Question

Average Accounting Return. Concerning AAR:a. Describe how the average accounting return is usually calculated and describe the information this measure provides about a sequence of cash flows. What is the AAR criterion decision rule?b. What are the problems associated with using the AAR as a means of evaluating a project’s cash flows? What underlying feature of AAR is most troubling to you from a financial perspective? Does the AAR have any redeeming qualities?

Answer 1

Answer:

a. Describe how the average accounting return is usually calculated and describe the information this measure provides about a sequence of cash flows. What is the AAR criterion decision rule?

Average accounting return = average net income / average investment

The problem with AAR is that net cash flows are not equal to net income since depreciation expense and changes in net working capital are not accounted for by AAR.

The criterion decision rule is that projects with an AAR above a certain measure.

b. What are the problems associated with using the AAR as a means of evaluating a project’s cash flows? What underlying feature of AAR is most troubling to you from a financial perspective? Does the AAR have any redeeming qualities?

it doesn't consider net cash flows, nor time value of money. Personally, accounting is an extremely important tool but it only reflects a partial perspective of a business. E.g. a business might have a huge net income but if it doesn't have enough cash to function, it will go bankrupt. In finance, cash is king.

Personally, my biggest problem with AAR is that it doesn't consider net cash flows. I've been on situations where the company I worked for was apparently doing great, but our accounts receivables were huge and we couldn't collect money fast enough. My job was basically go to different banks and convince them of loaning us cash. The worst part was that even without being able to collect cash, we still had to pay taxes and that was another huge problem.

I believe that AAR is still used because of its simplicity. Also, taxes are paid based on accounting profits and many firms base they compensation plans on them.