The purpose of the cash flow statement is to provide information about the cash flows associated with the period's operations and also about the entity's investing and financing activities during the period.This information is important both to shareholders, part of whose investment return (dividends) is dependent on cash flows, and also to lenders, whose interest payments and principal repayment require the use of cash. the welfare of other constituencies of a company-including its employees, its suppliers, and the local communities that may levy taxes on it-depends to varying degrees on the company's ability to generate adequate cash flow to fulfill its financial obligations.