Which of the following is an example of cash outflow?

• A. Inflow from asset sales
• B. Outflow during operations such as business expenditures, loan payments, and business purchases
• C. Inflow from sales revenue
• D. Depreciation expense

Answer: (B)

Cash outflow means money leaving the business. The option that describes outflows during operations—such as day-to-day expenditures, payments on loans, and purchases made by the business—is the one that matches this idea, because these are actual cash payments made in the period.

In contrast, inflows from asset sales or from sales revenue bring cash into the business, so they are cash inflows, not outflows. Depreciation expense is a non-cash accounting entry: it reduces reported profit but does not involve cash leaving the company in the period, so it is not a cash outflow (and is typically added back when calculating operating cash flow).