What Is EBITDA?
EBITDA is an essential metric business owners, investors, and private equity firms use. As a non-GAAP financial measure, it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting decisions on operating income. It also removes non-cash depreciation and amortisation expenses included in operating costs but not cash flow.
Finance professionals can use it to compare companies in different locations and decide how much they are worth. It can also help with budgeting.
EBITDA Formulas
The two EBITDA formulas are:
EBITDA = Net Income + Taxes + Interest Expense + Depreciation & Amortisation
and
EBITDA = Operating Income + Depreciation & Amortisation
Here’s a breakdown of each component of EBITDA:
- Earnings: This refers to a company’s operating earnings or profit from its primary business activities, which include revenue from sales of goods or services.
- Before Interest: Interest expenses, which represent the cost of borrowing money, are excluded from EBITDA. By doing so, EBITDA focuses on a company’s ability to generate earnings from its operations without considering the impact of its financing structure.
- Taxes: EBITDA excludes income taxes, both current and deferred. This exclusion allows for a clearer view of a company’s operating profitability before the influence of tax rates and tax planning strategies.
- Depreciation: Depreciation allocates the cost of tangible assets (e.g., machinery, equipment, buildings) over their useful lives. EBITDA adds back depreciation expenses to reflect the cash generated by operations before accounting for this non-cash charge.
- Amortisation: Amortisation is similar to depreciation but applies to intangible assets (e.g., patents, trademarks, goodwill). EBITDA adds back amortisation expenses for the same reason as depreciation.
| What is EBIDTA |
| EBITDA |
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
|
| EB |
net income |
| I |
interest |
| T |
taxes |
| D |
depreciation |
| A |
amortisation |
When is EBITDA Useful?
Analysts, investors, and financial professionals often use EBITDA to evaluate a company’s operational efficiency, compare its performance to peers, and assess its ability to generate cash flow from core business activities. It is precious to compare companies in different industries or assess the financial health of businesses with varying capital structures.
However, it’s essential to recognise that EBITDA has limitations and should not be viewed in isolation. Critics argue that it can be misleading because it excludes crucial expenses (interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) necessary to understand a company’s overall financial health and sustainability. Therefore, while EBITDA can provide valuable insights into operational performance, it should be used with other financial metrics and considered alongside a company’s specific circumstances and industry norms.
EBITDA Definition
EBITDA is a key metric used by companies, investors and professional valuators. It removes the effects of financing decisions and taxes on a company’s earnings, allowing for a more accurate valuation.
The metric is calculated by subtracting a company’s operating expenses (such as COGS, SG&A and R&D) from its total revenue in a given period. It then adds back in interest expense and depreciation and amortisation expenses. Finance professionals can easily find these values on a company’s income and cash flow statements.
The calculation provides a strict illustration of a company’s profitability by excluding variables unique to each business, such as tax rates and capital expenditures. This firm focus on baseline profitability has led to the metric’s widespread use. However, some critics point to its shortcomings. They argue that it ignores essential costs, such as repair and maintenance costs and overpaying capital expenses, which can lead to an understatement of earnings.
EBITDA Purpose
EBITDA is an essential metric when it comes to understanding the value of your company. Whether you’re looking for investors or considering selling your business, this measurement provides a clear picture of your profitability and the underlying strength of your operations.
This metric eliminates the impact of financing and tax rates, which are generally out of a business’ control. It also removes depreciation and amortisation, which reflect the wear and tear on tangible assets over time.
Finance professionals use this metric to compare companies in different locations and industry sectors, allowing for an apples-to-apples comparison of operating profitability. However, this metric doesn’t account for changes in working capital, which can significantly affect cash flow. As a result, it’s essential to use this metric in conjunction with other measures to get a complete picture of your business.
EBITDA can help with the following:
- Comparing Operational Performance
- Assessing Operating Efficiency
- Analysing Capital-Intensive Industries
- Comparing Companies with Different Capital Structures
- Valuing Businesses
- Assessing Turnaround Situations
- Projecting Future Cash Flow
- Tracking Growth
- Providing a Quick Comparison across Borders
EBITDA Limitations
One of the reasons investors, analysts and buyers rely on EBITDA is that it focuses on baseline profitability by eliminating capital expenditure. However, this can be misleading for several reasons.
For example, business owners with ageing equipment or real estate that has lost value may categorise those expenses as repairs and maintenance to reduce the amount they pay in taxes. This can be a red flag for a prospective buyer that the business is hiding issues that could later categorise performance.
EBITDA has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting and using this measure:
- EBITDA does not account for capital expenditures, essential for maintaining and growing a company’s assets and operations. Ignoring CapEx can lead to an overly optimistic view of a company’s financial health, as it needs to consider the long-term sustainability of its business.
- While EBITDA removes interest expenses from the equation to focus on operational performance, this exclusion can be misleading for highly leveraged companies. High debt levels can significantly impact a company’s financial stability and ability to meet debt obligations.
- EBITDA does not consider the impact of income taxes. This exclusion can make assessing a company’s overall profitability challenging, as taxes are a significant expense for most businesses.
- EBITDA adds back depreciation and amortisation expenses, which are non-cash charges. While this adjustment reflects the cash generated from operations before these charges, it can obscure that assets eventually need replacement, and amortisation assets have finite useful lives.
- EBITDA can overstate a company’s profitability, especially if it has a high level of depreciation or amortisation. Investors should be cautious when comparing EBITDA across companies with different accounting practices and capital structures.
- EBITDA does not consider changes in working capital (e.g. inventory, accounts payable), which can significantly impact a company’s cash flow and liquidity.
- The usefulness of EBITDA varies by industry. It may be more relevant for capital-intensive industries with significant depreciation and amortisation charges. In contrast, it may be less meaningful for service-based industries with minimal capital expenditures.
- EBITDA does not account for one-time or non-recurring expenses on items that can distort the actual operating performance of a company.
- EBITDA may not accurately reflect a company’s economic reality, particularly its tax liabilities and long-term financial health.
- There is no universally accepted standard for calculating EBITDA. Companies may make different adjustments when reporting EBITDA, making comparing financial metrics across organisations challenging.
Another limitation is that EBITDA does not include the change in a company’s net working capital, which can affect its cash flow and liquidity. This can also be a red flag for prospective organisations and buyers as it indicates that the business is not properly managing its cash reserves. The lack of consistency and standardisation in determining what should be included or excluded from EBITDA can also make it difficult to compare companies from the same industry.
Misconceptions About EBITDA
EBITDA sometimes needs to be more utilised for operating cash flow. This misguides company management and creates dangerous misconceptions about a business’s ability to generate positive cash flow. For example, companies that invest heavily in capital assets like vehicles and equipment or intellectual property, which may depreciate over time, might report a high EBITDA despite losing money from these investments. Similarly, companies with high tax liability or operating in high-tax environments might exclude the actual cost of these taxes from their EBITDA calculation.
Another problem with using EBITDA as a proxy for operating cash flow is that companies can manipulate the metric by reducing expenses. This might make a company appear more profitable than it is, especially if the expense reductions are unnecessary or risky. For example, decreasing insurance premiums or lowering inventory levels might not make financial sense for your agency. This type of manipulation is why it’s essential to constantly evaluate a customer’s EBITDA in conjunction with other metrics.
EBITDA – Other useful links from our Knowledge Centre:
How to Manage Business Finances Correctly and Efficiently
Unlocking Business Potential: Strategies for Long-term Success
The Impact of Sustainability on Ecommerce Businesses
Remember to Compare Your Business Costs is here to help your business every step of the way from business advice, or saving you time and money on your business purchases such as: