(ACCOUNTING) the total amount of
money paid to a company during the period covered by a statement. For example, during a quarterly statement of cash
flow, "cash
flow" means the firm received payments or realized capital gains of that much
money.
During the same period, the firm may have billed out (accounts receivable) a certain amount for which it has not received payment, and received payment on account for bills it made before the quarter began.
This is not the same as operating cash flow, which is revenue minus operating expenses.
Over the course of a few months, the cash
flow for a business is about the same as revenue, as payments will generally come in at about the same rate as the firm bills customers.
This NOT true for operating cash
flow or net cash
flow.