IBM Cognos TM1 The Official Guide

19

CHAPTER

Profit and Cash Flow Planning

In the business world, the success of a company is measured by profitability. There are different ways to measure it: In the long run, companies strive to maximize their cash flow. In the short term, they focus on profit maximization. But an old saying goes: “Profit is an opinion; cash is a fact!” In the short term, companies work with accounting rules and more or less artificial periodical assignments to get a more or less fair view of the periodical success. For example, depreciation is needed to get a realistic view of the period, but depreciation doesn’t have a direct cash effect. Hence the profit view ...