finance_tools 0.1

python_finance_tools
=========


## Overview ##

This is a set of common financial calculations. It is a work in progress.

## Functions ##

### pv - Present Value of a Cash Flow[1]

Usage:
pv(cash_flow, period, cost_of_capital)

Arguments:

** cash_flow: this is self-explanatory, it's the amount of cash flowing in or out

** period: the period in which this cash flow occurs. It should match the cost_of_capital's period. For example, if you're paying an quarterly interest rate of 5%, your cash_flow should be a quarterly number and your cost_of_capital should be .05.

** cost_of_capital[2]: The weighted average cost of capital for your business. If you're capital structure is 50% debt and 50% equity, you would calculate your cost_of_capital by evently weighting your interest rate on debt and expected rate of return on equity. If you are simply seeing how much a certain amount of cash will be worth in the future, the cost_of_capital is the risk-free interest rate, a good proxy for that is the rate of a short-term government bond because theoretically, those have no risk of default[4].


Output: the present value of the cash flow.

Sample: the value of recieving $100 in 2 years, assuming an annual risk-free interest rate of 3%:

>>> from finance_tools import pv
>>> pv(100, 2, .03)
94.25959091337543


### dcf - Discounted Cash Flow Valuation[3]

Theoretically, a business is worth the present value of its future cash flows.

Usage:
dcf(cash_flows, cost_of_capital)

Arguments:

** cash_flows: This can be a list or dictionary. If a list, it assumes the index corresponds to the period. If a dictionary, the key:value interpretation is period:cash_flow.

** cost_of_capital: Described above. For a business, a conceptual way to think about this is how risky the business is. A riskier business merits a higher cost of capital. A good approximation for the cost of capital of a business is the rate at which a bank is willing to lend to your business.

Output: The valuation of your cash generating entity/business.

Sample: My business is generating $100 this year, and 10% more every year for the next 2 years. One person owns all of the equity and I can get a business loan at 7% annually.

>>>from finance_tools import pv, dcf
>>>dcf([100, 100*1.1, 100*1.1**2, 100*1.1**3], .07)
417.1390718529881

Sample 2: Suppose a business will lose $200 in its current year of operation, and $100 the next year, and then break even, and grow at a rate of $100 per year for 3 years, assuming a WACC of 10%:

>>>dcf({0:-200, 1:-100, 2: 0, 3:100, 4:200, 5:300}, .10)
107.1014771718275

Equivalently:

>>>dcf([-200, -100, 0, 100, 200, 300], .10)
107.1014771718275

Years do not need to be continuous. This is useful for more abstract investments/businesses:

Recieving $1000 5 quarters from now, and $5452 12 quarters from now, assuming a 17% cost of capital and an initial investment today of $1300:

>>>dcf({0:-1300, 5:1000, 12:5452}, .17)
-15.325903934344126

What if we're able to pay 4 quarters into the future as opposed to today?

>>>dcf({4:-1300, 5:1000, 12:5452}, .17)
590.9290333625488

A positive DCF means this would be a good investment.

This is a useful analysis to run, because seeing how fluctuations in future cash flows impact valuation lets businesses make better decisions from a value-maximizing perspective.

If you see anything incorrect, please let me know. Thank you.


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_value
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_average_cost_of_capital
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discounted_cash_flow
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk-free_interest_rate