Cash Flow is the movement of money into or out of a business financial. It is usually measured during a specified, limited period of time. Measurement of cash flow can be used for calculating other parameters that give information on a company's value and situation.

To determine a project's value: the time of cash flows into and out of projects are used as inputs in financial models such as internal rate of return and net present value.

To determine problems with a business's liquidity, Being profitable does not necessarily mean being liquid. A company can fail because of a shortage of cash even while profitable.

Cash flow can be used to evaluate the 'quality' of income generated by accrual accounting. When net income is composed of large non-cash items it is considered low quality.

To evaluate the risks within a financial product, matching cash requirements, evaluating default risk, re-investment requirements

Symptoms of cash flow problems. There are many reasons a business can suffer cash flow problems, some are down to mismanagement and poor decisions, and in some cases factors outside of your control.