capacity for generating net cash in

capacity for generating net cash inflows through its operations rather than by obtaining additional resources directly from investors and creditors.

OB19. Information about a reporting entity’s financial performance during a period also may indicate the extent to which events such as changes in market prices or interest rates have increased or decreased the entity’s economic resources and claims, thereby affecting the entity’s ability to generate net cash inflows.

Financial Performance Reflected by Past Cash Flows

OB20. Information about a reporting entity’s cash flows during a period also helps users to assess the entity’s ability to generate future net cash inflows. It indicates how the reporting entity obtains and spends cash, including information about its borrowing and repayment of debt, cash dividends or other cash distributions to investors, and other factors that may affect the entity’s liquidity or solvency. Information about cash flows helps users understand a reporting entity’s operations, evaluate its financing and investing activities, assess its liquidity or solvency, and interpret other information about financial performance.

Changes in Economic Resources and Claims Not Resulting from Financial Performance

OB21. A reporting entity’s economic resources and claims also may change for reasons other than financial performance, such as issuing additional ownership shares. Information about this type of change is necessary to give users a complete understanding of why the reporting entity’s economic resources and claims changed and the implications of those changes for its future financial performance.

This Concepts Statement was adopted by the unanimous vote of the five members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board:

Robert H. Herz, Chairman Thomas J. Linsmeier Leslie F. Seidman
Marc A. Siegel
Lawrence W. Smith