About: Clean surplus accounting

The clean surplus accounting method provides elements of a forecasting model that yields price as a function of earnings, expected returns, and change in book value. The theory's primary use is to estimate the value of a company’s shares (instead of discounted dividend/cash flow approaches). The secondary use is to estimate the cost of capital, as an alternative to e.g. the CAPM. The "clean surplus" is calculated by not including transactions with shareholders (such as dividends, share repurchases or share offerings) when calculating returns; whereas standard accounting for financial statements requires that the change in book value equal earnings minus dividends (net of capital changes).