A
cash flow describes a real or virtual movement of
money:
- a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected to happen in the future, are thus uncertain and therefore need to be forecasted with cash flows;
- a cash flow is determined by its time t, nominal amount, currency CCY and account A; symbolically CF=CF(t,N,CCY,A).
- it is however popular to use cash flows in a less specified sense describing (symbolic) payments into or out of a business, project, or financial product.