Levered Free Cash Flow Calculator - Equity Cash Flow

Levered free cash flow, also called free cash flow to equity in many models, is the cash left for owners after operating needs, reinvestment, and scheduled debt principal. Equity analysts, lenders, and private-company owners use it to judge dividends, buybacks, and whether a forecast can support additional borrowing. The levered free cash flow calculator starts from net income, adds back non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization, subtracts an increase in working capital, subtracts capital expenditures, and then subtracts debt repayments. Cash available before debt is net income plus non-cash expenses minus the change in working capital minus capex. Levered free cash flow is that amount minus debt repayments. After-tax interest is shown as interest times one minus the tax rate so you can compare the interest burden with unlevered views. Interest is already inside net income, so it is not subtracted again. A working-capital increase uses cash and therefore reduces LFCF; a decrease (enter a negative change) releases cash and raises LFCF. This identity is a compact FCFE-style view that assumes no new debt issuance in the period. If the firm draws new principal, true cash to equity is higher than the figure shown. Conversely, optional prepayments beyond the scheduled amount should be included in debt repayments if you want the residual after deleveraging. Maintenance capex and growth capex are not split; enter the cash actually spent. Use the levered free cash flow calculator to stress a year with heavy capex, a working-capital spike from inventory, or a balloon principal payment. A profitable year on the income statement can still produce negative LFCF when collections lag or when debt is amortized quickly. Pair the result with a cash forecast and covenant headroom rather than treating one year as a valuation in isolation. Non-cash expenses should be the items added back on the cash-flow statement, not a plug. Tax rate is used only for the after-tax interest display. Timing differences, leases, stock-based compensation, and acquisitions can all require adjustments that this simplified layout does not make. For a financing decision, reconcile the result to the cash-flow statement and confirm principal, capex, and working-capital signs with source documents.