In the Financials tab you enter costs as positive numbers, and Equidam subtracts them for you. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is calculated as revenue minus the three cost rows. A minus sign and parentheses (brackets) both turn a number negative, in the table and in Excel imports. You never type a loss: it appears on its own when costs are higher than revenue.
Should I enter costs as positive or negative numbers?
Always positive. In the forecast columns, Revenue / ARR, Cost of goods sold, Salaries and Other operating expenses cannot be negative, and Equidam rejects the save. Enter 50,000 of office rent as 50000 in Other operating expenses, not -50000.
The rows below EBITDA follow the same logic. EBIT is EBITDA minus D&A (depreciation and amortisation), and Net profit is EBIT minus Interest minus Taxes. A positive number in D&A, Interest or Taxes lowers profit, and a negative number raises it.
What happens if I type a minus sign or parentheses?
Both are read as negative, whether you type or paste: -5000 and (5000) each become -5,000 when you leave the cell. The check runs when you select Save financials:
If no final-year cost line is above zero, the save panel reads "Final year costs cannot all be zero" and the final-year cost cells are outlined in red. A negative cost never counts as above zero.
Otherwise the save is rejected and the cell with the negative number is highlighted. For Revenue / ARR or Cost of goods sold, the message reads "Final year Revenue cannot be empty" or "Final year Cost of Goods Sold cannot be empty", even when the negative number is in an earlier year.
To fix either case, remove the minus sign or parentheses and save again.
How do I show a loss-making year?
Enter revenue and costs as positive numbers. EBITDA, EBIT and Net profit are calculated, and they turn negative in any year where costs exceed revenue. When pre-tax income is negative, the default Taxes for that year is zero, and the loss builds up deferred tax assets that lower taxes in later profitable years.
The final year matters most. Three of the valuation methods use your projected cash flows and expect positive cash flow by the last forecast year. If that year is still loss-making, the valuation can come out negative. Your numbers are still saved, and the save panel reads "The calculation resulted in a negative valuation". Adding forecast years until the company turns profitable usually resolves it.
How do I enter debt and repayments?
Debt at the end of the year is the outstanding long-term debt (due in more than 1 year) at the end of each year, entered as a positive number. Show a repayment by entering a lower balance: 30,000 of debt with 5,000 repaid in the first year becomes 25,000 in the second year. Change in outstanding debt is calculated for you; it is negative for a repayment and positive for new debt.
The first column of Debt at the end of the year is linked to the balance sheet debt field, and updating one updates the other. Interest you pay on the debt goes in the Interest row as a positive number.
Which rows accept negative numbers?
Capital expenditures: a negative number shows cash you expect from selling assets.
Future fundraising: a negative number shows dividends or payouts.
Retained earnings and Other reserves on the balance sheet: a negative number shows accumulated losses. Total Equity is their sum with share capital and share premium, so it can be negative.
Other balance sheet lines, such as cash and liabilities, take only zero or more.
Does the Excel import handle negative numbers?
Both Excel imports read a minus sign or parentheses as negative, so the cost rule applies there too:
Import Data refuses the file and names the cell, for example "Financials: The Salaries amount for year 2 is negative. Enter costs as positive numbers." Nothing is imported until you fix the file.
The spreadsheet icon in the Financials toolbar (Import financials from Excel) loads the values into the table. The checks above run when you select Save financials.
Limits
The negative-value check on revenue and the three cost rows covers only forecast columns. A negative cost in a past-year column is saved and raises that year's EBITDA, so keep past-year costs positive too.
Values are stored as whole numbers. Decimals are rounded when you leave the cell.
With Input Level set to Basic, the forecast cells of D&A, Interest and Taxes are calculated. You type them in the first column, or in every column with Input Level set to Advanced.
Common questions
Why does Equidam say my final-year costs are zero when I entered them?
Your final-year costs are probably negative. Only a cost above zero counts, so remove the minus sign or parentheses and save again.
Why is Change in outstanding debt negative?
Your debt balance went down that year, which counts as a repayment. New borrowing makes it positive.
Will Equidam flip the sign of my costs for me?
No. Equidam never changes the sign of a number you enter, in the table or on import. The formulas subtract costs, so enter them as positive numbers.