TFL Vsebine / Revija SIR*IUS

Analyzing data from the financial statements and the power of EBIT, EBITDA

Računovodski kazalci in kazalniki so med najpogosteje uporabljenimi orodji pri analiziranju podatkov iz računovodskih izkazov, saj jih je običajno izredno preprosto pridobiti. Tehnična preprostost izračuna marsikaterega računovodjo ali finančnika zapelje, da mehansko izračunani vrednosti slepo zaupa in zato samo na njihovi osnovi sprejema odločitve. Kako nevarno utegne biti slepo zaupanje v pravilnost izračuna različnih, tudi zelo kompleksnih kazalcev in kazalnikov, ki jih imamo danes na voljo, je nadvse boleče pokazala prav zdajšnja finančna in gospodarska kriza. Dva izmed preprostejših kazalcev, h katerima se finančna in računovodska stroka zato spet vračata, sta tudi EBIT, ki je predvsem namenjen oceni stabilnosti poslovanja podjetja, ter EBITDA, ki se v praksi pogosto uporablja kot ocena obsega denarnega toka iz poslovanja. Vendar tudi uporaba teh dveh kazalcev ni brez že znanih pasti: ker njun izračun ni predpisan, se tako samo slovensko poimenovanje obeh kazalcev kot tudi tehnika njunega izračuna med podjetji močno razlikujeta. Enostavnost njunega izračuna utegne uporabnika zavesti tudi k napačnim sklepom, saj lahko hitro pozabi na predpostavke, ki se uporabljajo pri izračunu: da kazalca zanemarjata potrebe podjetij po investiranju v obratni kapital ter na to, da bo treba plačati tako obresti kot tudi davek od dohodkov pravnih oseb, čeprav se iz izračuna izločajo.

Accounting indicators and accounting ratios are among the most commonly used tools for financial statement analysis, as they are usually very easy to obtain. But sheer technical simplicity – tempting as it may seem – encourages many accountants or financial experts to trust the thus calculated figure implicitly and make decisions based solely upon it. Recent financial and economic crisis has painfully shown the dangers of such blind trust in different (and rather complex) indicators. Two of the indicators that are commonly used by accountants and financial analysts, namely EBIT (used to gauge stability of company operations) and EBITDA (commonly used as an estimate of operating cash flow) are gaining in popularity on the account of their ease of computation. But their use isn’t immune to the usual pitfalls, as their computation is not prescribed and, consequently, their Slovenian names and computations differ widely among the Slovenian companies. Computational simplicity tends to encourage wrong conclusions, since the users of those indicators often forget the basic computation assumptions, namely that both indicators neglect the companies’ need for investment in working capital and that taxes and outstanding interest have to be paid, even when they are excluded from the mathematical formula.