Capital budgeting processes and techniques used by agricultural enterprises in Estonia

Investeeringutel on oluline mõju ettevõtte tuleviku rahavoogudele ja ettevõtte (finants)tulemustele tulevikus. Seega on oluline, et ettevõttes vastuvõetavad otsused oleksid strateegiliselt kaalutletud ning läbinud teatavad analüüsi- ja hindamisprotsessid. Eesti põllumajandusettevõtted on viimastel aastatel olnud ühed aktiivsemad materiaalsesse põhivarasse investeerijad. Kuna põllumajandussektori investeeringuid iseloomustavad suured pöördumatud kulud ning kõrge määramatus tuleviku osas, on oskus investeerimisprojekte hinnata ja analüüsida väga oluline. Magistritöö eesmärgiks on välja selgitada, milline on Eesti põllumajandusettevõtete kapitali eelarvestamise protsess ning milliseid kapitali eelarvestamise meetodeid ettevõtted kasutavad. Käesolev magistritöö koosneb kahest peatükist ning töös on kasutatud nii esmaseid kui ka teiseseid andmeid. Töö empiirilises osas analüüsiti Eesti põllumajandusettevõtete investeerimisaktiivsust, kasutades Eesti Statistikaameti ja FADN andmebaase, ning viidi läbi ankeetküsitlus, et uurida, millised on kapitali eelarvestamise protsessid ja kasutatavad meetodid põllumajandusettevõtetes. Uuringus osales 42 põllumajandusettevõtete. Sarnaselt varem läbiviidud uuringutele tuli välja, et Eesti põllumajandusettevõtted pööravad enam tähelepanu investeerimisvajaduste väljaselgitamisele ja investeerimisotsuse täideviimisele, kui investeerimisprojekti tasuvuse hindamisele, riskianalüüsi läbiviimisele ja tulemuste kontrollimisele. Investeeringute tasuvuse hindamisel kasutatakse enamasti lihtsamaid meetodeid (tasuvusaeg ja arvestusliku rentaabluse meetod). Suuremad põllumajandusettevõtted kasutavad keskmisest enam keerukamaid kapitali eelarvestamise meetodeid (NPV, IRR) ning samuti hindasid keskettevõtted keskmisest kõrgemalt oma teostust riskianalüüsi läbiviimisel. Seega on oluline tõsta põllumajandusettevõtete finantsplaneerimise oskust läbi koolituste ja nõuandeteenistuse ning toetada ja julgustada ettevõtteid keerukamate kapitali eelarvestamise meetodite kasutamisel. Edasistes uuringutes tuleks täpsemalt uurida, milliseid hindamiskriteeriume põllumajandusettevõtted investeeringute tasuvuse hindamisel kasutavad; kuidas teostatakse projekti riskianalüüsi. Samuti tuleks uurida, kas ja mil määral erinevad kapitali eelarvestamise protsessid ja kasutatavad meetodid Eestis tegevusvaldkonniti.Capital budgeting is one of the most important decisions that enterprise’s (financial) managers are facing with. Investments projects have an essential impact on enterprise’s future cash flow and its’ financial position in the future. Therefore it is crucial that managers use accurate capital budgeting techniques that help them to make the best investment decision for the enterprise. In recent years, agricultural enterprises in Estonia are actively investing in fixed assets. As investments in agriculture are typically characterized by large sunk costs and uncertainty in future returns, it is very important that investments decisions are evaluated and analysed properly. The objective of this Master`s thesis is to identify what the capital budgeting process is like in Estonian agricultural enterprises and which capital budgeting methods companies use. This Master`s thesis comprises two chapters and uses primary and secondary data. This Master`s thesis comprises two chapters and uses primary and secondary data. The first chapter gives a theoretical overview of the nature and processes of capital budgeting. The second chapter assesses the investment activity of Estonian agricultural enterprises, the database of Statistics Estonia and FADN were used as data sources; and describes the methodology, sample, and results of the research conducted for the purpose of this Master`s thesis. Forty-two agricultural enterprises participated in the empirical study. The data show that in recent years, the investment activity of agricultural enterprises has increased, but Estonian agricultural companies are still falling behind and have great investment needs in comparison with the companies of other European Union Member States. The results of the study revealed that agricultural enterprises pay more attention to identifying investment needs and implementing investment decisions than to assessing the profitability of an investment project, conducting risk analysis, and examining the results. In appraising the profitability of investment projects, simpler evaluation techniques, like payback period and accounting rate of return, are preferred. The comparison of agricultural companies by size revealed that medium-sized companies use more sophisticated capital budgeting methods (like NPV and IRR) and assess their risk analysis processes to be above average. Therefore it is important to increase the financial planning skills of agricultural enterprises with trainings and advisory services, as well as to support and encourage the companies to use more complex capital budgeting methods. This Master`s thesis can be developed further in several directions. The further studies should research in more detail which assessment criteria are used by agricultural enterprises in evaluating the profitability of investments, as well as how companies conduct project risk analyses. Another subject that should be examined further is how and to which extent are various capital budgeting processes and methods used in different fields of activity in Estonia