If depreciation is a non-cash expense, why does it still affect the cash balance?

• The depreciation charge itself is a cash outflow, since the company pays down the asset's value in installments each year
• It has no effect on cash at all, since a non-cash expense by definition never touches the cash balance
• It raises cash by the full depreciation amount, because the whole expense is added straight back on the cash flow statement
• It raises cash because a larger depreciation expense signals heavier asset use, which pulls in more customer collections
• It is tax-deductible, so it lowers taxes paid and raises cash by depreciation times the tax rate