Excess Cash Flow Definition

Excess cash flow is a term used in loan agreements or bond indentures and refers to the portion of cash flows of a company that are often required to be paid by a lender. Excess cash flow is typically cash received or generated by a company that triggers a payment to the lender as stipulated in the credit agreement. Since the company has an outstanding loan with the creditor, certain cash flows are subject to various restrictions for usage by the company.

There's no set formula for calculating the excess cash flow since each credit agreement might have different requirements that result in a payment to the lender.

An approximation of a calculation of excess cash flow could begin with taking the company's profit or net income, adding back depreciation and amortization, and deducting capital expenditures that are necessary to sustain business operations, and dividends, if any.

In other words, a credit agreement might outline an amount of excess cash flow that triggers a payment, but also how cash is used or spent. A lender might allow cash to be used for business operations, possibly dividends, and certain capital expenditures. The terms defining excess cash flow and any payments are typically negotiated between the borrower and lender.

If excess cash flow is generated, a lender might require a payment that is 100%, 75%, or 50% of the excess cash flow amount.

Excess cash flows are written into loan agreements or bond indentures to provide additional cover for credit risk for lenders or investors. If an event occurs that results in excess cash flow as defined in the credit agreement, the company must make a payment to the lender. The payment could be a percentage of the excess flow, which is usually dependent on what event generated the excess cash flow.

Lenders define what's considered excess cash flow usually by a formula that consists of a percentage or amount above and beyond net income or profit for the period. However, that formula varies from lender to lender, and it's up to the borrower to negotiate the terms with the lender. Lenders impose restrictions on how excess cash can be spent in an effort to maintain controls of the company's cash flow. But the lender doesn't want to create so many restrictions that they hurt the financial viability of the company.

Excess Cash Flow Events That Might Trigger a Mandatory Payment

If a company raises additional capital through some funding measure, the company would likely be required to pay the lender the amount generated minus any expenses that occurred to generate the capital.

For example, if a company issues new stock or equity, the money raised would trigger a payment to the lender. Also, if a company issued debt such as a bond offering, any proceeds would likely trigger a payment to the lender.

Asset sales could also trigger a payment. A company might have investments or hold shares such as a minority interest in other companies. If the company sold those investments for a gain, the lender would likely require payment for those funds. As stated before, there's no set rule as to the percentage that would be paid to the lender since it's up to the borrower and lender to negotiate those terms at the onset of the credit application process.

Exceptions to Excess Cash Flow

Certain asset sales might be excluded from triggering a payment such as the sale of inventory. A company in its normal course of operation might need to buy and sell inventory to generate its operating income. As a result, it's likely that an asset sale, which comprises of inventory would be exempt from a prepayment obligation.

Other expenses or capital expenditures might be exempt from triggering a payment such as cash used as deposits to land new business or cash held at a bank that's used to help pay for a financial product that hedges market risk for the company.

• Excess cash flow is typically cash received or generated by a company that triggers a payment to the lender as stipulated in the credit agreement.
• Lenders impose restrictions on how excess cash can be spent in an effort to maintain controls of the company's cash flow. However, the lender doesn't want to create so many restrictions that they hurt the financial viability of the company.
• If excess cash flow is generated, a lender might require a payment that is 100%, 75%, or 50% of the excess cash flow amount.

In 2010, Dunkin' Brands, Inc. entered into a credit agreement with Barclays Bank PLC and a number of other lenders party to the agreement for a $1.25 billion term B loan and $100 million revolver. Below is the legal terms used in the credit agreement defining excess cash flow.

Under "Defined Terms" of the agreement, excess cash flow is spelled out in a verbal formula as "an amount equal to the excess of":

• (a) the sum, without duplication, of:
• Consolidated net income of the borrower for such period
• An amount equal to the amount of all non-cash charges (including depreciation and amortization)
• The consolidated working capital adjustment for such period

Over:

• (b) the sum, without duplication, of:
• An amount of all non-cash gains, income, and credits included in arriving at such Consolidated Net Income
• The amount of capital expenditures, capitalized software expenditures, and acquisitions
• Consolidated Scheduled Funded Debt Payments
• The amount of Investments made in cash ... made during such period to the extent that such Investments were financed with Internally Generated Cash Flow, plus any Returns of such Investment
• The aggregate consideration to be paid in cash...relating to permitted acquisitions

All the capitalized terms in the above excerpt are "Defined Terms" in the agreement. The excess of "(a)" items over "(b)" items are carefully laid out as the definition of excess cash flow. The highlighted items in the above example are by no means exhaustive; instead, they illustrate the fine details of a definition of excess cash flow.

Let's say Company A has the following financial results at the end of the year:

• Net income: $1,000,000
• Capital expenditures for operations: $500,000
• Interest paid on debt with cash: $100,000

Let's say that both Capex and the interest paid are allowed under the credit agreement meaning the company can use cash for those expenses. However, any cash left over after deducting the expenses from net income would be considered excess and trigger a payment to the lender.

• Excess cash flow: $400,000 or ($1,000,000 - $500,000 - $100,000)
• Percentage of excess cash flow for payment: 50%
• Payment due to lender: $200,000 or ($400,000 * 50%)

Free cash flow is the cash a company produces through its operations, less the cost of expenditures on assets. In other words, free cash flow—or FCF—is the cash left over after a company pays for its operating expenses and capital expenditures, also known as CAPEX. FCF shows how efficient a company is at generating cash. Investors use free cash flow to measure whether a company might have enough cash, after funding operations and capital expenditures, to pay investors through dividends and share buybacks.

The excess cash flow amount for a company is different than a company's free cash flow figure. Excess cash flow is defined in the credit agreement, which might stipulate for certain expenditures to be excluded in the calculation of excess cash flow. Exceptions to excess cash flow might be taxes paid, cash used to generate new business, but these cash outlays would be included in the free cash flow calculation.

As with any financial metric, there are limitations to using excess cash flow as a measure of a company's performance. The amount that's considered excess is determined by the lender and doesn't represent the true cash flow of the company since items are excluded from its calculation to help the business improve its performance to ensure repayment of the debt.