QuickBooks 2023 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 2

Economic Value Added Analysis

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the logic of EVA

Checking out a simple example of EVA in action

Exploring some important points about EVA

Looking at a more complicated EVA example with debt

Here’s a curious fact: Even if your QuickBooks profit and loss statement shows a profit, you may not actually be making any money. How can this be? Ah, to really answer this question, you need to use a tool called Economic Value Added analysis (EVA), which was developed by (and is a trademark of) Stern Stewart & Co., a management consulting firm.

In this chapter, I discuss what EVA does and how you can use the information that you create with QuickBooks to perform the EVA analysis. This is neat stuff but a bit theoretical. Fortunately, when you boil EVA down to its essence, it’s quite practical.

Introducing the Logic of EVA

EVA analysis states in a formula something you already know in your gut. If you’re a business owner and you can make more money by selling your business, reinvesting the proceeds, and then getting another job someplace else, hey — you’re ...