It stands for cash-on-cash return; the return/ rate of return ratio that relates the total cash earned on the total cash (equity) invested in a business/ an instrument/ a deal. It is a financial metric (profitability measure) that uses the cash flows from income-generating assets/ units in order to assess their profitability- ability to generate cash (monetary) profits from the monetary amounts invested.

In investing and finance, this return measure reflects the ratio of total, annual before-tax cash flows (after debt service) to the total amount of cash invested, expressed as a percentage:

Cash-on-cash return = annual pre-tax cash flow (APTCF)  ÷ total cash invested