Q. I read the JofA article last month about performing horizontal, vertical, and trend analyses in Excel. How can Excel be used to organize these analyses and highlight possible red flags in a company ...

NPV calculates profitability using all projected cash inflows and outflows, considering time value of money. A positive NPV suggests a profitable project; a negative NPV suggests a loss. NPV's ...

IRR calculates the return rate at which a project's net value totals zero. Using Excel's XIRR, FoolCo finds buying new machinery earns a higher IRR of 26.5%. IRR considerations exclude cash flow ...

David Kindness is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and an expert in the fields of financial accounting, corporate and individual tax planning and preparation, and investing and retirement planning.

Net Present Value (NPV) is a financial metric used to determine the profitability of an investment, project, or business venture. It calculates the difference between the present value of cash inflows ...

Too many financial decisions are made without factoring in the time value of money. Whether providing financial planning advice related to a client’s retirement, advising a client about a business ...

Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Amy is an ACA and the CEO and founder of ...