Depreciation and accounting cash flow A firm in the third year of depreciating its only asset, which originally cost $180,000 and has a 5 year MACRS recovery period, has gathered the following data relative to the current year’s operations.

Accruals

$ 15,000

Current assets

120,000

Interest expense

15,000

Sales revenue

400,000

Inventory

70,000

Total costs before depreciation, interest, and taxes

290,000

Tax rate on ordinary income

40%

a. Use the relevant data to determine the accounting cash flow from operations (see Equation 3.1) for the current year.

Equation 3.1

Cash flow from operations=

Net profits after taxes + Depreciation and other noncash charges

b. Explain the impact that depreciation, as well as any other noncash charges, has on a firm’s cash flows.