Exam 15: Working Capital

Long-term loan agreements always contain provisions, or covenants, that constrain the firm's future actions. Short-term credit agreements are just as restrictive in order to protect the interest of the lender.

Not taking cash discounts is costly, and as a result, firms that do not take them are usually those that are performing poorly and have inadequate cash balances.

Suppose the credit terms offered to your firm by its suppliers are 2/10, net 30 days. Your firm is not taking discounts, but is paying after 25 days instead of waiting until Day 30. You point out that the nominal cost of not taking the discount and paying on Day 30 is approximately 37%. But since your firm is neither taking discounts nor paying on the due date, what is the effective annual percentage cost (not the nominal cost) of its costly trade credit, using a 365-day year?

Firms generally choose to finance temporary current assets with short-term debt because

Van Den Borsh Corp. has annual sales of $50,735,000, an average inventory level of $15,012,000, and average accounts receivable of $10,008,000. The firm's cost of goods sold is 85% of sales. The company makes all purchases on credit and has always paid on the 30th day. However, it now plans to take full advantage of trade credit and to pay its suppliers on the 40th day. The CFO also believes that sales can be maintained at the existing level but inventory can be lowered by $1,946,000 and accounts receivable by $1,946,000. What will be the net change in the cash conversion cycle, assuming a 365-day year?

If a firm's suppliers stop offering discounts, then its use of trade credit is more likely to increase than to decrease other things held constant.

Other things held constant, which of the following will cause an increase in net working capital?

The risk to the firm of borrowing using short-term credit is usually greater than if it used long-term debt. Added risk stems from (1) the greater variability of interest costs on short-term than long-term debt and (2) the fact that even if its long-term prospects are good, the firm's lenders may not be willing to renew short-term loans if the firm is temporarily unable to repay those loans.

Affleck Inc.'s business is booming, and it needs to raise more capital. The company purchases supplies on terms of 1/10, net 20, and it currently takes the discount. One way of acquiring the needed funds would be to forgo the discount, and the firm's owner believes she could delay payment to 40 days without adverse effects. What would be the effective annual percentage cost of funds raised by this action? (Assume a 365-day year.)

A firm's collection policy, i.e., the procedures it follows to collect accounts receivable, plays an important role in keeping its average collection period short, although too strict a collection policy can reduce profits due to lost sales.

If a firm switched from taking trade credit discounts to paying on the net due date, this might cost the firm some money, but such a policy would probably have only a negligible effect on the income statement and no effect whatever on the balance sheet.

Data on Shin Inc for 2011 are shown below, along with the inventory conversion period (ICP) of the firms against which it benchmarks. The firm's new CFO believes that the company could reduce its inventory enough to reduce its ICP to the benchmarks' average. If this were done, by how much would inventories decline? Use a 365-day year.

If a firm takes actions that reduce its days sales outstanding (DSO), then, other things held constant, this will lengthen its cash conversion cycle (CCC) and cause a deterioration in its cash position.

On average, a firm collects checks totaling $250,000 per day. It takes the firm approximately 4 days from the day the checks were mailed until they result in usable cash for the firm. Assume that (1) a lockbox system could be employed which would reduce the cash conversion procedure to 2 1/2 days and (2) the firm could invest any additional cash generated at 6% after taxes. The lockbox system would be a good buy if it costs $25,000 annually.

A firm constructing a new manufacturing plant and financing it with short-term loans, which are scheduled to be converted to first mortgage bonds when the plant is completed, would want to separate the construction loan from its current liabilities associated with working capital when calculating net working capital.

Which of the following is NOT directly reflected in the cash budget of a firm that is in the zero tax bracket?

If a firm has set up a revolving credit agreement with a bank, the risk to the firm of being unable to obtain funds when needed is lower than if it had an informal line of credit.

Which of the following items should a company report directly in its monthly cash budget?

An increase in any current asset must be accompanied by an equal increase in some current liability.

Inventory management is largely self-contained in the sense that very little coordination among the sales, purchasing, and production personnel is required for successful inventory management.