How common are direct-method cash flow statements?
A tutorial on working with XBRL data compiled using dera.pq
This note illustrates how data compiled using my dera.pq R package can be used to analyse XBRL data from SEC filings. Using these data, I show that direct-method cash flow statements have become even rarer for US firms than they were in 2011, when the last Accounting Trends and Techniques survey was published.
Source code
The complete Quarto source, bibliography, and citation style are available to download. Save all three files in the same directory to render the note. Running the analysis requires the R packages used in the source and a local DERA Notes Parquet repository configured through DATA_DIR.
This is a copy of the note dated 11 June 2026 from the cash-flows repository. The PDF retains the results from that version.