Find out more about free cash flow, the formula for calculating free cash flow, and how to calculate a company's free cash flow using Microsoft Excel.

Lenders and investors can predict the success of a company by using the spreadsheet application Excel to calculate the free cash flow of companies.

That wraps up the format section, and we turn to Buffett's approach to the cash flow statement. While no doubt he reads it all closely, there are a couple of areas that receive special attention.