In addition to revenue, the club's restored credibility has allowed it to borrow money to keep up with each payment. Only with a rigid cash flow line has the market recognized Flamengo's ability to pay its debts. In the second part of the interview (read the first part here e the third part here), vice president of finance Rodrigo Tostes spoke about Flamengo's new economic policy. 

On that occasion, Rodrigo emphasized the importance of paying off debts to the federal government to avoid revenue garnishments, as occurs with other institutions, and to gain access to incentive laws. The club is expected to no longer need to resort to loans by 2016, provided it maintains austerity and revenue growth. Read another excerpt from the interview:

Toasts: It's money in the account. What was the biggest problem we encountered at Flamengo? Seizures. They take money from the account, either through a lawsuit that authorizes it to be deposited into the account or through a contract that you'll receive, preventing it from entering the club. Cash flow is something we all need in our daily lives: predictability. It's planning. You can't start the month without knowing how much you're going to spend, and Flamengo didn't have this, due to the number of non-compliances the club had been committing, both from a supplier and a tax perspective. The institution was subject to the possibility that at any moment a lawsuit, whether from a supplier or the government, could enter Flamengo's accounts and take the money. The rule of the game today is to pay bills and salaries on time and have money in the account. That's the importance of cash flow. Today, we know how much we start the month with, how much we'll end the month with, and how much we'll have at the end of the year.

Toasts: It's important to share this success with the other areas of the club. You can't do it alone. The awareness that grew within Flamengo—which we were able to pass on to football, Olympic sports, and Gávea—was crucial to our ability to raise more than we spent. This should be normal within clubs, but it isn't. Flamengo incurred 750 million reais in debt because it always spent more than it earned. It's that simple. The logic of football has always been what is popularly known as "pedalada," where future revenues are used to meet its commitments. Today, if we analyze the structure of the club's fiscal year, it earns much more than it spends. 

In 2014, we're heading towards a cash surplus of R$60 million. What will happen to this money? Unfortunately, it won't stay in our accounts. We'll have to pay taxes and outstanding debts from past negotiations. Obviously, our debt is much larger than our surplus, so we'll still need loans to pay off this R$750 million. What's the main point we need to emphasize? This debt is decreasing and will one day disappear, unlike what's happening not only in Rio de Janeiro football, but throughout Brazil as well.

Since we're spending less than we earn, we expect this surplus to remain in Flamengo's coffers in 2016. The good news is that the fiscal responsibility law implemented at the club is already yielding results. We've shown that despite reducing private investments, we're managing to raise 60 million in tax incentives through the CNDs. This allows us to invest in Olympic sports at our Gávea headquarters. In other words, there's no magic: it's about paying bills on time, spending less than you earn, fulfilling commitments, and taking one step at a time. You can't change a reality overnight.

Toasts: It's very easy to understand. We're not exchanging public debt for private debt. Money is one thing. Today, one thing Flamengo has that it never had before is credit. Only those with credit can get a loan. And we can only get a loan because we're paying our bills on time. Unfortunately, considering the day-to-day life of workers, the credit card debt the club has taken on is much greater than the "salary" we receive. So, we have to take out loans to pay for these daily expenses.

The point is: if you receive a certain amount and spend less, your debt is decreasing. Today, Flamengo has the fiscal responsibility law applied within the club's framework, and all members of the board of directors and management are complying with it. So, there's no debt swap. Today, Flamengo has credit, it has credibility. It sits down with the president, a bank director, shows its cash flow, and can get a loan. Why? Because it pays its bills on time. Because it has revenue and can demonstrate that it will pay its debts. Today, the Flamengo brand is worth much more than it was previously precisely because we fulfill our commitments.

Read also
Part 1 - Vice President of Finance: "We raise more than we spend"
Part 3 - Rodrigo Tostes: "Our legacy is the return of credibility"