Exam 27: Providing and Obtaining Credit

The collection process, although sometimes difficult, is a fairly inexpensive component of doing business.

You have just taken out a loan for $75,000. The stated (simple) interest rate on this loan is 10 percent, and the bank requires you to maintain a compensating balance equal to 15 percent of the initial face amount of the loan. You currently have $20,000 in your checking account, and you plan to maintain this balance. The loan is an add-on installment loan which you will repay in 12 equal monthly installments, beginning at the end of the first month. -What is the nominal annual add-on interest rate on this loan?

Cash discounts are mostly used to get new customers in the door since existing customers almost always use the delayed payment terms.

East Lansing Appliances (ELA) expects to have sales this year of $15 million under its current credit policy. The present terms are net 30; the days sales outstanding (DSO) is 60 days; and the bad debt loss percentage is 5 percent. Since ELA wants to improve its profitability, the treasurer has proposed that the credit period be shortened to 15 days. This change would reduce expected sales by $500,000, but it would also shorten the DSO on the remaining sales to 30 days. Expected bad debt losses on the remaining sales would fall to 3 percent. The variable cost percentage is 60 percent, and the cost of capital is 15 percent. -What are the incremental pre-tax profits from this proposal?

Berkeley Prints expects to have sales this year of $15 million under its current credit policy. The present terms are net 30; the days dales outstanding (DSO) is 60 days; and the bad debt loss percentage is 5 percent. Also, Berkeley's cost of capital is 15 percent, and its variable costs total 60 percent of sales. Since Berkeley wants to improve its profitability, a proposal has been made to offer a 2 percent discount for payment within 10 days; that is, change the credit terms to 2/10, net 30. The consultants predict that sales would increase by $500,000, and that 50 percent of all customers would take the discount. The new DSO would be 30 days, and the bad debt loss percentage on all sales would fall to 4 percent. -What are the incremental pre-tax profits from this proposal?

If sales are seasonal, the days sales outstanding will fluctuate from month to month, even if the amount of time customers take to pay remains unchanged.

Bass Boats Inc. currently has sales of $1,000,000, and its days sales outstanding is 30 days. The financial manager estimates that offering longer credit terms would (1) increase the days sales outstanding to 50 days and (2) increase sales to $1,200,000. However, bad debt losses, which were 2 percent on the old sales, would amount to 5 percent on the incremental sales only (bad debts on the old sales would stay at 2 percent). Variable costs are 80 percent of sales, and Bass has a 15 percent receivables financing cost. What would the annual incremental pre-tax profit be if Bass extended its credit period?

You have just taken out a loan for $75,000. The stated (simple) interest rate on this loan is 10 percent, and the bank requires you to maintain a compensating balance equal to 15 percent of the initial face amount of the loan. You currently have $20,000 in your checking account, and you plan to maintain this balance. The loan is an add-on installment loan which you will repay in 12 equal monthly installments, beginning at the end of the first month. -First National Bank of Micanopy has offered you the following loan alternatives in response to your request for a $75,000, 1-year loan. Alternative 1: 7 percent discount interest, with a 10 percent compensating balance. Alternative 2: 8 percent simple interest, with interest paid monthly. What is the effective annual rate on the cheaper loan?

Which of the following is not correct for a firm with seasonal sales and customers who all pay promptly at the end of 30 days?

East Lansing Appliances (ELA) expects to have sales this year of $15 million under its current credit policy. The present terms are net 30; the days sales outstanding (DSO) is 60 days; and the bad debt loss percentage is 5 percent. Since ELA wants to improve its profitability, the treasurer has proposed that the credit period be shortened to 15 days. This change would reduce expected sales by $500,000, but it would also shorten the DSO on the remaining sales to 30 days. Expected bad debt losses on the remaining sales would fall to 3 percent. The variable cost percentage is 60 percent, and the cost of capital is 15 percent. -What would be the incremental cost of carrying receivables if this change Were made?

Which one of the following aspects of banks is considered most relevant to businesses when choosing a bank?