AS CHANGE SWEEPS ACROSS THE BUSINESS SECTOR, A HUGE RANGE OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES ARE CREATED IN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND THAT COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO ERRONEOUS CASH FLOW COMBINATIONS WHICH IN REALITY WEAKENING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES IN INDIA. SINCE EACH ENTERPRISE HAS ITS OWN INHERENT TRADEOFFS AMONG THE MULTIPLE CASH FLOW ELEMENTS THAT SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCE THE PERFORMANCE IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR MANAGERIAL DECISION TO KNOW THE SIGNIFICANT CASH FLOW ACTIVITIES FO BEST PRACTICE. THE RALATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT DECISION TO KNOW THE SIGNIFICANT CASH FLOW ACTIVITIES FOR BEST PRACTICE. THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT DECISION VARIABLES WHEN DETERMINED BY THE MAGNITUDES OF THE INPUTS AND OUTPUT CAN HELP TO IDENTIFY THE DECISIVE ONE. USING SECONDARY DATA OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF SELECTED SEVENTEEN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, THE STUDY DRILL DOWN TO IDENTIFY THE THREE FINANCIAL IMPERATIVES NAMELY CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES, INVESTING ACTIVITIES, AND FIINANCING ACTIVITIES ON NET PROFIT AND NET VALUE ADDED AS A BUNDLE OF TANGIBLE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE REGULARLY OBSERVED IN MANAGING PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. THE BEST PRACTICE STATUS ON THE BASIS OF EFFICIENCY SCORE IS EVALUATED TO SEE WHETHER A CHANGE IN VALUE OF DECISIVE FACTOR SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTS THE PERFORMANCE GRADE BETWEEN THE ENTERPRISES DURING THE PERIOD UNDER STUDY. THE MULTIYEAR RESULTS WITHIN AND BETWEEN ENTERPRISES PROVIDED TWO KEY INTERESTING INDICATIONS: THAT MAKING GOOD USE OF OPERATING CASH FLOWS ARE THE CRITICAL MEASURE TO CHANGE THE PERFORMANCE GRADE OF THE ENTERPRISE, AND THAT MORE THAN TWO-THIRD PUBLIC ENTERPRISES ARE EFFECTIVELY GEARED TO OPERATE IN ACHIEVING THE BEST PRACTICE STATUS WITH THE OPERATING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES IN TERMS OF A SET OF CAS FLOW ELEMENTS.