Definition of value-added (VA) activity

value-added (VA) activity

an activity that increases the worth of the product or service to the customer

business-value-added activity

an activity that is necessary for the operation of the business but for which a customer would not want to pay

non-value-added (NVA) activity

an activity that increases the time spent on a product or service but that does not increase its worth or value to the customer

NPV (net present value of cash flows)

Same as PV, but usually includes a subtraction for an initial cash outlay.

PV (present value of cash flows)

the value in today’s dollars of cash flows that occur in different time periods.
present value factor equal to the formula 1/(1 - r)n, where n is the number of years from the valuation date to the cash flow and r is the discount rate.
For business valuation, n should usually be midyear, i.e., n = 0.5, 1.5, . . .

Accounts receivable

Money owed by customers.

Accounts receivable turnover

The ratio of net credit sales to average accounts receivable, a measure of how
quickly customers pay their bills.

Adjusted present value (APV)

The net present value analysis of an asset if financed solely by equity
(present value of un-levered cash flows), plus the present value of any financing decisions (levered cash
flows). In other words, the various tax shields provided by the deductibility of interest and the benefits of
other investment tax credits are calculated separately. This analysis is often used for highly leveraged
transactions such as a leverage buy-out.

Advance commitment

A promise to sell an asset before the seller has lined up purchase of the asset. This
seller can offset risk by purchasing a futures contract to fix the sales price.

Asset activity ratios

Ratios that measure how effectively the firm is managing its assets.

Availability float

Checks deposited by a company that have not yet been cleared.

Average age of accounts receivable

The weighted-average age of all of the firm's outstanding invoices.

Average collection period, or days' receivables

The ratio of accounts receivables to sales, or the total
amount of credit extended per dollar of daily sales (average AR/sales * 365).

Beggar-thy-neighbor devaluation

A devaluation that is designed to cheapen a nation's currency and thereby
increase its exports at other countries' expense and reduce imports. Such devaluations often lead to trade wars.

Bond equivalent yield

Bond yield calculated on an annual percentage rate method. Differs from annual
effective yield.

Bond value

With respect to convertible bonds, the value the security would have if it were not convertible
apart from the conversion option.

Bond-equivalent basis

The method used for computing the bond-equivalent yield.

Bond-equivalent yield

The annualized yield to maturity computed by doubling the semiannual yield.

Book value

A company's book value is its total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities, such as debt. A
company's book value might be more or less than its market value.

Book value per share

The ratio of stockholder equity to the average number of common shares. Book value
per share should not be thought of as an indicator of economic worth, since it reflects accounting valuation
(and not necessarily market valuation).

Carrying value

Book value.

Cash and equivalents

The value of assets that can be converted into cash immediately, as reported by a
company. Usually includes bank accounts and marketable securities, such as government bonds and Banker's
Acceptances. Cash equivalents on balance sheets include securities (e.g., notes) that mature within 90 days.

Cash equivalent

A short-term security that is sufficiently liquid that it may be considered the financial
equivalent of cash.

Cash-equivalent items

Temporary investments of currently excess cash in short-term, high-quality
investment media such as treasury bills and Banker's Acceptances.

Cash-surrender value

An amount the insurance company will pay if the policyholder ends a whole life
insurance policy.

Certainty equivalent

An amount that would be accepted in lieu of a chance at a possible higher, but
uncertain, amount.

Common stock equivalent

A convertible security that is traded like an equity issue because the optioned
common stock is trading high.

Continuous random variable

A random value that can take any fractional value within specified ranges, as
contrasted with a discrete variable.

Conversion value

Also called parity value, the value of a convertible security if it is converted immediately.

Corporate taxable equivalent

Rate of return required on a par bond to produce the same after-tax yield to
maturity that the premium or discount bond quoted would.

Coupon equivalent yield

True interest cost expressed on the basis of a 365-day year.

Covariance

A statistical measure of the degree to which random variables move together.

Days in receivables

Average collection period.

Derivative instruments

Contracts such as options and futures whose price is derived from the price of the
underlying financial asset.

Derivative markets

Markets for derivative instruments.

Derivative security

A financial security, such as an option, or future, whose value is derived in part from the
value and characteristics of another security, the underlying security.

Devaluation A decrease in the spot price of the currency

Discrete random variable

A random variable that can take only a certain specified set of discrete possible
values - for example, the positive integers 1, 2, 3, . . .

Endogenous variable

A value determined within the context of a model.

Equivalent annual annuity

The equivalent amount per year for some number of years that has a present
value equal to a given amount.

Equivalent annual benefit

The equivalent annual annuity for the net present value of an investment project.

Equivalent annual cash flow

Annuity with the same net present value as the company's proposed investment.

Equivalent annual cost

The equivalent cost per year of owning an asset over its entire life.

Equivalent bond yield

Annual yield on a short-term, non-interest bearing security calculated so as to be
comparable to yields quoted on coupon securities.

Equivalent loan

Given the after-tax stream associated with a lease, the maximum amount of conventional
debt that the same period-by-period after-tax debt service stream is capable of supporting.

Equivalent taxable yield

The yield that must be offered on a taxable bond issue to give the same after-tax
yield as a tax-exempt issue.

Evaluation period

The time interval over which a money manager's performance is evaluated.

Exercise value

The amount of advantage over a current market transaction provided by an in-the-money
option.

Exogenous variable

A variable whose value is determined outside the model in which it is used. Also called
a parameter.

Expected value

The weighted average of a probability distribution.

Expected value of perfect information

The expected value if the future uncertain outcomes could be known
minus the expected value with no additional information.

Extraordinary positive value

A positive net present value.

Face value

See: Par value.

Firm's net value of debt

Total firm value minus total firm debt.

Fixed-income equivalent

Also called a busted convertible, a convertible security that is trading like a straight
security because the optioned common stock is trading low.

Future value

The amount of cash at a specified date in the future that is equivalent in value to a specified
sum today.

Going-private transactions

Publicly owned stock in a firm is replaced with complete equity ownership by a
private group. The shares are delisted from stock exchanges and can no longer be purchased in the open
markets.

Information-motivated trades

Trades in which an investor believes he or she possesses pertinent
information not currently reflected in the stock's price.

Intrinsic value of an option

The amount by which an option is in-the-money. An option which is not in-themoney
has no intrinsic value. Related: in-the-money.

Intrinsic value of a firm

The present value of a firm's expected future net cash flows discounted by the
required rate of return.

Investment value

Related:straight value.

Irrelevance result

The Modigliani and Miller theorem that a firm's capital structure is irrelevant to the firm's
value.

Linter's observations

John Lintner's work (1956) suggested that dividend policy is related to a target level of
dividends and the speed of adjustment of change in dividends.

Liquidation value

Net amount that could be realized by selling the assets of a firm after paying the debt.

Loan value

The amount a policyholder may borrow against a whole life insurance policy at the interest rate
specified in the policy.

Market value

1) The price at which a security is trading and could presumably be purchased or sold.
2) The value investors believe a firm is worth; calculated by multiplying the number of shares outstanding by the
current market price of a firm's shares.

Market value ratios

Ratios that relate the market price of the firm's common stock to selected financial
statement items.

Market value-weighted index

An index of a group of securities computed by calculating a weighted average
of the returns on each security in the index, with the weights proportional to outstanding market value.

Maturity value

Related: par value.

Mean-variance analysis

Evaluation of risky prospects based on the expected value and variance of possible outcomes.

Mean-variance criterion

The selection of portfolios based on the means and variances of their returns. The
choice of the higher expected return portfolio for a given level of variance or the lower variance portfolio for
a given expected return.

Mean-variance efficient portfolio

Related: Markowitz efficient portfolio

Minimum-variance frontier

Graph of the lowest possible portfolio variance that is attainable for a given
portfolio expected return.

Minimum-variance portfolio

The portfolio of risky assets with lowest variance.
Minority interest An outside ownership interest in a subsidiary that is consolidated with the parent for
financial reporting purposes.

Net adjusted present value

The adjusted present value minus the initial cost of an investment.

Net advantage of refunding

The net present value of the savings from a refunding.

Net advantage to leasing

The net present value of entering into a lease financing arrangement rather than
borrowing the necessary funds and buying the asset.

Net advantage to merging

The difference in total post- and pre-merger market value minus the cost of the merger.

Net asset value (NAV)

The value of a fund's investments. For a mutual fund, the net asset value per share
usually represents the fund's market price, subject to a possible sales or redemption charge. For a closed end
fund, the market price may vary significantly from the net asset value.

Net book value

The current book value of an asset or liability; that is, its original book value net of any
accounting adjustments such as depreciation.

Net present value (NPV)

The present value of the expected future cash flows minus the cost.

Net present value of growth opportunities

A model valuing a firm in which net present value of new
investment opportunities is explicitly examined.

Net present value of future investments

The present value of the total sum of NPVs expected to result from
all of the firm's future investments.

Net present value rule

An investment is worth making if it has a positive NPV. Projects with negative NPVs
should be rejected.

Net salvage value

The after-tax net cash flow for terminating the project.

Normal random variable

A random variable that has a normal probability distribution.

Novation

Defeasance whereby the firm's debt is canceled.

Original face value

The principal amount of the mortgage as of its issue date.

Par value

Also called the maturity value or face value, the amount that the issuer agrees to pay at the maturity date.

Parity value

Related:conversion value

Performance evaluation

The evaluation of a manager's performance which involves, first, determining
whether the money manager added value by outperforming the established benchmark (performance
measurement) and, second, determining how the money manager achieved the calculated return (performance
attribution analysis).

Plain vanilla

A term that refers to a relatively simple derivative financial instrument, usually a swap or other
derivative that is issued with standard features.

Portfolio variance

Weighted sum of the covariance and variances of the assets in a portfolio.

Present value

The amount of cash today that is equivalent in value to a payment, or to a stream of payments,
to be received in the future.

Present value factor

Factor used to calculate an estimate of the present value of an amount to be received in
a future period.

Present value of growth opportunities (NPV)

Net present value of investments the firm is expected to make
in the future.

Price value of a basis point (PVBP)

Also called the dollar value of a basis point, a measure of the change in
the price of the bond if the required yield changes by one basis point.

Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO)

Company that mobilizes private capital for financing the
export of big-ticket items by U.S. firms by purchasing at fixed interest rates the medium- to long-term debt
obligations of importers of U.S. products.

Private-label pass-throughs

Related: Conventional pass-throughs.

Private placement

The sale of a bond or other security directly to a limited number of investors.

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