refuses to let it be silent.

What you get

Seven tabs:

  1. Cash Flow Statement — the derived statement in proper form, with the foot to the change in cash shown and the unexplained line reading 0.00. The signable page.
  2. Proof — the six tests with amounts and differences.
  3. Working Capital Derivation — every operating account: opening, closing, raw movement, named adjustments, and the cash flow effect with its sign. The tab that catches the plug.
  4. Balance Sheet Movement — every account, both periods, movement, and the section it feeds.
  5. Comparison — the client's statement line by line against the derived figures, with differences.
  6. Judgment Items — classification questions, with amounts, deliberately not concluded.
  7. Monthly Analysis — where monthly balance sheets are supplied, cash flow by month with unusual movements flagged.

Where it stops

It does not classify the judgement calls for you. Where a movement could sit in more than one section, it goes to Judgment Items with the amount rather than being placed silently.

A statement that foots only because of an "other" line, operating cash flow persistently below net income while revenue grows, debt movements that do not agree to the debt schedule, restricted cash included in cash and equivalents without disclosure, a large FX effect in an entity with no foreign operations: each is reported with the relationship quantified and left uncharacterised.