Investing cash flow
Investing cash flow covers payments for and receipts from the purchase and sale of long-term assets and certain investments.
What does investing cash flow mean?
Investing cash flow covers payments for and receipts from the purchase and sale of long-term assets and certain investments.
A purchase on credit only causes a cash flow upon payment. Depreciation is never an investing cash flow, because it is not a direct payment.
How does it work?
Under RJ 360, investing activities include the payments for and receipts from intangible, tangible and financial fixed assets and temporary investments: the purchase of a machine, the sale of a business premises, the acquisition of a participating interest, a loan granted or received back. Only the amount actually paid counts. If the supplier's invoice is still open at the balance sheet date, the investment has been capitalised but is not yet a cash flow. For reporting years from 1 January 2027, interest received and dividend received also belong in this category; until then they may also be shown as operating (RJ Statement 2026-6).
In a disposal, the cash flow is the sale proceeds, not the book profit. The book profit is in the result and is taken out of the operating cash flow under the indirect method. If a leasing company or bank pays the supplier directly, no money flows through the company on acquisition and so there is no investing cash flow.
Example
A construction company (BV) buys an excavator of € 85.000 in 2026; € 60.000 has been paid and € 25.000 is still among payables on 31 December. An old crane with a carrying amount of € 6.000 is sold for € 10.000. The BV also lends € 15.000 to a participating interest. Investing cash flow: − 60.000 + 10.000 − 15.000 = € 65.000 negative. The fixed asset movement schedule meanwhile shows € 85.000 of investments; the difference of € 25.000 follows in 2027.
In the annual accounts
Cash flow statement, if prepared.
Difference from depreciation
The investment is the expenditure at the time of payment; depreciation spreads that same expenditure as an expense over the years of use. The cash flow statement shows only the investment. That is why a company can make a profit in an investment year and still run short of cash.
Common mistakes
- Including depreciation as an expenditure
- Showing a credit purchase as a paid investment
What to watch for
- Reconcile to the fixed asset movement schedule: the investments according to that schedule, adjusted for invoices not yet paid, form the outgoing cash flow.
- Show purchases and sales as separate lines, not as one balance.
- Micro and small are exempt from the cash flow statement, but carry investments through in a liquidity forecast in the same way: on the payment date.
Legal basis and source
RJ 360
Frequently asked questions
Why is the investing cash flow usually negative?
Because a company that maintains or grows spends more on fixed assets than it receives from sales. A structurally positive investing cash flow means assets are being sold.
Does an investment count in the year of ordering or of payment?
In the year of payment. A down payment counts in the year in which you make it; the remainder when it is settled.
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Preparing Dutch annual accounts?
Your first set of annual accounts is free, for every size class. Create an account and prepare the annual accounts of your Dutch company under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
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