# Operating cash flow

> Net cash generated by the company's operations in a period, from the cash flow statement.

Updated Oct 17, 2026.

Operating cash flow is the net cash a company's operations brought in, or used, during a period. It starts from net income, adds back costs that used no cash (such as depreciation and stock-based compensation), and adjusts for changes in working capital: money tied up in inventory and receivables, or held back from suppliers.

## How Listed shows it

As reported, under the XBRL concept `NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities`, or `CashFlowsFromUsedInOperatingActivities` for IFRS filers.

The cash flow statement in a 10-Q covers the year to date, not the quarter: the second-quarter 10-Q shows six months, the third shows nine. A three-month figure that a filing does not report directly is derived by subtraction, the same way as the fourth quarter:

```
Q2 = six months to date − Q1
Q3 = nine months to date − six months to date
Q4 = fiscal year − nine months to date
```

## What to check

Operating cash flow and net income differ for good reasons, but a gap that keeps widening deserves a look. Growing receivables can mean sales are being booked faster than customers pay. Under US accounting rules, interest paid and income tax paid are inside operating cash flow; IFRS filers can choose where to put interest.

## When it says "not reported"

- The company does not tag the figure, or uses a concept of its own.
- A quarterly figure needs a year-to-date figure that is missing from one of the filings.

## Related terms

- [Free cash flow](/glossary/free-cash-flow.md)
- [Capital expenditure](/glossary/capital-expenditure.md)
- [Net income](/glossary/net-income.md)
- [TTM](/glossary/ttm.md)
- [Fiscal quarter](/glossary/fiscal-quarter.md)

## Guides that use it

- [How to read a 10-K](/guides/how-to-read-a-10-k.md)
- [How to read a 10-Q](/guides/how-to-read-a-10-q.md)

All terms: [/glossary.md](/glossary.md)