Explain what a Deferred Tax Asset or Deferred Tax Liability is. How do they usually get created?
• A Deferred Tax Liability (DTL) means that you need to pay additional cash taxes in the future - in other words‚ you’ve underpaid on taxes and need to make up for it in the future.
• A Deferred Tax Asset (DTA) means that you can pay less in cash taxes in the future - you’ve paid too much before‚ and now you get to save on taxes in the future.
• Both DTLs and DTAs arise b/c of temporary differences between what a company can deduct for cash tax purposes and what they can deduct for book tax purposes. You see them most often in 3 scenarios:
1. When companies record Depreciation differently for book and tax purposes (i.e. more quickly for tax purposes to save on taxes)
2. When Assets get written up for book‚ but not tax purposes‚ in M&A deals.
3. When pension contributions get recognized differently for book vs. tax purposes.
How can both DTAs and DTLs exist at the same time on a company’s Balance Sheet? How can they both owe and save on taxes in the future?
How do Income Taxes Payable and Income Taxes Receivable differ from DTLs and DTAs? Aren’t they the same concept?
Walk me through how you project revenue for a company.
Walk me through how you project expenses for a company.
How do you project Balance Sheet items like Accounts Receivable and Accrued Expenses over several years in a 3-statement model?
Normally you assume that these are percentages of revenue or expenses‚ under the assumption that they’re all linked to the I/S:
• A/R (% of Revenue)‚ Prepaid Expense (% of Operating Expense)‚ Inventory (% of COGS)‚ Deferred Revenue (% of Revenue)‚ A/P (% of Operating Expenses)‚ Accrued Expenses (% of Operating Expenses)
• Then you either carry the same percentages across in future years or assume slight increases or decreases depending on the company.
• You can also project these metrics using “days‚” e.g. Accounts Receivable Days = Accounts Receivable / Revenue * 365‚ assume that the days required to collect A/R stays relatively the same each year‚ and calculate the A/R number from that.
How should you project Depreciation and Capital Expenditures?
You could use several different approaches here:
• Simplest: Make each one a % of revenue.
• Alternative: Make Depreciation a % of revenue‚ but for CapEx average several years of CapEx‚ or make it an absolute dollar change (e.g. it increases by $100 each year) or percentage change (it increases by 2% each year).
• Complex: Create a PP&E schedule‚ where you estimate the CapEx increase each year based on management’s plans‚ and then Depreciate existing PP&E using each asset’s useful life and the straight-line method; also Depreciate new CapEx right after it’s added‚ using the same approach.
There’s usually a “simple” and “complex” way of projecting a company’s financial statements. Is there a real advantage to using the complex method? In other words‚ does it give us better numbers?
What are examples of non-recurring charges we need to add back to a company’s EBIT / EBITDA when analyzing its financial statements?
What’s the difference between capital leases and operating leases? How do they affect the statements?
• Operating Leases are used for short-term leasing of equipment and property‚ and do not involve ownership of anything. Operating lease expenses show up as Operating Expenses on the I/S and impact Operating Income‚ Pre-Tax Income‚ and NI.
• Capital Leases are used for longer-term items and give the lessee ownership rights; they Depreciate‚ incur Interest Expense‚ and are counted as Debt.
• A lease is a Capital Lease is any one of the following 4 conditions is true:
1. If there’s a transfer of ownership at the end of the term.
2. If there’s an option to purchase the asset at a “bargain price” at the end of the term.
3. If the term of the lease is greater than 75% of the useful life of the asset.
4. If the present value of the lease payments is greater than 90% of the asset’s fair market value.
How doe Net Operating Losses (NOLs) affect a company’s 3 statements?
What’s the difference between Tax Benefits from Stock-Based Compensation and Excess Tax Benefits from Stock-Based Compensation? How do they impact the statements?
Let’s say you’re creating quarterly projections for a company rather than annual projections. What’s the best way to project revenue growth each quarter?
What’s the purpose of calendarizing financial figures?
What happens to the Deferred Tax Asset / Deferred Tax Liability line item if we record accelerated Depreciation for tax purposes‚ but straight-line Depreciation for book purposes?
If you own over 50% but less than 100% of another company‚ what happens on the financial statements when you record the acquisition?
What about if you own between 20% and 50% of another company? How do you record this acquisition and how are the statements affected?
What if you own less than 20% of another company?
What are the different classifications for Securities that a company can use on its Balance Sheet? How do they differ?
Here‚ nothing has been consolidated b/c we own less than 50% of the other company. So nothing on the statements yet reflects this other company.
• I/S: We create an item “NI from Equity Interests” (or something similar) below our normal NI at the bottom‚ which results in our REAL NI (NI Attributable to Parent) increasing by $6 ($20 * 30%).
• SCF: NI is up by $6‚ but we subtract this $6 of additional NI b/c we haven’t really received it in cash when we own less than 50% - it’s not as if we control the other company and can just “take it.” Cash remains unchanged.
• B/S: The Investments in Equity Interests item on the Assets side increases by $6 to reflect this NI‚ so the Assets side is up by $6. On the other side‚ SE (RE) is up by $6 to reflect this increased NI‚ so both sides balance.