What is a cash flow waterfall?

A cash flow waterfall is a bar chart that walks from operating cash flow through capital expenditure to free cash flow, then shows how the remaining cash is allocated — acquisitions, buybacks, dividends, debt, and other financing — ending at the net change in cash. Each step is colour-coded: green bars add to the running total, red bars subtract.

How does Paycom Software (PAYC) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Paycom Software generated $707M of operating cash flow and $443M of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 62.6% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Paycom Software (PAYC) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent Paycom Software's shareholder returns for TTM through Q1 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

Paycom Software (PAYC) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$707M

Capex

-$264M

Free Cash Flow

$443M

FCF Margin

+62.6%

Cash flow waterfall for Paycom Software (PAYC) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $443M

Cash flow breakdown for Paycom Software (PAYC) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$707M	$707M
Capital Expenditure	-$264M	$443M
Free Cash Flow	$443M	$443M
Other Investing	$2.3M	$445M
Share Buybacks	-$1.37B	-$930M
Dividends Paid	-$81.4M	-$1.01B
Net Debt Change	$675M	-$336M
Other Financing	$343M	$7.4M
Forex Effect	-$374M	-$367M
Net Cash Decrease	-$367M	-$367M

Operating Cash Flow$707M
Capital Expenditure-$264M
Free Cash Flow$443M
Other Investing$2.3M
Share Buybacks-$1.37B
Dividends Paid-$81.4M
Net Debt Change$675M
Other Financing$343M
Forex Effect-$374M
Net Cash Decrease-$367M

Want to see what drove the FCF change?Free Cash Flow Bridge

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