Investment appraisal is the process of evaluating the viability of a proposed investment or project, while raising finance refers to the process of obtaining the necessary funds to finance an investment or project.
There are several tools and techniques that can be used in investment appraisal, including net present value (NPV), payback period, accounting rate of return (ARR), and internal rate of return (IRR). These techniques allow a company to assess the expected profitability of an investment and compare it to alternative investments.
Once an investment has been deemed viable through the investment appraisal process, the company will need to consider how it will raise the necessary funds to finance the investment. There are several options for raising finance, including equity financing, debt financing, grants, and crowdfunding. The choice of financing option will depend on the specific needs and circumstances of the company.
Options for raising finance
There are several options for raising finance for a business, which can generally be grouped into two categories: equity and debt.
Equity financing
Equity financing refers to the process of raising capital by selling ownership stakes in the business, typically in the form of stock. This can be done internally, by using the company’s profits or savings, or externally, by selling stock to outside investors or through an initial public offering (IPO).
Debt financing
Debt financing, on the other hand, involves borrowing money that must be paid back at a later date, usually with interest. Debts can be short-term, with a repayment period of less than a year; medium-term, with a repayment period of one to five years; or long-term, with a repayment period of more than five years. Some common sources of debt financing include loans from banks or other financial institutions, and bonds, which are essentially loans that are issued to the public.
Other sources of finance
Other sources of finance include grants, which are typically provided by government agencies or non-profit organisations and do not need to be repaid; and crowdfunding, which involves raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, usually through an online platform.
Cost accounting
Cost accounting is a branch of accounting that focuses on the identification, measurement, and assignment of costs to a company’s products, services, or activities. The goal of cost accounting is to help a company better understand the costs of its operations so that it can make informed decisions about pricing, cost control, and profitability.
There are several key areas of cost accounting, including:
- Direct costs: Costs that can be directly traced to a specific product, service, or activity. Examples include materials and labor.
- Indirect costs: Costs that cannot be directly traced to a specific product, service, or activity, but are still necessary for the company’s operations. Examples include utilities and rent.
- Variable costs: Costs that change in proportion to the volume of production or sales. Examples include materials and labor.
- Fixed costs: Costs that do not change in proportion to the volume of production or sales. Examples include rent and insurance.
Break-even analysis
Break-even analysis is a tool used in cost accounting to determine the point at which a company’s revenues are equal to its costs. At this point, the company is said to have “broken even,” and is not making a profit or a loss.
There are several key limitations to break-even analysis:
- It assumes that all costs are fixed, which is not always the case.
- It assumes that prices and sales volumes will remain constant, which is not always the case.
- Ignores the time value of money, which means it does not consider the fact that money today is worth more than the same amount of money in the future.
Marginal decision-making
Marginal decision-making is the process of making decisions based on the incremental costs and benefits of a particular course of action. In other words, it involves comparing the costs and benefits of taking an additional step, rather than considering the costs and benefits of the entire project as a whole.
There are several key problems with marginal decision-making:
- It can lead to suboptimal decisions, as it ignores the overall costs and benefits of a project.
- It can be difficult to accurately measure incremental costs and benefits.
- It does not consider opportunity costs, or the costs of not taking an alternative course of action.
Investment appraisal
Investment appraisal is the process of evaluating the viability of a proposed investment or project. There are several tools and techniques that can be used to assess the feasibility of an investment, including:
- Net present value (NPV): This measures the difference between the present value of the expected cash flows from an investment and the initial cost of the investment. A positive NPV means that the investment will generate more money than the investment costs. On the other hand, a negative NPV means that the investment will generate less money than the investment costs.
- Payback period: The amount of time it takes for the initial investment to generate enough money to pay back the initial investment.
- Accounting rate of return (ARR): This is the expected return on an investment, expressed as a percentage of the initial cost.
- Internal rate of return (IRR): This is the discount rate which results in the NPV of an investment equal to zero. It is a measure of the expected profitability of an investment.
Risks
When making decisions, it is important to consider and address potential risks that may arise. There are several ways to deal with risk in decision-making, including:
- Identifying and assessing risks: This involves identifying potential risks and evaluating their likelihood and impact.
- Developing risk-mitigation strategies: Once risks have been identified and assessed, it is important to develop strategies to minimise or mitigate their impact. This may involve taking preventive measures, such as implementing safety protocols, or developing contingency plans in case the risk materialises.
- Allocating resources: It may be necessary to allocate additional resources, such as time or money, to manage risks effectively.
There are several key limitations to dealing with risk in decision-making:
- It is not always possible to identify all potential risks.
- It is not always possible to accurately assess the likelihood or impact of a risk.
- It is not always possible to implement effective risk-mitigation strategies.
Budgeting
Budgeting is the process of creating a plan for the allocation of financial resources. An effective budget should be based on realistic assumptions about revenues and expenses, and should be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the business environment.
Effective budgetary control requires:
- Clear financial goals and objectives: It is important to have a clear understanding of what the budget is intended to achieve.
- Accurate and reliable data: Budgeting relies on accurate and reliable data about revenues and expenses.
- Regular review and monitoring: The budget should be regularly reviewed and monitored to ensure that it is on track and that any deviations are addressed in a timely manner.
Variance analysis
Variance analysis is a tool used in budgeting to compare actual financial results to the budget. It allows a company to identify and understand any deviations from the budget, and take corrective action if necessary.
There are several key components for effective variance analysis:
- Clearly defined budget targets: It is important to have clear and specific budget targets to compare actual results to.
- Accurate and timely data: Variance analysis relies on accurate and timely data about actual financial results.
- Regular analysis: Variance analysis should be performed on a regular basis, such as monthly or quarterly, to ensure that any deviations from the budget are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
Other quantitative analysis techniques
Other quantitative analysis techniques that can be used to support decision-making include:
- Sensitivity analysis: This involves analysing the impact of changes in key variables on the outcome of a decision.
- Decision trees: This is a graphical representation of the potential outcomes of a decision, along with the probabilities of each outcome occurring.
- Monte Carlo simulation: This involves using computer models to simulate the outcomes of a decision under various scenarios.
- Linear programming: This is a mathematical optimisation technique used to find the optimal solution to a problem with multiple constraints.
Only once you have deduced whether your investment is profitable or not using the investment appraisal techniques mentioned above, can you proceed with financing your investment.