Non-cash expenses: Definition and common examples

Non-cash expenses are income statement charges that reduce net income without an immediate outflow of cash. Common examples include depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, and asset impairments, all of which reflect how costs are recognized over time rather than when cash changes hands. Understanding these expenses is essential for interpreting profitability, cash flow, and overall financial performance.

What are non-cash expenses?

A non-cash expense is a business cost that reduces net income without requiring any actual cash outflow. These expenses appear on the income statement, but they do not change the cash moving in or out of your bank account during the period they’re recorded.

By contrast, cash expenses involve direct payments for goods or services your business needs to operate, such as payroll, rent, interest, or taxes. Distinguishing between the two helps prevent confusion between reported profit and the cash your business actually has available.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

Recognizing this distinction helps you better manage operating cash flow and avoid mistaking accounting results for liquidity.

How non-cash expenses work

Non-cash expenses are recorded through accounting entries that recognize costs over time rather than when cash is paid. Under accrual accounting, expenses are matched to the revenue they help generate, even if the related cash transaction happened earlier or will occur later.

For example, when you purchase equipment, the cash outflow happens upfront. Instead of expensing the full cost immediately, depreciation spreads that cost across the asset’s useful life. Each period, depreciation reduces net income, even though no additional cash leaves the business.

This is why non-cash expenses lower reported profit but don’t reduce operating cash flow. On the income statement, they appear as expenses. On the cash flow statement, they’re added back to net income to reflect the fact that cash wasn’t spent during the period.

Why companies record non-cash expenses

Companies record non-cash expenses to present a more accurate picture of financial performance, even when no cash changes hands in the current period.

Key reasons include:

• Reflect true value: Depreciation and amortization spread asset costs over their useful lives to show the real cost of generating revenue
• Clarify cash flow: Net income alone can be misleading. Non-cash expenses help reconcile reported profit with actual cash on hand.
• Comply with accounting standards: Accrual accounting requires matching costs to the revenue they help generate
• Increase investor transparency: Recording non-cash expenses helps stakeholders assess long-term sustainability and earnings quality

Non-cash expenses vs. non-cash charges vs. non-cash adjustments

The terms non-cash expenses, non-cash charges, and non-cash adjustments are often used interchangeably, but they’re not always referring to the same thing.

Non-cash expenses is the broadest and most commonly used term. It describes income statement expenses that reduce net income without an immediate cash outflow, such as depreciation, amortization, bad debt expense, and stock-based compensation.

Non-cash charges typically refers to similar items, but it’s often used in a more analytical or investor context. You’ll frequently see this term in earnings discussions to describe expenses that affect reported profit without affecting cash in the same period.

Non-cash adjustments usually describes the process of modifying net income to arrive at cash-based metrics. These adjustments appear most clearly on the cash flow statement, where non-cash expenses are added back to reconcile net income with operating cash flow.

In practice, the distinctions are contextual. For clarity and consistency, this article uses non-cash expenses as the primary term.

Most common types of non-cash expenses

There are five main types of non-cash expenses your business may record: depreciation, amortization, bad debt expense, asset impairment, and stock-based compensation.

Depreciation

Depreciation is the reduction in the value of a tangible asset due to usage or wear and tear. Buildings, machinery, vehicles, and office furniture all depreciate over time, and the expense is recorded on the income statement.

For context, useful lives vary by asset type. Equipment is often depreciated over about 5–7 years, while buildings are depreciated over longer schedules, such as 27.5 years for residential rental property and 39 years for nonresidential real property under U.S. tax rules.

There are three main depreciation methods:

Straight-line method

The straight-line method distributes the cost of an asset evenly across its useful life, resulting in a consistent annual depreciation expense.

Annual depreciation = (Asset cost – Salvage value) / Useful life

Example: A shipping truck that costs $80,000, with a $10,000 salvage value and a 5-year useful life, depreciates by $14,000 each year.

($80,000 – $10,000) / 5 = $14,000

Declining balance method

The declining balance method accelerates depreciation, recording larger expenses earlier in an asset’s life and smaller ones later. This increases deductions in the early years of ownership.

Depreciation = Book value * Rate

Example: An asset worth $10,000 with a 50% declining rate depreciates by $5,000 in the first year. In year two, the new book value of $5,000 yields $2,500 of depreciation.

• Year 1: $10,000 * 50% = $5,000
• Year 2: $5,000 * 50% = $2,500

Units of production method

The units of production method ties depreciation to actual usage instead of time, making it well suited for machinery or equipment.

Depreciation = Units produced * (Asset cost – Salvage value) / Total estimated units of production

Example: A $50,000 machine with a $5,000 salvage value and a 100,000-unit capacity depreciates at $0.45 per unit. Producing 20,000 units in the first year results in $9,000 of depreciation.

20,000 * ($50,000 – $5,000) / 100,000 = $9,000

Amortization

Amortization is the gradual recognition of the cost of an intangible asset over its useful life. Unlike depreciation, which applies to physical assets, amortization spreads the expense of assets such as patents, software, or franchise rights.

Amortization expense = (Cost – Residual value) / Useful life

Example: If you purchase a patent for $10,000 with no residual value and a 10-year useful life, you would record $1,000 in amortization expense each year.

($10,000 – $0) / 10 = $1,000

Common intangible assets that are amortized include:

• Patents
• Copyrights and trademarks
• Software development
• Franchise agreements
• Goodwill

Bad debt expense

Bad debt expense accounts for receivables you don’t expect to collect. Recording it ensures your financial statements reflect the true value of revenue rather than overstating income.

Two methods are commonly used:

• Allowance method: Estimate uncollectible accounts in advance by debiting bad debt expense and crediting an allowance for doubtful accounts, a contra-asset. This method is preferred under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
• Direct write-off method: Record the expense only when it becomes certain a customer won’t pay by debiting bad debt expense and crediting accounts receivable.

Example: If a customer owes $1,500 and goes out of business, you may recognize that loss immediately under the direct write-off method. Under the allowance method, you might estimate that 3% of $50,000 in receivables will be uncollectible and record a $1,500 bad debt expense.

Bad debt expense is particularly common in retail, banking, and telecommunications, where customer defaults occur more frequently.

Asset impairment

Asset impairment occurs when the market value of an asset falls below its book value. Unlike depreciation, which is expected and systematic, impairment reflects sudden events that reduce an asset’s value.

Companies test assets for impairment when indicators suggest a decline in value, such as market changes, physical damage, or obsolescence. If the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable value, the difference is recorded as an impairment loss.

Common triggers include:

• Market decline
• Regulatory changes
• Poor financial performance
• Physical damage or obsolescence

Real-world examples:

• Exxon wrote down $19.3 billion in natural gas assets in 2020 amid an energy market downturn
• General Electric recorded a $22 billion goodwill impairment in 2018 after its Alstom acquisition underperformed
• Meta reported a $413 million impairment in 2022 to reduce office space and align with its long-term operating needs

Impairment losses are recorded on the income statement, reduce net income, and lower the carrying value of the affected asset on the balance sheet.

Stock-based compensation (SBC)

Stock-based compensation gives employees equity instead of cash as part of their pay. It often takes the form of stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), or employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs). Tech companies and startups rely on SBC to attract and retain talent while conserving cash.

Each type works a little differently, though they all qualify as non-cash expenses:

• Stock options: Employees get the right to buy company stock at a fixed strike price. If the stock price rises above that level, the option is “in the money” and can be exercised.
• RSUs: Restricted stock units are granted as part of a compensation package. Once they vest, employees own the shares outright.
• ESPPs: Employee stock purchase plans allow employees to buy stock at a discount through payroll deductions using after-tax income.

SBC expense = Fair value of stock grant / Vesting period

Example: If an employee receives RSUs valued at $60,000 that vest over four years, the company records $15,000 in SBC expense each year.

$60,000 / 4 = $15,000

From an accounting perspective, SBC reduces net income even though no cash leaves the business. It also increases the total share count, creating dilution without generating cash proceeds.

Additional non-cash expenses to know

Beyond the most common examples, several other non-cash expenses appear on financial statements depending on industry, asset mix, and accounting treatment.

Unrealized gains and losses

Mark-to-market accounting requires certain assets and liabilities to be adjusted to their fair market value at each reporting period. When investments or derivatives change in value, you record the difference as an unrealized gain or loss on the income statement, even though the asset hasn’t been sold.

These paper gains and losses can significantly affect net income without changing cash. A portfolio might increase in value during the quarter and boost reported earnings, while your bank balance remains unchanged until the position is actually closed.

Deferred income taxes

Deferred income taxes arise when financial statement income differs from taxable income because of timing differences in how revenue and expenses are recognized. For example, you might depreciate equipment faster for tax purposes than for book purposes, creating a temporary difference that reverses later.

Deferred tax liabilities represent future tax payments you’ll owe when those differences reverse, while deferred tax assets represent future tax benefits. Both affect the income statement through non-cash tax expense adjustments without requiring immediate cash payment.

Provisions and accruals

Provisions are recorded when a business expects future obligations tied to past events, such as warranty claims on products already sold or restructuring costs from announced layoffs. The estimated expense is recorded immediately, even though the cash payment occurs later.

Warranty provisions reduce income when a product is sold, not when a customer files a claim. Restructuring charges appear when plans are announced, not when severance checks are written. These estimates help match expenses to the periods that generated them.

Depletion

Depletion is a non-cash expense used to allocate the cost of natural resources over time. It applies to industries that extract resources such as oil, gas, minerals, or timber.

As resources are extracted and sold, a portion of the asset’s carrying value is expensed on the income statement. Like depreciation and amortization, depletion reduces net income without an immediate cash outflow during the period it’s recorded.

Impact on financial analysis

Non-cash expenses can create a gap between reported profit and actual cash generation, which is why analysts adjust for them when evaluating performance.

Analysts often add back non-cash expenses when calculating EBITDA because these charges don’t reflect cash generated from current operations. Depreciation and amortization stem from past capital investments, while EBITDA aims to isolate ongoing operating performance.

These expenses can materially change how a business looks on paper. A company may report thin margins due to heavy depreciation while still generating strong operating cash flow. Separating accounting charges from cash movement helps determine whether the business can fund operations, service debt, and invest in growth.

Non-cash expenses also affect key financial ratios. Return on assets can appear artificially low as accumulated depreciation reduces asset values. Net profit margins may compress under non-cash charges even when underlying cash margins remain healthy. Analysts who fail to adjust for these effects risk drawing the wrong conclusions.

Adjusting for non-cash expenses in valuation

Free cash flow starts with net income, then adds back non-cash expenses, subtracts capital expenditures, and adjusts for changes in working capital.

Free cash flow = Net income + Depreciation and amortization – Capital expenditures – Change in working capital

This calculation shows how much cash the business generates after maintaining and expanding its asset base.

Investors prioritize cash-based metrics because cash funds dividends, reduces debt, and supports acquisitions. Strong earnings driven by accounting adjustments mean little if a business cannot consistently generate cash.

For example, a company with $10 million in net income, $3 million in depreciation, $4 million in capital expenditures, and a $1 million increase in working capital generates $8 million in free cash flow.

$10 million + $3 million – $4 million – $1 million = $8 million

Non-cash expenses in financial statements

Even though non-cash expenses don’t involve cash leaving your business, they must still be recorded to keep financial statements accurate. Below are common journal entry examples showing how these expenses appear across statements.

Depreciation

Amortization

Bad debt expense

Asset impairment

Stock-based compensation

Reading the cash flow statement

The cash flow statement includes an “Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities” section that bridges accounting profit and actual cash generation. This reconciliation appears in the operating activities section and lists non-cash items that affected net income.

You’ll typically find these non-cash items in the reconciliation section:

• Depreciation and amortization expenses
• Stock-based compensation
• Impairment charges and asset write-downs
• Deferred income tax expense or benefit
• Gains or losses on asset sales
• Unrealized gains or losses on investments

These items are added back to net income because they reduced reported profit without consuming cash during the period.

Practical examples by industry

Different industries generate distinct non-cash expense patterns based on their business models, asset structures, and compensation practices.

Technology companies

Technology companies often carry significant stock-based compensation expenses as they grant equity to employees at all levels. Software firms that acquire competitors also amortize purchased intangible assets such as patents, customer relationships, and developed technology over long periods.

In many public software companies, stock-based compensation can represent roughly 10–20% of revenue, which is why analysts frequently review it separately from cash payroll when assessing operating leverage and dilution.

Manufacturing companies

Manufacturers invest heavily in production equipment, facilities, and machinery that depreciate over long useful lives. A single factory can generate millions in annual depreciation as fabrication equipment, assembly lines, forklifts, and building structures gradually lose value.

As a result, capital-intensive manufacturers often report lower accounting profits than their cash generation would suggest, especially during periods of heavy investment.

Retail and service industries

Retailers often write down inventory that becomes obsolete, damaged, or unsellable at full price, creating non-cash charges against profit. Service businesses and lenders frequently record bad debt expense when customers fail to pay, estimating uncollectible amounts before specific balances are written off.

These provisions reduce reported income while preserving cash until collection efforts are exhausted.

How Ramp simplifies tracking and managing non-cash expenses

Managing non-cash expenses like depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation can quickly become a headache for finance teams. These expenses don't involve actual cash outflows, but they still impact your financial statements and require meticulous tracking. Without proper systems in place, you're left manually calculating depreciation schedules in spreadsheets, struggling to allocate expenses correctly, and spending hours reconciling these entries each month.

Ramp transforms this complex process through automated expense management and intelligent categorization. When you record asset purchases, Ramp automatically tracks depreciation schedules based on the asset class and accounting method you've selected. Instead of maintaining separate spreadsheets for each asset, you can view all depreciation expenses in one centralized dashboard, with automatic monthly journal entries that sync directly to your accounting software. This eliminates the risk of missed entries or calculation errors that often plague manual processes.

For stock-based compensation and other recurring non-cash expenses, Ramp's automated workflows ensure consistent monthly recognition. You can set up rules to automatically categorize and allocate these expenses to the correct departments and cost centers, maintaining accuracy without manual intervention. The platform's real-time reporting provides instant visibility into how non-cash expenses affect your overall financial picture, making it easier to explain variances to stakeholders and make informed decisions.

By automating the most time-consuming aspects of non-cash expense management, Ramp frees your finance team to focus on strategic analysis rather than data entry. You'll close your books faster, reduce errors, and gain better insights into your true operating costs—all while maintaining complete audit trails for every non-cash transaction.

Save time and money with finance automation

Ramp connects seamlessly with major accounting, tax-filing, banking, and security software to allow for easy financial management and collaboration. Companies that use Ramp can look forward to fewer errors, less time spent on tedious accounting tasks, greater financial productivity, and overall employee satisfaction.

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