Free cash flow calculator
With 500,000 of operating cash flow and 120,000 of capital expenditures, FCF is 380,000: the cash left to pay down debt, buy back shares or fund growth without new capital. Free in your browser.
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Worked example
- Operating cash flow
- 500,000
- Capital expenditures
- 120,000
- Free cash flow
- 380,000
Free cash flow, or FCF, is the cash a business still holds after operations have funded the capital expenditures required to maintain and grow the asset base. Analysts, lenders, founders, and valuation desks use that single number to judge whether the firm can pay debt, repurchase shares, or fund growth without raising new capital. This free cash flow calculator takes two finite numbers in one currency — operating cash flow and capital expenditures — subtracts capex from operating cash flow, and returns free cash flow together with the echoed inputs and the identity used.
How free cash flow turns operating cash flow and capex into cash available
Free cash flow is the cash left after operations have paid for the capital expenditures that keep and grow the productive asset base. Operating cash flow is cash from operating activities for the period in one currency — the CFO line on the statement of cash flows, already after working-capital movements and typically after interest and tax when the indirect method is used. Capital expenditures is the cash invested in long-lived assets, usually purchases of property, plant, and equipment from the investing section, sent as a typically non-negative spend.
Subtracting that spend from operating cash flow is the textbook two-line FCF that screening models, credit memos, and going-in valuation teasers use before anyone builds a full FCFF or FCFE stack. Five hundred thousand of operating cash flow and one hundred twenty thousand of capital expenditures print free cash flow of three hundred eighty thousand.
Zero operating cash flow or zero capex is a legitimate outcome and is not an error: a period with no PP&E spend still has an FCF, equal to CFO, and a period with no operating cash still has an FCF, often largely negative. Negative operating cash flow is accepted because a cash-burning period still has a free-cash-flow figure. Negative capital expenditures are accepted as finite numbers because a net asset-sale credit can print that sign; the difference follows it instead of hiding behind an absolute value.
If your cash-flow statement already prints capex as a negative outflow, send the absolute value of that line so this subtraction does not add the spend back. This calculator does not discount a forecast, does not separate firm FCF from equity FCF, does not add back after-tax interest, does not rebuild change in net working capital, and does not convert currencies.
You supply two finite numbers that already share one period and one currency; the calculator subtracts them and rounds free cash flow half-up to two decimal places so goldens compare byte-for-byte across runtimes. This is a going-in FCF from the two-line identity, not a discounted-cash-flow present value, not an EBITDA proxy, and not a net-income figure dressed as cash.
Where a free cash flow calculator earns its keep
Operators screening a monthly close use a free cash flow calculator to turn last period's cash from operations and PP&E spend into one comparable cash-available line before they open a full three-statement model. Valuation desks drop CFO from the filing and capex from the investing notes, and they compare that FCF with a discounted-cash-flow case rather than treating the two-line identity as a substitute for a multi-year present value.
This is a different search and a different job from discounted cash flow, which discounts an explicit forecast plus a terminal lump; from EBITDA, which is an accrual operating-profit subtotal; from net income; and from a funds-from-operations figure: those tools start from different lines and answer different questions. Failed validation does not consume balance. Keep both fields finite, pin the rounded FCF in tests, and you get a reproducible cash-available figure for teasers, LMS plugins, and edge workers without standing up a general ledger of your own.
What you can do with it
Monthly close before the full cash model
Turn last period's cash from operations and PP&E spend into one free-cash-flow line before you open a full three-statement model.
Lender memos and cash after maintenance capex
Pin free cash flow next to scheduled debt service so covenant packs share one cash-available figure rather than EBITDA that still funds the asset base.
Valuation teasers before a full DCF
Drop filing CFO and notes capex into one going-in FCF beside a discounted-cash-flow case, without treating the two-line identity as a multi-year present value.
FAQ
How is free cash flow calculated?
Capital expenditures should be sent as a typically non-negative spend. Money amounts round half-up to two decimal places.
Should capital expenditures be positive or negative?
If your cash-flow statement already prints capex as a negative outflow, send the absolute value so the subtraction does not add the spend back.
What happens if a field is missing or not a number?
NaN, Infinity, empty strings, and missing fields are rejected and are not billed.
Is this the same as DCF, EBITDA, or FCFF?
No. Discounted cash flow discounts a forecast of future free cash flow. EBITDA is an accrual operating-profit subtotal. FCFF rebuilds cash to the firm from EBIT, tax, depreciation, working capital, and capex.
Where do I find operating cash flow and capex?
Operating cash flow is the cash from operating activities line on the cash flow statement. Capex is usually the purchases of property, plant and equipment in the investing section; enter it as a positive spend even if the statement shows it negative.
Related tools
For developers — API access
Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.
API endpoint
Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.
Call it from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/free-cash-flow \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"operating_cash_flow":500000,"capital_expenditures":120000}'const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/free-cash-flow", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"operating_cash_flow": 500000,
"capital_expenditures": 120000
})
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();import os, requests
res = requests.post(
"https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/free-cash-flow",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
json={
"operating_cash_flow": 500000,
"capital_expenditures": 120000
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/free-cash-flow", false, stream_context_create([
"http" => [
"method" => "POST",
"header" => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
"content" => '{"operating_cash_flow":500000,"capital_expenditures":120000}',
],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"operating_cash_flow":500000,"capital_expenditures":120000}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/free-cash-flow", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)Example request
{
"operating_cash_flow": 500000,
"capital_expenditures": 120000
}Example response
{
"task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"type": "fin.free_cash_flow",
"status": "queued",
"_links": {
"result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
}
}The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.
Pricing
Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.
Errors
| HTTP | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
401 | unauthorized | Missing or invalid API key. |
402 | insufficient_balance | Your balance doesn't cover the task price. |
404 | unknown_type | That task type doesn't exist. |
429 | rate_limited | Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling. |
Technical notes
Any input that is missing, empty, or not a finite number fails with invalid_input and is not billed.
How free cash flow turns operating cash flow and capex into cash available
The identity this calculator uses is free_cash_flow equals operating_cash_flow minus capital_expenditures.
Input contract, response shape, and error behaviour
Zero and negative amounts are allowed: a cash-burning year, a period with no PP&E spend, or a net asset-sale credit still produce a finite FCF rather than an error. Example: five hundred thousand of operating cash flow and one hundred twenty thousand of capital expenditures yield free cash flow of three hundred eighty thousand. POST a JSON body with two required finite numbers in one currency. operating_cash_flow is the period cash from operating activities; aliases ocf, cfo, and cash_from_operations map to the same field so a worksheet can keep its column names. capital_expenditures is the period cash invested in long-lived assets, sent as a typically non-negative spend; aliases capex, cap_ex, and capital_expenditure are accepted. If the investing section already prints capex as a negative outflow, send the absolute value so free_cash_flow equals CFO minus spend rather than CFO plus spend. Each numeric field may arrive as a JSON number or a numeric string. Missing fields, empty strings, and non-finite values — NaN, Infinity, or text that does not parse as a number — fail with invalid_input naming the field. Those failures are not billed. On success the body echoes operating_cash_flow and capital_expenditures, then reports free_cash_flow as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, rounded half-up to two decimal places, plus a formula string restating the identity. Pair the JSON with your own rule for which CFO definition matches the capex you send — some models start from EBIT times one minus tax plus depreciation minus change in net working capital instead of the statement CFO line — because this endpoint subtracts the two numbers you send; it does not rebuild the statement, choose FCFF versus FCFE, discount a forecast, or convert currencies.
Where a free cash flow calculator earns its keep
Lenders and credit analysts re-run the same two fields when a year closes or a covenant package asks for cash generation after maintenance capex, then pin free_cash_flow next to scheduled debt service so every memo starts from one cash figure rather than from EBITDA that still has to fund the asset base.
Technical questions
What does the free cash flow calculator cost?
The browser tool is free. API requests use prepaid KIT balance at $0.002 per successful call; invalid input is not billed.