Economic Value Added (EVA) Accounting Practice Although Economic Value Added (EVA) is not a new concept in economics and financial theory and is based on the 19th century concept of "economic profit," it has only been widely adopted recently by business firms as an accounting practice. In this paper we shall describe what EVA is, and look at its pros and cons from the point-of-view of the company adopting the practice and the investors. We shall also discuss how EVA differs from some other emerging accounting practices and the major issues relating to EVA as compared to other commonly used accounting principles. Finally, the possible problems and opportunities that a company adopting EVA principles can face shall be examined.

What is Economic Value Added (EVA)?

Economic Value Added (EVA) is the after-tax cash flow generated by a business minus the cost of the capital it has invested to generate that cash flow. It represents the "real" profits rather than the "paper" profits that a business earns and is increasingly in corporate finance for business planning and performance monitoring. (Keen, 1999)

In other words Economic Value Added is not the straightforward accounting "profit" that we get by subtracting the costs minus revenue. In EVA we take into account the "cost of capital" that is invested in the business and the cost of capital includes both debt and equity. Hence if we invest, for example, $100,000 in a business and get $110,000 as revenue the profit is not simply ($110,000 minus $100,000 = $10,000) since the $100,000 at the time of investment had an opportunity cost that has to be accounted for before we determine our "real" profit. If the opportunity cost of $100,000 at the time of investment was $120,000, i.e., the investor could earn $20,000 by investing his/her money elsewhere, the $10,000 "paper profit" would actually be a "loss" in real terms.

EVA is also a proprietary trademark of Stern Stewart & Co., a global consulting company.

Pros and Cons of EVA-Shareholders' &...

Adoption of EVA accounting principles makes the firm's management more accountable to the suppliers of equity capital, i.e., the shareholders. EVA figures also keep the shareholders informed about how much "value" has been added to their investment.
Adoption of EVA accounting practices prevents managers from thinking that the cost of capital is free and enables the businesses to focus on adding "value" to the firm while providing the financial managers a better tool for making better-informed decisions. For example, a London-based firm (United Distillers & Vintners Ltd.) used EVA to analyze which of its liquor brands generated the best returns. Since Scotch Whiskey required longer storage periods, it did not generate as much profit as vodka, which could be sold within weeks of being distilled. As a result of the EVA analysis, management at United Distillers decided to focus more on vodka production and sales instead of Scotch. (Shand, 2000)

So the main "pros" of EVA are that it accounts for the cost of capital and reflects the risk of project unlike most other accounting measures. It also aligns the managerial actions in line with shareholders' value (and hence shareholders' interest) and provides superior incentive compensation than those based on traditional accounting measures.

On the other hand, the main "cons" of EVA are:

EVA can be short-sighted. For example, cash flows of pharmaceutical, high-tech, and Internet companies are typically negative for a long period at their start. EVA is biased toward projects that have shorter payback periods.

EVA calculations can be manipulated by managers to maximize their values in the near terms at the expense of future, more distant EVA values

It is relatively complicated as compared to traditional measures such as IRR (Internal Rate of Return), NPV (Net Present Value), ROI (Return on Investment), and EPS (Earning per Share) since…