Software

FORVAL for Windows is a user-friendly program designed to help evaluate timberland investments from a financial standpoint. FORVAL for Windows presents users with four choices:

• Financial Criteria. The program will calculate Net Present Value, Rate of Return, Equivalent Annual Income, and Benefit/Cost Ratio (users have the option to calculate one or all of the above criteria). The list of financial criteria also includes Land Expectation Value - for the specific case where bare land value is being estimated, and the list includes a Future Value option - for projecting the value of a single cash flow at a future date.
• Monthly or Annual Payments. FORVAL for Windows will calculate monthly or annual payments to repay a loan or to accumulate a future sum. The program assumes "end of period" payments. It applies the "sinking fund" formulas for accumulating future sums, and it applies the "capital recovery" formulas for installment payments.
• Precommercial Timber Value. FORVAL for Windows calculates the investment value of precommercial timber using income capitalization method. The approach involves first calculating the rate of return on a specific timber investment. This rate of interest is then used to compound timber production and land opportunity costs to the current stand age.
• Projected Stumpage Price. The program calculates the future value of a specific stumpage price. FORVAL simply applies the future value of a single sum formula, given inputs for initial price, annual rate of price appreciation, and the number of years projected.

Timber yield projections are not made by FORVAL for Windows, so it's recommended that users begin any analysis by specifying all of the pertinent costs and revenues on a cash-flow diagram. To perform after-tax calculations with FORVAL, users must specify after-tax costs and revenues, and an after-tax discount rate.

Two publications are "companions" to FORVAL for Windows. One is a free "users guide" "FORVAL for Windows: A Computer Program for FORest VALuation and Investment Analysis". The second publication is a workbook titled "Basic Concepts in Forest Valuation and Investment Analysis." The workbook explains all of the concepts applied in the computer software, including for example, the basics of precommercial timber valuation, and what is involved in selecting a discount rate. The book is available from Forestry Suppliers, Inc. For information on availability and price, see www.forestry-suppliers.com

After downloading the zip file, please run the SETUP.EXE file before running FORVAL for the first time.

Download

Close