Capital Budgeting

Abstract

Thinking about whether to go to college, deciding whether to buy a company or choosing between two machine tools: these are all investment decisions. You try to make the best decision: the one that is most profitable for the company or for yourself. When choosing investments, we rely on decision-making criteria (not too difficult) and on a forecast of future cash flows (a little more complicated …). In Chapter 1 we saw how to analyse a company’s financial statements and we ended with cash flows—the lifeblood of the company. We will now use this knowledge to make cash flow forecasts. In Chapter 2 we suffered through a few financial calculations, including discounting. We will make use of this knowledge in our decision-making criteria.

You must lose a fly to catch a trout.

George Herbert (1593–1633)