CHAPTER

MANAGEMENT OF
WORKING CAPITAL

LEARNING OUTCOMES

♦ Understanding the meaning, need and importance of working capital for

smooth functioning of an entity.
♦ Understanding the factors which determine the working capital.
♦ Learning the methods of estimating working capital.
♦ Understanding the various components of working capital with its
management.
♦ Understanding methods of receivable management.
♦ Learning the methods of evaluating receivables and implementation of
credit policy.
♦ Learning the importance and management of treasury (cash) in an entity.
♦ Learning the various sources of working capital finance.
♦ Learning the importance of optimal inventory level and management of
payables.

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 9.2 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Management of Working Capital

Determinants of Cash (Treasury)

Working Capital Management:
♦ Functions of Treasury
Department
Estimation of Working ♦ Treasury Management
Capital ♦ Cash Management
Models
Working Capital Cycles

Receivable
Inventory Management:
Management
♦ Factors determining
credit policy
Payables Management ♦ Financing of
receivables
♦ Monitoring of
Financing of receivables
Working Capital

This chapter is Divided into Six Units:

UNIT I: Introduction to Working Capital Management

UNIT II: Treasury and Cash Management
UNIT III: Management of Inventory
UNIT IV: Management of Receivables
UNIT V: Management of Payables
UNIT VI: Financing of Working Capital

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.3

UNIT – I
INTRODUCTION TO WORKING CAPITAL
MANAGEMENT

1. MEANING AND CONCEPT OF WORKING

CAPITAL
In accounting terms, working capital is defined as the difference between current
assets and current liabilities. If we break down the components of working capital,
we will find working capital as follows:
Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities

Current Assets: An asset is classified as current when:

(i) It is expected to be realised or intends to be sold or consumed in normal
operating cycle of the entity or within twelve months after the reporting
period whichever is longer; and
(ii) The asset is held primarily for the purpose of trading in the ordinary course of
business.
For the purpose of working capital management, current assets of an entity can be
grouped into the following categories:
(a) Inventory (raw material, work in process and finished goods)
(b) Receivables (trade receivables and bills receivables)

(c) Cash or cash equivalents (including short-term marketable securities)

(d) Prepaid expenses
Other current assets may also include short term loans or advances, any other
accrued revenue etc.
Current Liabilities: A liability is classified as current when:
(i) It is expected to be settled in normal operating cycle of the entity or within
twelve months after the reporting period whichever is longer; and

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 9.4 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

(ii) It is settled either by the use of current assets or by creation of new current
liability.
For the purpose of working capital management, current liabilities of an entity can
be grouped into the following categories:

(a) Payable (trade payables and bills payables)

(b) Outstanding payments (wages & salary, overheads & other expenses etc.)
Other current liabilities may also include short term borrowings, current portion of
long-term debts, short term provisions that are payable within twelve months such
as provision for taxes etc.
Working Capital Management is process which is designed to ensure that an
organization operates efficiently by monitoring & utilizing its current assets and
current liabilities to the best effect. Primary objective is to enable a company
maintaining sufficient cash flows in order to meet its day-to-day operating
expenses and its short-term obligations.
The concept of working capital can also be explained through two angles.

Working capital

On the basis of Value On the basis of Time

Gross Net Permanent Fluctuating

(a) Value: From the value point of view, Working Capital can be defined as Gross
Working Capital or Net Working Capital.
Gross working capital refers to the firm’s investment in current assets.

Net working capital refers to the difference between current assets and current
liabilities.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.5

A positive working capital indicates the company’s ability to pay its short-term
liabilities. On the other hand, a negative working capital shows inability of an entity
to meet its short-term obligations.

(b) Time: From the point of view of time, working capital can be divided into two
categories viz., Permanent and Fluctuating (temporary).
Permanent working capital refers to the base working capital, which is the minimum
level of investment in the current assets that is carried by the entity at all times to
carry its day-to-day activities. It generally stays invested in the business, unless the
operations are scaled up or down permanently which would also result in increase
or decrease in permanent working capital. It is generally financed by long term
sources of finance.
Temporary working capital refers to that part of total working capital, which is
required by an entity in addition to the permanent working capital. It is also called
variable or fluctuating working capital which is used to finance the short-term
working capital requirements which arises due to fluctuation in sales volume. For
instance, an organization would maintain increased levels of inventory to meet
increased seasonal demand.
The following diagrams shows Permanent and Temporary or Fluctuating or variable
working capital:

Both kinds of working capital i.e. permanent and fluctuating (temporary) are
necessary to facilitate production and sales through the operating cycle.

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2. SIGNIFICANCE OF WORKING CAPITAL

2.1 Importance of Adequate Working Capital
Management of working capital is an essential task of the finance manager. He has
to ensure that the amount of working capital available is neither too large nor too
small for its requirements.
A large amount of working capital would mean that the company has idle funds.
Since funds have a cost, the company has to pay huge amount as interest on such
funds that are used to invest in surplus working capital. Another way to look at it is
that there is an opportunity cost involved where the company could have invested
the surplus funds in long term investments and earned some return on the same.
Various studies conducted by the Bureau of Public Enterprises have shown that one
of the reasons for the poor performance of public sector undertakings in our
country has been the large amount of funds locked up in working capital. This
results in over capitalization. Over capitalization implies that a company has too
large funds for its requirements, resulting in a low rate of return, a situation which
implies a less than optimal use of resources.
On the other hand, if the firm has inadequate working capital, such firm runs the
risk of insolvency. Paucity of working capital may lead to a situation where the firm
may not be able to meet its liabilities. It may also mean that a company may not
be holding enough inventory in order to meet the customers’ demand and hence
would lose sales and eventually some reputation as well.

An organization, therefore, has to be very careful in estimating its working capital

requirements.
Maintaining adequate working capital is not just important in the short-term,
sufficient liquidity must be maintained in order to ensure the survival of the
business in the long-term as well. When businesses make investment decisions,
they must not only consider the financial outlay involved with acquiring the new
machine or the new building, etc., but must also take account of the additional
current assets that are usually required with any expansion of activity. For e.g.:
 Increased production leads to holding of additional stocks of raw materials
and work-in-progress.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.7

 An increased sale usually means that the level of debtors and the finished
goods inventory requirements will increase.
 A general increase in the firm’s scale of operations tends to imply a need for
greater levels of working capital.
A question then arises what is an optimum amount of working capital for a firm?
An organization should neither have too high an amount of working capital nor
should the same be too low. It is the job of the finance manager to estimate the
requirements of working capital carefully and determine the optimum level of
investment in working capital.

2.2 Optimum Working Capital

If a company’s current assets do not exceed its current liabilities, then it may run
into trouble with creditors that want their money quickly. Not being able to meet
its short-term obligations, company shall eventually lose its reputation and not
many vendors would like to do business with them.
Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) (along with acid test ratio to
supplement it) has traditionally been considered the best indicator of the working
capital situation.
It is understood that a current ratio of 2 (two) for a manufacturing firm implies that
the firm has an optimum amount of working capital. A higher ratio may indicate
inefficient use of funds and a lower ratio would mean liquidity issues as mentioned
above. This is supplemented by Quick Ratio or Acid Test Ratio (Quick assets/Current
liabilities) which should be at least 1 (one) which would imply that there is a
comfortable liquidity position if liquid current assets are equal to current liabilities
(where quick assets / liquid current assets refer to current assets less inventory &
prepaid expenses).
Bankers, financial institutions, financial analysts, investors and other people
interested in financial statements have, for years, considered the current ratio at
‘two’ and the acid test ratio at ‘one’ as indicators of a good working capital
situation. As a thumb rule, this may be quite adequate.

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 9.8 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

However, it should be remembered that optimum working capital can be

determined only with reference to the particular circumstances of a specific
situation. Thus, in a company where the inventories are easily saleable and the
sundry debtors are as good as liquid cash, the current ratio may be lower than 2
and yet firm may be sound or where the nature of finished goods are perishable in
nature like a restaurant, then also the organization cannot afford to hold large
amount of working capital. On the other hand, an organization dealing in products
which take a longer production time, may need a higher amount of working capital.
In nutshell, a firm should have adequate working capital to run its business
operations. Both excessive as well as inadequate working capital positions are
dangerous.

3. DETERMINANTS OF WORKING CAPITAL

Working capital management is concerned with:
(a) Maintaining adequate working capital (managing the level of individual
current assets and the current liabilities) and

(b) Financing of the working capital.

For the point a) above, a Finance Manager needs to plan and compute the working
capital requirement for its business. And once the requirement has been computed
he needs to ensure that it is financed properly. This whole exercise is known as
Working Capital Management.
Sound financial and statistical techniques, supported by judgment should be used
to predict the quantum of working capital required at different times.
Some of the factors which need to be considered while planning for working capital
requirement are:

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.9

Need for Cash

Desired
Price Level
Changes Inventory
Level

Operating
Receivables
Efficiency Factors to be
considered while
planning for Working
Capital requirement

Technology
Short-term
and
Financing
Manufacturing
Options
Policies

Market and
Nature of
Demand
Business
Conditions

1. Need for Cash: Identify the cash balance which allows for the business to
meet day-to-day expenses but reduces cash holding costs (example - loss
of interest on long term investment had the surplus cash invested therein).
2. Desired level of Inventory: Identify the level of inventory which allows for
uninterrupted production but reduces the investment in raw materials and
hence increases cash flow. The techniques like Just in Time (JIT) and Economic
order quantity (EOQ) are used for this.
3. Receivables: Identify the appropriate credit policy, i.e., credit terms which
will attract customers, such that any impact on cash flows and the cash
conversion cycle will be offset by increased revenue and hence Return on
Capital (or vice versa). The tools like Early Payment Discounts and allowances
are used for this.

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 9.10 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

4. Short-term Financing Options: Inventory is ideally financed by credit

granted by the supplier. However, depending on the cash conversion cycle, it
may be necessary to utilize a bank loan (or overdraft), or to “convert debtors
to cash” through “factoring” in order to finance working capital requirements.
5. Nature of Business: For e.g. in a business of restaurant, most of the sales are
in Cash. Therefore, need for working capital is very less. On the other hand,
there would be a higher inventory in case of a pharmacy or a bookstore.
6. Market and Demand Conditions: For e.g. if an item’s demand far exceeds its
production, the working capital requirement would be less as investment in
finished goods inventory would be very less with continuous sales.
7. Technology and Manufacturing Policies: For e.g. in some businesses the
demand for goods is seasonal, in that case a business may follow a policy
for steady production throughout the whole year or rather may choose a
policy of production only during the demand season.
8. Operating Efficiency: A company can reduce the working capital requirement
by eliminating waste, improving coordination, process improvements etc.
9. Price Level Changes & Exchange Rate Fluctuations: For e.g. rising prices
necessitate the use of more funds for maintaining an existing level of activity.
For the same level of current assets, higher cash outlays are required. Therefore,
the effect of rising prices is that a higher amount of working capital is required.
Another example would be unfavorable exchange rate movement in case of
imported raw materials would warrant additional cost of same.

4. MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL

The importance of working capital for an entity can be compared to importance of
life blood for a living body or of a lubricant/ fuel for an engine. Working capital is
required for smooth functioning of the business of an entity as lack of this may
interrupt the ordinary course of activities. Hence, the working capital needs
adequate attention and efficient management. When we talk about the
management, it involves 3 Es i.e. Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness and all
these three are required for the working capital management.

The scope of working capital management can be grouped into two broad areas:
(i) Liquidity and Profitability (ii) Investment and Financing Decision.

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Scope of Working Capital Management

Liquidity and Profitability Investment and Financing

4.1 Liquidity and Profitability

For uninterrupted and smooth functioning of the day-to-day business of an entity,
it is important to maintain liquidity of funds evenly. As we have already learnt in
previous chapters that each rupee of capital bears some cost. So, while maintaining
liquidity the cost aspect needs to be borne in mind. Also, a higher working capital
may be intended to increase the revenue & hence profitability, but at the same
time unnecessary tying up of funds in idle assets not only reduces the liquidity but
also reduces the opportunity to earn better return from a productive asset. Hence,
a trade-off is required between the liquidity and profitability which increases the
profitability without disturbing the day-to-day functioning. This requires 3Es as
discussed above i.e. economy in financing, efficiency in utilisation and
effectiveness in achieving the intended objectives.

The trade-off between the components of working capital can be summarised as follows:

Component Advantages of Trade-off (between Advantages of

of Working higher side Profitability and lower side
Capital (Profitability) Liquidity) (Liquidity)
Inventory Fewer stock-outs Use techniques like Lower inventory
increase the EOQ, JIT etc. to carry requires less capital
profitability. optimum level of but endangered
inventory. stock-out and loss of
goodwill.
Receivables Higher Credit Evaluate the credit Cash sales provide
period attract policy; use the liquidity but fails to
customers and services of debt boost sales and
increase revenue management revenue (due to
(but can result in (factoring) agencies. lower credit period)
more bad debts)

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 9.12 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Pre-payment Reduces Cost-benefit analysis Improves or

of expenses uncertainty and required maintains liquidity.
profitable in
inflationary
environment.
Cash and Payables are Cash budgets and Cash can be invested
Cash honoured in time, other cash in some other
equivalents improves the management investment avenues
goodwill and techniques can be
helpful in getting used
future discounts.
Payables and Capital can be used Evaluate the credit Payables are
Expenses in some other policy and related honoured in time,
investment avenues cost. improves the
goodwill and helpful
in getting future
discounts.

4.2 Investment and Financing

Working capital policy is a function of two decisions, first is investment in working
capital and the second is financing of the investment. Investment in working capital
is concerned with the level of investment in the current assets. It gives the answer
of ‘How much’ fund to be tied in to achieve the organisation objectives (i.e.
Effectiveness of fund). Financing decision concerned with the arrangement of funds
to finance the working capital. It gives the answer ‘Where from’ fund to be sourced
at lowest cost as possible (i.e. Economy). Financing decision, we will discuss this in
later unit of this chapter.
Investment of working capital: How much to be invested in current assets as
working capital is a matter of policy decision by an entity. It has to be decided in
the light of organisational objectives, trade policies and financial (cost-benefit)
considerations. There are not set or fixed rules for deciding the level of investment
in working capital. Some organisations due to its peculiarity require more
investment than others. For example, an infrastructure development company
requires more investment in its working capital as there may be huge inventory in
the form of work in process on the other hand a company which is engaged in fast

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food business, comparatively requires less investment as inventory is of perishable

nature & most sales are cash sales. Hence, level of investment depends on the
various factors listed below:
(a) Nature of Industry: Construction companies, breweries etc. requires large
investment in working capital due long gestation period.
(b) Types of products: Consumer durable has large inventory as compared to
perishable products.
(c) Manufacturing Vs Trading Vs Service: A manufacturing entity has to
maintain three levels of inventory i.e. raw material, work-in-process and
finished goods whereas a trading and a service entity has to maintain
inventory only in the form of trading stock and consumables respectively.
(d) Volume of sales: Where the sales are high, there is a possibility of high
receivables as well.
(e) Credit policy: An entity whose credit policy is liberal has not only high level
of receivables but may require more capital to fund raw material purchases as
that will depend on credit period allowed by suppliers.

4.3 Approaches of working capital investment

Based on the organisational policy and risk-return trade off, working capital
investment decisions are categorised into three approaches i.e. aggressive,
conservative and moderate.

Approaches of Working Capital

Investment

Aggressive Moderate Conservative

(a) Aggressive: Here investment in working capital is kept at minimal investment

in current assets which means the entity does hold lower level of inventory, follow
strict credit policy, keeps less cash balance etc. The advantage of this approach is
that lower level of fund is tied in the working capital which results in lower financial
costs but the flip side could be risk of stock-outs & that the organisation could not
grow which leads to lower utilisation of fixed assets and long-term debts. In the

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 9.14 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

long run firm may stay behind the competitors. This approach would better suit a
highly integrated organisation with efficient processes.
(b) Conservative: In this approach, organisation choose to invest high capital in
current assets. Organisations use to keep inventory level higher, follows liberal
credit policies, and cash balance as high as to meet any current liabilities
immediately. The advantages of this approach are higher sales volume, increased
demand due to liberal credit policy and increase goodwill among the suppliers due
to payment in short time. The disadvantages are increased cost of capital, inventory
obsolescence, higher risk of bad debts, shortage of liquidity in long run due to
longer operating cycles.

(c) Moderate: This approach is in between the above two approaches. Under
this approach a balance between the risk and return is maintained to gain more by
using the funds in very efficient manner.

A conservative policy implies greater liquidity and lower risk whereas an aggressive
policy indicates higher risk and poor liquidity. Moderate current assets policy will
fall in the middle of conservative and aggressive policies which most of the firms
follow to strike an appropriate balance as per the requirements of their trade or
industry. Also, an organization may follow a different policy at different times as
may be needed depending on determinants of working capital as discussed earlier.

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4.4 Current Assets to Fixed Assets Ratio

The finance manager is required to determine the optimum level of current assets
so that the shareholders’ value is maximized.

A firm needs both fixed and current assets to support a particular level of output.
As the firm’s output and sales increases, the need for current assets also increases.
Generally, current assets do not increase in direct proportion to output; current assets
may increase at a decreasing rate with output. As the output increases, the firm starts
using its current asset more efficiently.
The level of the current assets can be measured by creating a relationship between
current assets and fixed assets. Dividing current assets by fixed assets gives current
assets/fixed assets ratio.
Assuming a constant level of fixed assets, a higher current assets/fixed assets ratio
indicates a conservative current assets policy and a lower current assets/fixed assets
ratio means an aggressive current assets policy assuming all other factors to be
constant.
The following illustration explains the risk-return trade off of various working
capital management policies, viz., conservative, aggressive and moderate.
ILLUSTRATION 1
A firm has the following data for the year ending 31st March, 2022:
(` )
Sales (1,00,000 @ ` 20) 20,00,000
Earnings before Interest and Taxes 2,00,000
Fixed Assets 5,00,000

The three possible current assets holdings of the firm are ` 5,00,000, ` 4,00,000 and
` 3,00,000. It is assumed that fixed assets level is constant, and profits do not vary
with current assets levels. ANALYSE the effect of the three alternative current assets
policies.

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 9.16 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

SOLUTION
Effect of Alternative Current Assets Policies

Conservative Moderate Aggressive

(`) (`) (`)
Sales 20,00,000 20,00,000 20,00,000
Earnings before Interest and Taxes 2,00,000 2,00,000 2,00,000
(EBIT)
Current Assets 5,00,000 4,00,000 3,00,000
Fixed Assets 5,00,000 5,00,000 5,00,000
Total Assets 10,00,000 9,00,000 8,00,000
Return on Total Assets (EBIT÷ Total 20% 22.22% 25%
Assets)
Current Assets/Fixed Assets 1.00 0.80 0.60

The aforesaid calculation shows that the conservative policy provides greater
liquidity (solvency) to the firm, but lower return on total assets. On the other hand,
the aggressive policy gives higher return, but low liquidity and thus is very risky.
The moderate policy generates return higher than Conservative policy but lower
than aggressive policy. This is less risky than aggressive policy but riskier than
conservative policy. It also reflects inverse relationship between Current Assets /
Fixed Assets ratio and Return on Total Assets.
In determining the optimum level of current assets, the firm should balance the
profitability – solvency tangle by minimizing total costs – Cost of liquidity and cost
of illiquidity.

5. ESTIMATING WORKING CAPITAL NEEDS

Operating cycle is one of the most reliable methods of Computation of Working
Capital.
However, other methods like ratio of sales and ratio of fixed investment may also
be used to determine the Working Capital requirements. These methods are briefly
explained as follows:

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(i) Current Assets Holding Period: To estimate working capital needs based
on the average holding period of current assets and relating them to costs
based on the company’s experience in the previous year. This method is
essentially based on the Operating Cycle Concept.
(ii) Ratio of Sales: To estimate working capital needs as a ratio of sales on the
assumption that current assets change with changes in sales.
(iii) Ratio of Fixed Investments: To estimate Working Capital requirements as
a percentage of fixed investments.
A number of factors will, however, be impacting the choice of method of estimating
Working Capital. Factors such as seasonal fluctuations, accurate sales forecast,
investment cost and variability in sales price would generally be considered. The
production cycle and credit and collection policies of the firm will have an impact
on Working Capital requirements. Therefore, they should be given due weightage
in projecting Working Capital requirements.

6. OPERATING OR WORKING CAPITAL CYCLE

A useful tool for managing working capital is the operating cycle.
The operating cycle analyses the accounts receivable, inventory and accounts
payable cycles in terms of number of days. For example:
 Accounts receivables are analyzed by the average number of days it takes to
collect an account.
 Inventory is analyzed by the average number of days it takes to turn over the
sale of a product (from the point it comes in the store to the point it is
converted to cash or an account receivable).
 Accounts payables are analyzed by the average number of days it takes to
pay a supplier invoice.
Operating/Working Capital Cycle Definition
Working Capital cycle indicates the length of time between a company’s paying for
materials, entering into stock and receiving the cash from sales of finished goods.
It can be determined by adding the number of days required for each stage in the

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cycle. For example, a company holds raw materials on an average for 60 days, it
gets credit from the supplier for 15 days, production process needs 15 days,
finished goods are held for 30 days and 30 days credit is extended to debtors. The
total of all these, 120 days, i.e., 60 – 15 + 15 + 30 + 30 days is the total working
capital cycle.

Working Capital Cycle

Cash

Receivables Raw Material

Labour Overhead

Stock WIP

Most businesses cannot finance the operating cycle (accounts receivable days +
inventory days) with accounts payable financing alone. Consequently, working
capital financing is needed. This shortfall is typically covered by the net profits
generated internally or by externally borrowed funds or by a combination of the
two.
The faster a business expands the more cash it will need for working capital and
investment. The cheapest and best sources of cash exist as working capital right
within the business. Good management of working capital will generate cash which
will help improve profits and reduce risks. Bear in mind that the cost of providing
credit to customers and holding stocks can represent a substantial proportion of a
firm’s total profits.
Each component of working capital (namely inventory, receivables and payables)
has two dimensions Time and Money. When it comes to managing working capital
then time is money. If you can get money to move faster around the cycle (e.g.
collect amount due from debtors more quickly) or reduce the amount of money
tied up (e.g. reduce inventory levels relative to sales), the business will generate
more cash or it will need to borrow less money to fund working capital. Similarly,
if you can negotiate improved terms with suppliers e.g. get longer credit or an

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increased credit limit; you are effectively creating free finance to help fund future
sales.

If you……………… Then ………………….

Collect receivables (debtors) faster You release cash from the cycle

Collect receivables (debtors) slower Your receivables soak up cash.

Get better credit (in terms of duration or You increase your cash resources.
amount) from suppliers.

Shift inventory (stocks) faster You free up cash.

Move inventory (stocks) slower You consume more cash.

The determination of operating capital cycle helps in the forecasting, controlling

and management of working capital. The length of operating cycle is the indicator
of performance of management. The net operating cycle represents the time
interval for which the firm has to negotiate for Working Capital from its lenders. It
enables to determine accurately the amount of working capital needed for the
continuous operation of business activities.
The duration of working capital cycle may vary depending on the nature of the
business.
In the form of an equation, the operating cycle process can be expressed as follows:
Operating Cycle = R + W + F + D – C
Where,
R = Raw material storage period

W = Work-in-progress inventory* holding period

F = Finished goods storage period
D = Receivables (Debtors) collection period

C = Credit period allowed by suppliers (Creditors)

* work in progress inventory may also be termed as works cost.

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 9.20 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Also,

Number of Operating Cycles in a Year = 360 or 365 / Operating Cycle

Wherein, more the number of operating cycles better it is for the organization as it
indicates shorter operating cycle.

The various components of Operating Cycle may be calculated as shown

below:

(1) Raw Material Average stock of raw material

=
Storage Period Average Costof Raw Material Consumption per day
(2) Work-in-Progress Average Work -in-progress inventory
=
inventory holding Average Costof Production per day
period
(3) Finished Goods Average stock of finished goods
=
storage period Average Costof Goods Sold per day
(4) Receivables Average Receivables
=
(Debtors) collection Average Credit Sales per day
period
(5) Credit period Average Payables
=
allowed by suppliers Average Credit Purchases per day
(Creditors)

6.1 Working Capital Based on Operating Cycle

One of the methods for forecasting working capital requirement is based on the
concept of operating cycle. The calculation of operating cycle and the formula for
estimating working capital on its basis has been demonstrated with the help of
following illustration:
ILLUSTRATION 2
From the following information of XYZ Ltd., you are required to CALCULATE:
(a) Net operating cycle period.
(b) Number of operating cycles in a year.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.21

(`)

(i) Raw material inventory consumed during the year 6,00,000

(ii) Average stock of raw material 50,000

(iii) Cost of Production for the year 5,00,000

(iv) Average work-in-progress inventory 30,000

(v) Cost of goods sold during the year 8,00,000

(vi) Average finished goods stock held 40,000

(vii) Average collection period from debtors 45 days

(viii) Average credit period availed 30 days

(ix) No. of days in a year 360 days

SOLUTION
(a) Calculation of Net Operating Cycle period of XYZ Ltd.

Raw Material storage period (R)=

Average stock of raw material

Average Cost of Raw Material Consumption per day

` 50,000 ` 50,000
= = =30 days
` 6,00,000÷360days 1,667

Work-in-progress inventory holding period (W)

Average Work -in-progress inventory

=
Average Cost of Production per day

` 30,000 ` 30,000
= = = 22 days
` 5,00,000÷360days 1,389

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 9.22 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Finished Goods storage period (F)

Average stock of finished goods

=
Average Cost of Goods Soldper day

` 40,000 ` 40,000
= = = 18 days
`8,00,000÷360days 2,222

Receivables (Debtors) collection period (D) = 45 days

Credit Period allowed by creditors (C) = 30 days
Net Operating Cycle = R + W + F+ D – C = 30 + 22 + 18 + 45 – 30 = 85 days

(b) Number of Operating Cycles in a year = No. of daysina year

OperatingCycleperiod

360days
= = 4.23 times
85days

6.2 Estimation of amount of Different Components of

Current Assets and Current Liabilities
The various constituents of current assets and current liabilities have a direct
bearing on the computation of working capital and the operating cycle. The holding
period of various constituents of Current Assets and Current Liabilities cycle may
either contract or expand the net operating cycle period.
Shorter the operating cycle period, lower will be the requirement of working capital
and vice-versa.

Estimation of Current Assets

The estimates of various components of gross working capital or current assets
may be made as follows:

(i) Raw Materials Inventory: The funds to be invested in raw materials

inventory may be estimated on the basis of production budget, the estimated cost
per unit and average holding period of raw material inventory by using the
following formula:

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.23

Estimated Production (units)

x Estimated cost per unit x Average raw material storage period
12months / 365days *

(ii) Work-in-Progress Inventory: The funds to be invested in work-in-progress

can be estimated by the following formula:
Estimated Production(units)
x Estimated WIP cost per unit x Average WIP holding period
12months / 365days *

(iii) Finished Goods: The funds to be invested in finished goods inventory can
be estimated with the help of following formula:
Estimated Production(units)
x Estimated cost of production per unit x Average finished goods storage period
12months / 365days *

(iv) Receivables (Debtors): Funds to be invested in trade receivables (debtors)

may be estimated with the help of following formula:
Estimated Credit sales (units)
x Estimated cost of sales (Excl. Dep.) per unit x Average receivable collection period.
12months /365days *

Note that only cash cost is considered for debtors and finished goods
elements (as the sales to debtors include cost & profit whereas the funds
required for working capital purposes doesn’t need to include profit). Further,
non-cash expense like depreciation is also excluded.

(v) Cash and Cash equivalents: Minimum desired Cash and Bank balance to be
maintained by the firm has to be added in the current assets for the computation
of working capital.

Estimation of Current Liabilities

Current liabilities are deducted from the current assets to get working capital.
Hence, the amount of working capital is lowered to the extent of current liabilities
(other than bank credit) arising in the normal course of business. The important
current liabilities like trade payables, wages and overheads can be estimated as
follows:
(i) Trade Payables: Trade payable can be estimated on the basis of material
purchase budget and the credit purchase by using following formula:

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 9.24 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Estimated credit purchase

× Credit period allowed by suppliers
12months / 365days *

(ii) Direct Wages: It is estimated with the help of direct wages budget by using
following formula:
Estimated labour hours×wages rate perhour
× Average time lag in payment of wages
12months / 365days *

(iii) Overheads (other than depreciation and amortization): It may be

estimated with the help of following formula:
Estimated Overheads
× Average time lag in payment of overheads
12months / 360days *

*Number of days in a year may be taken as 365 or 360 days.

Estimation of Working Capital Requirements

Amount Amount Amount

(`) (`) (`)
I. Current Assets:
Inventories:
-Raw Materials ---
-Work-in-process ---
-Finished goods --- ---
Receivables:
-Trade debtors ---
-Bills --- ---
Prepaid Expenses ---
Minimum Cash Balance ---
Gross Working Capital --- ---
II. Current Liabilities:
Trade Payables ---

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.25

Bills Payables ---

Wages Payables ---
Payables for overheads --- ---
III. Excess of Current Assets over ---
Current Liabilities [I – II]
IV. Safety Margin ---
V. Net Working Capital [III + IV] ---

The following illustration shows the process of working capital estimation:

ILLUSTRATION 3
On 1st January, the Managing Director of Naureen Ltd. wishes to know the amount
of working capital that will be required during the year. From the following
information, PREPARE the working capital requirements forecast.
Production during the previous year was 60,000 units. It is planned that this level of
activity would be maintained during the present year.
The expected ratios of the cost to selling prices are Raw materials 60%, Direct wages
10% and Overheads 20%.
Raw materials are expected to remain in store for an average of 2 months before
issue to production.
Each unit is expected to be in process for one month, the raw materials being fed into
the pipeline immediately and the labour and overhead costs accruing evenly during
the month.
Finished goods will stay in the warehouse awaiting dispatch to customers for
approximately 3 months.
Credit allowed by creditors is 2 months from the date of delivery of raw material.
Credit allowed to debtors is 3 months from the date of dispatch.
Selling price is ` 5 per unit.
There is a regular production and sales cycle.
Wages and overheads are paid on the 1st of each month for the previous month.
The company normally keeps cash in hand to the extent of ` 20,000.

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 9.26 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

SOLUTION
Working Notes:
1. Raw material inventory: The cost of materials for the whole year is 60% of
the Sales value.
60
Hence it is 60,000 units × ` 5 × = ` 1,80,000 . The monthly consumption
100
of raw material would be ` 15,000. Raw material requirements would be for
two months; hence raw materials in stock would be ` 30,000.
2. Work-in-process: (Students may give special attention to this point). It is
stated that each unit of production is expected to be in process for one
month).

(`)

(a) Raw materials in work-in-process (being one month’s raw 15,000

material requirements)

(b) Labour costs in work-in-process 1,250

(It is stated that it accrues evenly during the month. Thus,
on the first day of each month it would be zero and on
the last day of month the work-in-process would include
one month’s labour costs. On an average therefore, it
would be equivalent to ½ of the month’s labour costs)
 10% of (60,000 × ` 5) 
 ×0.5 month 
 12 months 

(c) Overheads 2,500

(For ½ month as explained above)
 20% of (60,000 × ` 5) 
 ×0.5 month 
 12 months 

Total work-in-process 18,750

3. Finished goods inventory: (3 month’s cost of production)

 60% of (60,000 × ` 5)  45,000

Raw materials  ×3 months 
 12 months 

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.27

 10% of (60,000 × ` 5)  7,500

Labour  ×3 months 
 12 months 

 20% of (60,000 × ` 5)  15,000

Overheads  ×3 months 
 12 months 

Total finished goods inventory 67,500

Alternatively, (60,000 units x ` 5 x 90%) x 3/12 67,500

4. Debtors: The total cost of sales = 2,70,000.

3
Therefore, debtors = ` 2,70,000 × = ` 67,500
12
Where, Total Cost of Sales = RM + Wages + Overheads + Opening Finished
goods inventory – Closing finished goods inventory.
= ` 1,80,000 + ` 30,000 + ` 60,000 + ` 67,500 – ` 67,500 = ` 2,70,000.
5. Creditors: Suppliers allow a two months’ credit period. Hence, the average
amount of creditors would be two months consumption of raw materials i.e.
 60% of (60,000 × ` 5) 
 ×2 months  = ` 30,000.
 12 months 

 10% of (60,000 × ` 5) 
6. Direct Wages payable:  ×1 month  = ` 2,500
 12 months 

 20% of (60,000 × ` 5) 
7. Overheads Payable:  ×1 month  = ` 5,000
 12 months 

Here it has been assumed that inventory level is uniform throughout the year,
therefore opening inventory equals closing inventory.
Statement of Working Capital Required

(`) (`)
Current Assets or Gross Working Capital:
Raw materials inventory (Refer to working note 1) 30,000
Working–in-process (Refer to working note 2) 18,750
Finished goods inventory (Refer to working note 3) 67,500

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 9.28 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Debtors (Refer to working note 4) 67,500

Cash 20,000 2,03,750
Current Liabilities:
Creditors (Refer to working note 5) 30,000
Direct wages payable (Refer to working note 6) 2,500
Overheads payable (Refer to working note 7) 5,000 (37,500)
Estimated working capital requirements 1,66,250

6.3 Working Capital Requirement Estimation based on

Cash Cost
We have already seen that working capital is the difference between current assets
and current liabilities. To estimate requirements of working capital, we have to
forecast the amount required for each item of current assets and current liabilities.

In practice another approach may also be useful in estimating working capital

requirements. This approach is based on the fact that in the case of current assets,
like sundry debtors and finished goods, etc., the exact amount of funds
blocked is less than the amount of such current assets. For example:
 If we have sundry debtors worth ` 1 lakh and our cost of sales is` 75,000,
the actual amount of funds blocked in sundry debtors is
` 75,000 the cost of sundry debtors, the rest (` 25,000) is profit.
 Again, some of the cost items also are non-cash costs; depreciation is a
non-cash cost item. Suppose out of ` 75,000, ` 5,000 is depreciation; then
it is obvious that the actual funds blocked in terms of sundry debtors
totaling ` 1 lakh is only ` 70,000. In other words, ` 70,000 is the amount
of funds required to finance sundry debtors worth ` 1 lakh.
 Similarly, in the case of finished goods which are valued at cost, non-cash
costs may be excluded to work out the amount of funds blocked.
Many experts, therefore, calculate the working capital requirements by working out
the cash costs of finished goods and sundry debtors. Under this approach, the
debtors are calculated not as a percentage of sales value but as a percentage of
cash costs. Similarly, finished goods are valued according to cash costs.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.29

ILLUSTRATION 4
The following annual figures relate to XYZ Co.:

(` )
Sales (at two months’ credit) 36,00,000
Materials consumed (suppliers extend two months’ credit) 9,00,000
Wages paid (1 month lag in payment) 7,20,000
Cash manufacturing expenses (expenses are paid one month in 9,60,000
arrear)
Administrative expenses (1 month lag in payment) 2,40,000
Sales promotion expenses (paid quarterly in advance) 1,20,000

The company sells its products on gross profit of 25%. Depreciation is considered as
a part of the cost of production. It keeps one month’s stock each of raw materials
and finished goods, and a cash balance of ` 1,00,000.
Assuming a 20% safety margin, COMPUTE the working capital requirements of the
company on cash cost basis. Ignore work-in-process.
SOLUTION
Statement of Working Capital requirements (cash cost basis)

(`) (`)
A. Current Assets
Inventory:
 ` 9,00,000  75,000
-Raw materials  ×1 month 
 12months 
 `25,80,000  2,15,000
-Finished Goods  ×1 month 
 12months 
 `29, 40,000  4,90,000
Receivables (Debtors)  ×2months 
 12months 
Sales Promotion expenses paid in advance 30,000
 `1,20,000 
 ×3 months 
 12 months 

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 9.30 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Cash balance 1,00,000 9,10,000

Gross Working Capital 9,10,000
B. Current Liabilities:
Payables:
 ` 9,00,000  1,50,000
-Creditors for materials  ×2 month 
 12months 
 ` 7,20,000  60,000
Wages outstanding  ×1 month 
 12months 
Manufacturing expenses outstanding 80,000
 ` 9,60,000 
 ×1 month 
 12months 
Administrative expenses outstanding 20,000 3,10,000
 ` 2, 40,000 
 ×1 month 
 12months 
Net working capital (A - B) 6,00,000
Add: Safety margin @ 20% 1,20,000
Total Working Capital requirements 7,20,000

Working Notes:

(i) Computation of Annual Cash Cost of Production (`)

Material consumed 9,00,000
Wages 7,20,000
Manufacturing expenses 9,60,000
Total cash cost of production 25,80,000
(ii) Computation of Annual Cash Cost of Sales: (`)
Total Cash cost of production as in (i) above 25,80,000
Administrative Expenses 2,40,000
Sales promotion expenses 1,20,000
Total cash cost of sales 29,40,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.31

6.4 Effect of Double Shift Working on Working Capital

Requirements
The greatest economy in introducing double shift is the greater utilization of fixed
assets. Although production increases, little or very marginal funds may be required
for additional assets.
But increase in the number of hours of production has an effect on the working
capital requirements. Let’s see the impact of double shift on some of the
components of working capital:-
 It is obvious that in double shift working, an increase in stocks will be
required as the production rises. However, it is quite possible that the
increase may not be proportionate to the rise in production since the
minimum level of stocks may not be very much higher. Thus, it is quite
likely that the level of stocks may not be required to be doubled as the
production goes up two-fold.
 The amount of materials in process will not change due to double shift
working since work started in the first shift will be completed in the
second; hence, capital tied up in materials in process will be the same as
with single shift working. As such the cost of work-in-process will not
change unless the second shift’s workers are paid at a higher rate.
 Also, additional requirements of materials & other resources may result in
some economies (for example better negotiation with vendors on account
increased purchase of materials etc). Further all the fixed costs may not
increase with additional shift.
ILLUSTRATION 5
Samreen Enterprises has been operating its manufacturing facilities till 31.3.2022 on
a single shift working with the following cost structure:

Per unit (`)

Cost of Materials 6.00
Wages (out of which 40% fixed) 5.00
Overheads (out of which 80% fixed) 5.00
Profit 2.00
Selling Price 18.00
Sales during 2020-21 – ` 4,32,000

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 9.32 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

As at 31.3.2022 the company held:

(` )
Stock of raw materials (at cost) 36,000
Work-in-progress (valued at prime cost) 22,000
Finished goods (valued at total cost) 72,000
Sundry debtors 1,08,000

In view of increased market demand, it is proposed to double production by working

an extra shift. It is expected that a 10% discount will be available from suppliers of
raw materials in view of increased volume of business. Selling price will remain the
same. The credit period allowed to customers will remain unaltered. Credit availed
of from suppliers will continue to remain at the present level i.e., 2 months. Lag in
payment of wages and expenses will continue to remain half a month.
You are required to PREPARE the additional working capital requirements, if the
policy to increase output is implemented.
SOLUTION
This question can be solved using two approaches:
(i) To assess the impact of double shift for long term as a matter of production policy.
(ii) To assess the impact of double shift to mitigate the immediate demand for
next year only.
The first approach is more appropriate and fulfilling the requirement of the question.
(i) Assessment of impact of double shift for long term as a matter of
production policy:
Comparative Statement of Working Capital Requirement

Single Shift (24,000) Double Shift (48,000)

Unit Rate Amount Unit Rate Amount
(`) (`) (`) (`)
Current Assets
Inventories:
Raw Materials 6,000 6.00 36,000 12,000 5.40 64,800

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.33

Work-in-Progress 2,000 11.00 22,000 2,000 9.40 18,800

Finished Goods 4,500 16.00 72,000 9,000 12.40 1,11,600
Sundry Debtors 6,000 16.00 96,000 12,000 12.40 1,48,800
Total Current Assets: (A) 2,26,000 3,44,000
Current Liabilities
Creditors for Materials 4,000 6.00 24,000 8,000 5.40 43,200
Creditors for Wages 1,000 5.00 5,000 2,000 4.00 8,000
Creditors for Expenses 1,000 5.00 5,000 2,000 3.00 6,000
Total Current Liabilities: (B) 34,000 57,200
Working Capital: (A) – (B) 1,92,000 2,86,800

Additional Working Capital requirement = ` 2,86,800 – ` 1,92,000 = ` 94,800

Workings:
(1) Statement of cost at single shift and double shift working

24,000 units 48,000 Units

Per Total (`) Per Total
unit unit (`)
(`) (`)
Raw materials 6.00 1,44,000 5.40 2,59,200
1. Wages - Variable 3.00 72,000 3.00 1,44,000
Fixed 2.00 48,000 1.00 48,000

Overheads - Variable 1.00 24,000 1.00 48,000

Fixed 4.00 96,000 2.00 96,000
Total cost 16.00 3,84,000 12.40 5,95,200
Profit 2.00 48,000 5.60 2,68,800
18.00 4,32,000 18.00 8,64,000

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 9.34 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Sales ` 4,32,000
(2) Sales in units 2020-21= = = 24,000 units
Unit selling price ` 18

(3) Stock of Raw Materials in units on 31.3.2021

Value of Stock ` 36,000
= = = 6,000 units
Cos t per unit 6

(4) Stock of work-in-progress in units on 31.3.2021

Value of work-in-progress ` 22,000
= = = 2,000 units
Prime Cost per unit (` 6 + ` 5)

(5) Stock of finished goods in units 2020-21

Value of Stock ` 72,000
= == = 4,500 units
TotalCos t per unit ` 16

(ii) Assessment of the impact of double shift to mitigate the immediate

demand for next year only & not as part of policy implementation.
In this approach, working capital shall be computed as if we are calculating
the same for the next / second year with double production. Whereas, in the
first approach to implement double-shift as part of policy implementation, we
calculated comparative analysis of working capital requirement for single &
double shift within the same year.
Workings:
(6) Calculation of no. of units to be sold:

No. of units to be Produced 48,000

Add: Opening stock of finished goods 4,500
Less: Closing stock of finished goods (9,000)
No. of units to be Sold 43,500

(7) Calculation of Material to be consumed and materials to be purchased

in units:

No. of units Produced 48,000

Add: Closing stock of WIP 2,000
Less: Opening stock of WIP (2,000)
Raw Materials to be consumed in units 48,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.35

Add: Closing stock of Raw material 12,000

Less: Opening stock of Raw material (6,000)
Raw Materials to be purchased (in 54,000
units)

(8) Credit allowed by suppliers:

No. of units to purchased × Cost per unit
= × 2 months
12 months
54,000 ×` 5.40
= × 2 months =` 48,600
12 months
Comparative Statement of Working Capital Requirement

Single Shift (Current Double Shift (Next

Year – 24,000 units) Year – 48,000 units)
Unit Rate Amount Unit Rate Amount
(`) (`) (`) (`)
Current Assets
Inventories:
Raw Materials 6,000 6.00 36,000 12,000 5.40 64,800
Work-in-Progress 2,000 11.00 22,000 2,000 9.40 18,800
Finished Goods 4,500 16.00 72,000 9,000 12.40 1,11,600
Sundry Debtors 6,000 16.00 96,000 12,000 12.40 1,48,800
Total Current Assets: (A) 2,26,000 3,44,000
Current Liabilities
Creditors for Materials 4,000 6.00 24,000 9,000 5.40 48,600
Creditors for Wages 1,000 5.00 5,000 2,000 4.00 8,000
Creditors for Expenses 1,000 5.00 5,000 2,000 3.00 6,000
Total Current Liabilities: (B) 34,000 62,600
Working Capital: (A) – (B) 1,92,000 2,81,400

Additional Working Capital requirement = ` 2,81,400 – ` 1,92,000 = ` 89,400

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 9.36 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Notes:
(i) The quantity of material in process will not change due to double shift
working since work started in the first shift will be completed in the
second shift.
(ii) It is given in the question that the WIP is valued at prime cost hence, it
is assumed that the WIP is 100% complete in respect of material and
labour.
(iii) In absence of any information on proportion of credit sales to total sales,
debtors quantity has been doubled for double shift. Hence, the units
have been taken as 12,000 only.
(iv) It is assumed that all purchases are on credit.
(v) The valuation of work-in-progress based on prime cost (i.e. material &
labor) as per the policy of the company is as under.

Single shift Double shift

(`) (`)
Materials 6.00 5.40
Wages – Variable 3.00 3.00
Fixed 2.00 1.00
11.00 9.40

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.37

UNIT - II
TREASURY AND CASH MANAGEMENT

7. TREASURY MANAGEMENT: MEANING

In the wake of the competitive business environment resulting from the
liberalization of the economy, there is a pressure to manage cash scientifically. The
demand for funds for expansions coupled with high interest rates, foreign exchange
volatility and the growing volume of financial transactions have necessitated
efficient management of money.
Treasury management encompasses planning, organizing & controlling the funds
& working capital of an enterprise in order to ensure best use of funds, maintain
liquidity, reduce overall cost of funds and mitigating operational & financial risk. It
involves the corporate handling of all financial matters, the generation of external
and internal funds for business, the management of currencies and cash flows and
the complex, strategies, policies and procedures of corporate finance.
The treasury management mainly deals with:-
 Working capital management; and
 Financial risk management (It includes forex and interest rate management).
The key goals of treasury management are:-
 Maximize the return on the available cash;
 Minimize interest cost on borrowings;
 Mobilise as much cash as possible for corporate ventures for maximum
returns; and
 Effective dealing in forex, money and commodity markets to reduce risks
arising because of fluctuating exchange rates, interest rates and prices which
can in turn affect the profitability of the organization.

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8. FUNCTIONS OF TREASURY DEPARTMENT

The treasury department have evolved in importance over number of years from
being responsible for only cash handling issues to technical areas revolving around
hedging forex risks, composition of capital structure etc. The fundamental tasks for
which treasury department of any enterprise is responsible are :-
1. Cash Management: It involves efficient cash collection process and managing
payment of cash both inside the organisation and to third parties.
There may be complete centralization within a group treasury or the treasury
may simply advise subsidiaries and divisions on policy matter viz.,
collection/payment periods, discounts, etc.
Treasury will also manage surplus funds in an investment portfolio.
Investment policy will consider future needs for liquid funds and acceptable
levels of risk as determined by company policy.
2. Currency Management: The treasury department manages the foreign
currency risk exposure of the company. In a large multinational company
(MNC) the first step will usually be to set off intra-group indebtedness. The
use of matching receipts and payments in the same currency will save
transaction costs and also will save the organization from any unfavorable
exchange movements. Accordingly, Treasury might advise on the currency to
be used when invoicing overseas sales.
The treasury will manage any net exchange exposures in accordance with
company policy. If risks are to be minimized then forward contracts can be
used either to buy or sell currency forward.
3. Fund Management: Treasury department is responsible for planning and
sourcing the company’s short, medium and long-term cash needs. They also
facilitate temporary investment of surplus funds by mapping the time gap
between funds inflow and outflow. Treasury department will also participate
in the decision on capital structure and forecast future interest and foreign
currency rates.
4. Banking: It is important that a company maintains a good relationship with its
bankers. Treasury department carry out negotiations with bankers with respect
to interest rates, foreign exchange rates etc. and act as the initial point of contact
with them. Short-term finance can come in the form of bank loans or through
the sale of commercial paper in the money market.

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5. Corporate Finance: Treasury department is involved with both acquisition and

divestment activities within the group. In addition, it will often have
responsibility for investor relations. The latter activity has assumed increased
importance in markets where share-price performance is regarded as crucial and
may affect the company’s ability to undertake acquisition activity or, if the price
falls drastically, render it vulnerable to a hostile bid.

9. MANAGEMENT OF CASH
Management of cash is an important function of the finance manager. It is
concerned with the managing of:
(i) Cash flows into and out of the firm;
(ii) Cash flows within the firm; and
(iii) Cash balances held by the firm at a point of time by financing deficit or
investing surplus cash.
The main objectives of cash management for a business are:-
 Provide adequate cash to each of its units as per requirements;
 No funds are blocked in idle cash; and
 The surplus cash (if any) should be invested in order to maximize returns for
the business.
A cash management scheme therefore, is a delicate balance between the twin
objectives of liquidity and costs.

9.1 The Need for Cash

The following are three basic considerations in determining the amount of cash or
liquidity as have been outlined by Lord Keynes, a British Economist:
 Transaction need: Cash facilitates the meeting of the day-to-day expenses and
other debt payments. Normally, inflows of cash from operations should be
sufficient for this purpose. But sometimes this inflow may be temporarily
blocked. In such cases, it is only the reserve cash balance that can enable the
firm to make its payments in time.

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 Speculative needs: Cash may be held in order to take advantage of profitable

opportunities that may present themselves and which may be lost for want of
ready cash/settlement.
 Precautionary needs: Cash may be held to act as for providing safety against
unexpected events. Safety as is explained by the saying that a man has only
three friends an old wife, an old dog and money at bank.

9.2 Cash Planning

Cash Planning is a technique to plan and control the use of cash. This protects the
financial conditions of the firm by developing a projected cash statement from a
forecast of expected cash inflows and outflows for a given period. This may be
done periodically either on daily, weekly or monthly basis. The period and
frequency of cash planning generally depends upon the size of the firm and
philosophy of the management. As firms grows and business operations become
complex, cash planning becomes inevitable for continuing success.
The very first step in this direction is to estimate the requirement of cash. For this
purpose, cash flow statements and cash budget are required to be prepared. The
technique of preparing cash flow and funds flow statements have been discussed
in Accounting paper at Intermediate level of CA course. The preparation of cash
budget has however, been demonstrated here.

9.3 Cash Budget

Cash Budget is the most significant device to plan for and control cash receipts and
payments. This represents cash requirements of business during the budget period.
The various purposes of cash budgets are:-
 Coordinate the timings of cash needs. It identifies the period(s) when there
might either be a shortage of cash or an abnormally large cash requirement;
 It also helps to pinpoint period(s) when there is likely to be excess cash;
 It enables firm which has sufficient cash to take advantage like cash discounts
on its accounts payable; and
 Lastly it helps to plan/arrange adequately needed funds (avoiding
excess/shortage of cash) on favorable terms.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.41

On the basis of cash budget, the firm can decide to invest surplus cash in
marketable securities and earn profits. On the contrary, any shortages can also be
managed by making overdraft or credit arrangements with banks.

Main Components of Cash Budget

Preparation of cash budget involves the following steps:-
(a) Selection of the period of time to be covered by the budget. It also defines
the planning horizon.
(b) Selection of factors that have a bearing on cash flows. The factors that
generate cash flows are generally divided into following two categories:-
(i) Operating (cash flows generated by operations of the firm); and
(ii) Financial (cash flows generated by financial activities of the firm).
The following figure highlights the cash surplus and cash shortage position over
the period of cash budget for preplanning to take corrective and necessary steps.

10. METHODS OF CASH FLOW BUDGETING

A cash budget can be prepared in the following ways:
1. Receipts and Payments Method: In this method all the expected receipts
and payments for budget period are considered. All the cash inflow and
outflow of all functional budgets including capital expenditure budgets are
considered. Accruals and adjustments in accounts will not affect the cash

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 9.42 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

flow budget. Anticipated cash inflow is added to the opening balance of cash
and all cash payments are deducted from this to arrive at the closing balance
of cash. This method is commonly used in business organizations.
2. Adjusted Income Method: In this method the annual cash flows are
calculated by adjusting the sales revenue and cost figures for delays in
receipts and payments (change in debtors and creditors) and eliminating
non-cash items such as depreciation.

3. Adjusted Balance Sheet Method: In this method, the budgeted balance

sheet is predicted by expressing each type of asset (except cash & bank) and
short-term liabilities as percentage of the expected sales. The profit is also
calculated as a percentage of sales, so that the increase in owner’s equity can
be forecasted. Known adjustments, may be made to long-term liabilities and
the balance sheet will then show if additional finance is needed (if budgeted
assets exceed budgeted liabilities) or if there will be a positive cash balance
(if budgeted liabilities exceed budgeted assets).
It is important to note that the capital budget will also be considered in the
preparation of cash flow budget because the annual budget may disclose a need
for new capital investments and also, the costs and revenues of any new projects
coming on stream will need to be incorporated in the short-term budgets.
The Cash Budget can be prepared for short period or for long period.

10.1 Cash budget for short period

Preparation of cash budget month by month would require the following estimates:
(a) As regards receipts:
1. Receipts from debtors;

2. Cash Sales; and

3. Any other source of receipts of cash (say, dividend from a subsidiary
company)

(b) As regards payments:

1. Payments to be made for purchases;

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.43

2. Payments to be made for expenses;

3. Payments that are made periodically but not every month;
(i) Debenture interest;

(ii) Income tax paid in advance;

(iii) Sales tax or GST etc.
4. Special payments to be made in a particular month, for example,
dividends to shareholders, redemption of debentures, repayments of
loan, payment of assets acquired, etc.
Format of Cash Budget
__________Co. Ltd.
Cash Budget
Period______________

Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 12

Receipts:
1. Opening balance
2. Collection from
debtors
3. Cash sales
4. Loans from banks
5. Share capital
6. Miscellaneous
receipts
7. Other items
Total
Payments:
1. Payments to creditors
2. Wages

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 9.44 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

3. Overheads
(a)
(b)
(c)
4. Interest
5. Dividend
6. Corporate tax
7. Capital expenditure
8. Other items
Total
Closing balance
[Surplus (+)/Shortfall (-)]

Students are required to do good practice in preparing the cash budgets. The
following illustration will show how short-term cash budgets can be prepared.
ILLUSTRATION 6
PREPARE monthly cash budget for six months beginning from April 2022 on the basis
of the following information:
(i) Estimated monthly sales are as follows:

` `
January 1,00,000 June 80,000
February 1,20,000 July 1,00,000
March 1,40,000 August 80,000
April 80,000 September 60,000
May 60,000 October 1,00,000

(ii) Wages and salaries are estimated to be payable as follows:-

` `
April 9,000 July 10,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.45

May 8,000 August 9,000

June 10,000 September 9,000

(iii) Of the sales, 80% is on credit and 20% for cash. 75% of the credit sales are
collected within one month after sale and the balance in two months after sale.
There are no bad debt losses.
(iv) Purchases amount to 80% of sales and are made on credit and paid for in the
month preceding the sales.
(v) The firm has 10% debentures of ` 1,20,000. Interest on these has to be paid
quarterly in January, April and so on.
(vi) The firm is to make an advance payment of tax of ` 5,000 in July, 2022.
(vii) The firm had a cash balance of ` 20,000 on April 1, 2022, which is the minimum
desired level of cash balance. Any cash surplus/deficit above/below this level is
made up by temporary investments/liquidation of temporary investments or
temporary borrowings at the end of each month (interest on these to be
ignored).
SOLUTION
Workings:

Collection from debtors:

(Amount in `)
February March April May June July August September

Total sales 1,20,000 1,40,000 80,000 60,000 80,000 1,00,000 80,000 60,000

Credit sales
(80% of
total sales) 96,000 1,12,000 64,000 48,000 64,000 80,000 64,000 48,000

Collections:

One month 72,000 84,000 48,000 36,000 48,000 60,000 48,000

Two months 24,000 28,000 16,000 12,000 16,000 20,000

Total
collections 1,08,000 76,000 52,000 60,000 76,000 68,000

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 9.46 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Monthly Cash Budget for Six months, April to September, 2022

(Amount in `)

April May June July August September

Receipts:
Opening balance 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000
Cash sales 16,000 12,000 16,000 20,000 16,000 12,000
Collection from debtors 1,08,000 76,000 52,000 60,000 76,000 68,000
Total cash available (A) 1,44,000 1,08,000 88,000 1,00,000 1,12,000 1,00,000
Payments:
Purchases 48,000 64,000 80,000 64,000 48,000 80,000
Wages & salaries 9,000 8,000 10,000 10,000 9,000 9,000
Interest on debentures 3,000 --- --- 3,000 --- ---
Tax payment --- --- --- 5,000 --- ---
Total payments (B) 60,000 72,000 90,000 82,000 57,000 89,000
Minimum cash balance
desired 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000
Total cash needed (C) 80,000 92,000 1,10,000 1,02,000 77,000 1,09,000
Surplus - deficit (A-C) 64,000 16,000 (22,000) (2,000) 35,000 (9,000)
Investment/financing
Temporary Investments (64,000) (16,000) ---- (35,000) -----
Liquidation of
temporary investments
or temporary ---- ---- 22,000 2,000 ---- 9,000
borrowings
Total effect of
investment/financing (64,000) (16,000) 22,000 2,000 (35,000) 9,000
(D)
Closing cash balance
(A+D-B) 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000

ILLUSTRATION 7
From the following information relating to a departmental store, you are required to
PREPARE for the three months ending 31st March, 2022:

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.47

(a) Month-wise cash budget on receipts and payments basis; and

(b) Statement of Sources and uses of funds for the three months period.
It is anticipated that the working capital & other account balances at 1st January,
2022 will be as follows:

` in ‘000
Cash in hand and at bank 545
Short term investments 300
Debtors 2,570
Stock 1,300
Trade creditors 2,110
Other creditors 200
Dividends payable 485
Tax due 320
Plant 800

Budgeted Profit Statement: ` in ‘000

January February March
Sales 2,100 1,800 1,700
Cost of goods sold 1,635 1,405 1,330
Gross Profit 465 395 370
Administrative, Selling and
Distribution Expenses 315 270 255
Net Profit before tax 150 125 115

Budgeted balances at the end of each ` in ‘000

months
31st Jan. 28th Feb. 31st March
Short term investments 700 --- 200
Debtors 2,600 2,500 2,350
Stock 1,200 1,100 1,000

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 9.48 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Trade creditors 2,000 1,950 1,900

Other creditors 200 200 200
Dividends payable 485 -- --
Tax due 320 320 320
Plant (depreciation ignored) 800 1,600 1,550

Depreciation amount to ` 60,000 is included in the budgeted expenditure for each

month.
SOLUTION
WORKING

` in ‘000
Jan. Feb. March
(1) Payments to creditors:
Cost of goods sold 1,635 1,405 1,330
Add: Closing Stocks 1,200 1,100 1,000
2,835 2,505 2,330
Less: Opening Stocks 1,300 1,200 1,100
Purchases 1,535 1,305 1,230
Add: Trade Creditors, Opening balance 2,110 2,000 1,950
3,645 3,305 3,180
Less: Trade Creditors, closing balance 2,000 1,950 1,900
Payment 1,645 1,355 1,280
(2) Receipts from debtors:
Debtors, Opening balances 2,570 2,600 2,500
Add: Sales 2,100 1,800 1,700
4,670 4,400 4,200
Less: Debtors, closing balance 2,600 2,500 2,350
Receipt 2,070 1,900 1,850

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.49

CASH BUDGET
(a) 3 months ending 31st March, 2022

(` in 000)
January, February, March,
2022 2022 2022
Opening cash balances 545 315 65
Add: Receipts:
From Debtors 2,070 1,900 1,850
Sale of Investments --- 700 ----
Sale of Plant --- --- 50
Total (A) 2,615 2,915 1,965
Deduct: Payments
Creditors 1,645 1,355 1,280
Expenses 255 210 195
Capital Expenditure --- 800 ---
Payment of dividend --- 485 ---
Purchase of investments 400 --- 200
Total payments (B) 2,300 2,850 1,675
Closing cash balance (A-B) 315 65 290

(b) Statement of Sources and uses of Funds for the three month period
ending 31st March, 2022

` ’000 ` ’000
Sources:
Funds from operation:
Net profit (150+125+115) 390
Add: Depreciation (60×3) 180 570
Sale of plant 50
620

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 9.50 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Decrease in Working Capital 665

(Refer Statement of changes in working capital)
Total 1,285
Uses:
Purchase of plant 800
Payment by dividends 485
Total 1,285

Statement of Changes in Working Capital

January,22 March,22 Increase Decrease
`’ 000 `’ 000 `’ 000 `’ 000
Current Assets
Cash in hand and at Bank 545 290 255
Short term Investments 300 200 100
Debtors 2,570 2,350 220
Stock 1,300 1,000 300
4,715 3,840
Current Liabilities
Trade Creditors 2,110 1,900 210 ---
Other Creditors 200 200 --- ---
Tax Due 320 320 --- ---
2,630 2,420
Working Capital 2,085 1,420
Decrease - 665 665
2,085 2,085 875 875

10.2 Cash Budget for long period

Long-range cash forecast often resemble the projected sources and application of
funds statement. The following procedure may be adopted to prepare long-range
cash forecasts:
(i) Take the cash at bank and in the beginning of the year

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.51

(ii) Add:
(a) Trading profit (before tax) expected to be earned;
(b) Depreciation and other development expenses incurred to be written
off;
(c) Sale proceeds of assets;
(d) Proceeds of fresh issue of shares or debentures; and
(e) Reduction in working capital that is current assets (except cash) less
current liabilities.
(iii) Deduct:
(a) Dividends to be paid.
(b) Cost of assets to be purchased.
(c) Taxes to be paid.
(d) Debentures or preference shares to be redeemed.
(e) Increase in working capital that is current assets (except cash) less
current liabilities.
ILLUSTRATION 8
You are given below the Profit & Loss Accounts for two years for a company:
Profit and Loss Account

Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2

` ` ` `
To Opening stock 80,00,000 1,00,00,000 By Sales 8,00,00,000 10,00,00,000
To Raw materials 3,00,00,000 4,00,00,000 By Closing stock 1,00,00,000 1,50,00,000
To Stores 1,00,00,000 1,20,00,000 By Misc. Income 10,00,000 10,00,000
To Manufacturing 1,00,00,000 1,60,00,000
Expenses
To Other Expenses 1,00,00,000 1,00,00,000
To Depreciation 1,00,00,000 1,00,00,000
To Net Profit 1,30,00,000 1,80,00,000 - -
9,10,00,000 11,60,00,000 9,10,00,000 11,60,00,000

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 9.52 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Sales are expected to be ` 12,00,00,000 in year 3.

As a result, other expenses will increase by ` 50,00,000 besides other charges. Only
raw materials are in stock. Assume sales and purchases are in cash terms and the
closing stock is expected to go up by the same amount as between year 1 and 2. You
may assume that no dividend is being paid. The Company can use 75% of the cash
generated to service a loan. COMPUTE how much cash from operations will be
available in year 3 for the purpose? Ignore income tax.
SOLUTION
Projected Profit and Loss Account for the year 3

Year 2 Year 3 Year 2 Year 3

Actual Projected Actual Projected
(` in (` in (` in (` in
lakhs) lakhs) lakhs) lakhs)
To Materials 350 420 By Sales 1,000 1,200
consumed
To Stores 120 144 By Misc. 10 10
Income
To Mfg. Expenses 160 192
To Other expenses 100 150
To Depreciation 100 100
To Net profit 180 204
1,010 1,210 1,010 1,210
Cash Flow:

(` in lakhs)
Profit 204
Add: Depreciation 100
304
Less: Cash required for increase in stock 50
Net cash inflow 254

Available for servicing the loan: 75% of ` 2,54,00,000 or ` 1,90,50,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.53

Working Notes:
(i) Material consumed in year 2: 35% of sales.
35
Likely consumption in year 3: `1,200 × or ` 420 (lakhs)
100
(ii) Stores are 12% of sales, as in year 2.
(iii) Manufacturing expenses are 16% of sales.
Note: The above also shows how a projected profit and loss account is prepared.

10.3 Managing Cash Collection and Disbursements

Having prepared the cash budget, the finance manager should ensure that there is
not a significant deviation between projected cash flows and actual cash flows.
To achieve this cash management, efficiency will have to be brought in by proper
control of cash collection and disbursement.
The twin objectives in managing the cash flows should be:-
 Accelerate cash collections as much as possible; and
 Decelerate or delay cash disbursements within permissible time frame.
Let’s discuss each of the two objectives individually.

10.4 Accelerating Cash Collections

Different Kinds of Float with reference to Management of Cash: First, let’s
understand the time involved in the cash collection process. The term float is used
to refer to the periods that affect cash as it moves through the different stages of
the collection process. Four kinds of float with reference to management of cash
are:
 Billing float: An invoice is the formal document that a seller prepares and sends
to the purchaser as the payment request for goods sold or services provided.
The time between the sale and the mailing of the invoice is known as billing float.
 Mail float: This is the time when a cheque is being carried by post office,
messenger service or other means of delivery.

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 9.54 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

 Cheque processing float: This is the time required for the seller to sort,
record and deposit the cheque after it has been received by the company.
 Banking processing float: This is the time from the deposit of the cheque to
the crediting of funds in the sellers’ account.

There are multiple ways in which a firm can attempt to reduce or eliminate any or
all types of floats above. For instance:
♦ A firm can conserve cash and reduce its requirements for cash balances if it
can speed up its cash collections by issuing invoices quickly (reducing /
eliminating billing float);
♦ By reducing the time lag between a customer pays bill and the cheque is
collected (reducing / eliminating mail float);
♦ Making funds become available for the firm’s use (reducing / eliminating
processing floats).

A firm can also use decentralized collection system known as concentration

banking and lock box system to speed up cash collection and reduce float time.
(i) Concentration Banking: In concentration banking, the company establishes
a number of strategic collection centers in different regions instead of a single
collection center at the head office. This system reduces the period between
the time a customer mails in his remittances and the time when they become
spendable funds with the company. Payments received by the different
collection centers are deposited with their respective local banks which in
turn transfer all surplus funds to the concentration bank of head office. The
concentration bank with which the company has its major bank account is
generally located at the headquarters. Concentration banking is one
important and popular way of reducing the size of the float.

(ii) Lock Box System: Another means to accelerate the flow of funds is a lock
box system. While concentration banking, remittances are received by a
collection center and deposited in the bank after processing. The purpose of
lock box system is to eliminate the time between the receipts of remittances
by the company and deposited in the bank. A lock box arrangement usually
is on regional basis which a company chooses according to its billing patterns.

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Under this arrangement, the company rents the local post-office box and
authorizes its bank at each of the locations to pick up remittances in the boxes.
Customers are billed with instructions to mail their remittances to the lock boxes.
The bank picks up the mail several times a day and deposits the cheques in the
company’s account. The cheques may be micro-filmed for record purposes and
cleared for collection. The company receives a deposit slip and lists all payments
together with any other material in the envelope. This procedure frees the
company from handling and depositing the cheques.
The main advantage of lock box system is that cheques are deposited with the
banks sooner and become collected funds sooner than if they were processed by
the company prior to deposit. In other words, lag between the time cheques are
received by the company and the time they are actually deposited in the bank (i.e.
cheque processing float) is eliminated.
The main drawback of lock box system is the cost of its operation. The bank
provides a number of services in addition to usual clearing of cheques and requires
compensation for them. Since the cost is almost directly proportional to the
number of cheques deposited. Lock box arrangements are usually not profitable if
the average remittance is small. The appropriate rule for deciding whether or not
to use a lock box system or for that matter, concentration banking, is simply to
compare the added cost of the most efficient system with the marginal income that
can be generated from the released funds. If costs are less than income, the system
is profitable and if the system is not profitable, it is not worth undertaking.

10.5 Controlling Payments

An effective control over payments can also cause faster turnover of cash. This is
possible only by making payments on the due date, making excessive use of draft
(bill of exchange) instead of cheques.
Availability of cash can be maximized by playing the float. In this, a firm estimates
accurately the time when the cheques issued will be presented for encashment and
thus utilizes the float period to its advantage by issuing more cheques but having
in the bank account only so much cash balance as will be sufficient to honour those
cheques which are actually expected to be presented on a particular date.

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Also, the company may make payment to its outstation suppliers by a cheque and
send it through mail. The delay in transit and collection of the cheque, will be used
to increase the float.
ILLUSTRATION 9
Prachi Ltd is a manufacturing company producing and selling a range of cleaning
products to wholesale customers. It has three suppliers and two customers. Prachi Ltd
relies on its cleared funds forecast to manage its cash.
You are an accounting technician for the company and have been asked to prepare
a cleared funds forecast for the period Saturday 9 August to Wednesday 13 August
20X2 inclusive. You have been provided with the following information:
(1) Receipts from customers

Credit terms Payment 9 Aug 9 Jul 20X2

method 20X2 sales sales
W Ltd 1 calendar month BACS ` 150,000 ` 130,000
X Ltd None Cheque ` 180,000 ` 160,000
(a) Receipt of money by BACS (Bankers' Automated Clearing Services) is
instantaneous.
(b) X Ltd’s cheque will be paid into Prachi Ltd’s bank account on the same day
as the sale is made and will clear on the third day following this (excluding
day of payment).
(2) Payments to suppliers

Supplier Credit Payment 9 Aug 9 Jul 9 Jun

name terms method 20X2 20X2 20X2
purchases purchases purchases
A Ltd 1 calendar Standing ` 65,000 ` 55,000 ` 45,000
month order
B Ltd 2 calendar Cheque ` 85,000 ` 80,000 ` 75,000
months
C Ltd None Cheque ` 95,000 ` 90,000 ` 85,000
(a) Prachi Ltd has set up a standing order for ` 45,000 a month to pay for
supplies from A Ltd. This will leave Prachi’s bank account on 9 August.

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Every few months, an adjustment is made to reflect the actual cost of

supplies purchased (you do NOT need to make this adjustment).
(b) Prachi Ltd will send out, by post, cheques to B Ltd and C Ltd on 9 August.
The amounts will leave its bank account on the second day following this
(excluding the day of posting).
(3) Wages and salaries
July 20X2 August 20X2
Weekly wages ` 12,000 ` 13,000
Monthly salaries ` 56,000 ` 59,000

(a) Factory workers are paid cash wages (weekly). They will be paid one
week’s wages, on 13 August, for the last week’s work done in July (i.e. they
work a week in hand).
(b) All the office workers are paid salaries (monthly) by BACS. Salaries for July
will be paid on 9 August.
(4) Other miscellaneous payments
(a) Every Saturday morning, the petty cashier withdraws ` 200 from the
company bank account for the petty cash. The money leaves Prachi’s bank
account straight away.
(b) The room cleaner is paid ` 30 from petty cash every Monday morning.
(c) Office stationery will be ordered by telephone on Sunday 10 August to the
value of ` 300. This is paid for by company debit card. Such payments are
generally seen to leave the company account on the next working day.
(d) Five new softwares will be ordered over the Internet on 12 August at a
total cost of ` 6,500. A cheque will be sent out on the same day. The
amount will leave Prachi Ltd’s bank account on the second day following
this (excluding the day of posting).
(5) Other information
The balance on Prachi’s bank account will be ` 200,000 on 9 August 20X2. This
represents both the book balance and the cleared funds.
PREPARE a cleared funds forecast for the period Saturday 7th August to
Wednesday 13th August 20X2 inclusive using the information provided. Show
clearly the uncleared funds float each day.

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 9.58 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

SOLUTION
Cleared Funds Forecast
9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 12 Aug 13Aug
(Saturday) (Sunday) (Monday) (Tuesday) (Wednesday)
` ` ` ` `
Receipts
W Ltd 1,30,000 0 0 0 0
X Ltd 0 0 0 1,80,000 0
(a) 1,30,000 0 0 1,80,000 0
Payments

A Ltd 45,000 0 0 0 0

B Ltd 0 0 75,000 0 0

C Ltd 0 0 95,000 0 0

Wages 0 0 0 0 12,000

Salaries 56,000 0 0 0 0

Petty Cash 200 0 0 0 0

Stationery 0 0 300 0 0

(b) 1,01,200 0 1,70,300 0 12,000

Cleared excess Receipts

over payments (a) – (b) 28,800 0 (1,70,300) 1,80,000 (12,000)

Cleared balance b/f 2,00,000 2,28,800 2,28,800 58,500 2,38,500

Cleared balance c/f (c) 2,28,800 2,28,800 58,500 2,38,500 2,26,500

Uncleared funds float

Receipts 1,80,000 1,80,000 1,80,000 0 0

Payments (1,70,000) (1,70,300) 0 (6,500) (6,500)

(d) 10,000 9,700 180,000 (6,500) (6,500)

Total book balance c/f 2,38,800 2,38,500 2,38,500 2,32,000 2,20,000

(c)+ (d)

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10.6 Determining the Optimum Cash Balance

A firm should maintain optimum cash balance to cater to the day-to-day
operations. It may also carry additional cash as a buffer or safety stock. The
amount of cash balance will depend on the risk-return trade off. The firm should
maintain an optimum level i.e. just enough, i.e. neither too much (to avoid any
opportunity cost) nor too little cash balance (to settle day to day payments). This,
however, poses a question. How to determine the optimum cash balance if cash
flows are predictable and if they are not predictable?

11. CASH MANAGEMENT MODELS

In recent years several types of mathematical models have been developed which
helps to determine the optimum cash balance to be carried by a business
organization.
The purpose of all these models is to ensure that cash does not remain idle
unnecessarily and at the same time the firm is not confronted with a situation of
cash shortage.
All these models can be put in two categories:
Inventory type models; and Stochastic models.
Inventory type models have been constructed to aid the finance manager to
determine optimum cash balance of his firm. William J. Baumol’s economic order
quantity model applies equally to cash management problems under conditions of
certainty or where the cash flows are predictable.
However, in a situation where the EOQ Model is not applicable, stochastic model
of cash management helps in determining the optimum level of cash balance. It
happens when the demand for cash is stochastic and not known in advance.

11.1 William J. Baumol’s Economic Order Quantity

Model,(1952)
According to this model, optimum cash level is that level of cash where the
carrying costs and transactions costs are the minimum.

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The carrying costs refer to the cost of holding cash, namely, the opportunity cost
or interest foregone on marketable securities. The transaction costs refer to the
cost involved in getting the marketable securities converted into cash. This
happens when the firm falls short of cash and has to sell the securities resulting in
clerical, brokerage, registration and other costs.
The optimum cash balance according to this model will be that point where these
two costs are minimum. The formula for determining optimum cash balance is:

2U×P
C=
S

Where, C = Optimum cash balance

U = Annual (or monthly) cash disbursement
P = Fixed cost per transaction.
S = Opportunity cost of one rupee p.a. (or p.m.)
This can be explained with the following diagram:

The model is based on the following assumptions:

(i) Cash needs of the firm are known with certainty.
(ii) The cash is used uniformly over a period of time and it is also known with
certainty.
(iii) The holding cost is known and it is constant.
(iv) The transaction cost also remains constant.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.61

ILLUSTRATION 10
A firm maintains a separate account for cash disbursement. Total disbursement are
` 1,05,000 per month or ` 12,60,000 per year. Administrative and transaction cost
of transferring cash to disbursement account is ` 20 per transfer. Marketable
securities yield is 8% per annum.
DETERMINE the optimum cash balance according to William J. Baumol model.
SOLUTION

2×`12,60,000×` 20
The optimum cash balance C = =` 25,100
0.08

The limitation of the Baumol’s model is that it does not allow the cash flows to
fluctuate. Firms in practice do not use their cash balance uniformly nor are they
able to predict daily cash inflows and outflows. The Miller-Orr (MO) model, as
discussed below, overcomes this shortcoming and allows for daily cash flow
variation.

11.2 Miller-Orr Cash Management Model (1966)

According to this model the net cash flow is completely stochastic.
When changes in cash balance occur randomly the application of control theory
serves a useful purpose. The Miller-Orr model is one of such control limit models.
This model is designed to determine the time and size of transfers between an
investment account and cash account. In this model control limits are set for cash
balances. These limits may consist of h as upper limit, z as the return point; and
zero as the lower limit.

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 9.62 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

 When the cash balance reaches the upper limit, the transfer of cash equal to
h – z is invested in marketable securities account.
 When it touches the lower limit, a transfer from marketable securities account
to cash account is made.
 During the period when cash balance stays between (h, z) and (z, 0) i.e. high
and low limits no transactions between cash and marketable securities
account is made.
The high and low limits of cash balance are set up on the basis of fixed cost
associated with the securities transactions, the opportunity cost of holding cash
and the degree of likely fluctuations in cash balances. These limits satisfy the
demands for cash at the lowest possible total costs. The following diagram
illustrates the Miller-Orr model.

The MO Model is more realistic since it allows variations in cash balance within
lower and upper limits. The finance manager can set the limits according to the
firm’s liquidity requirements i.e., maintaining minimum and maximum cash balance.

12. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CASH

MANAGEMENT
It is important to understand the latest developments in the field of cash
management, since it has a great impact on how we manage our cash. Both
technological advancement and desire to reduce cost of operations has led to some
innovative techniques in managing cash. Some of them are:-

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Electronic Money Petty Cash

Zero Balance
Fund Market Imprest
Account
Transfer Operations System

Electronic
Management
Cash Virtual
of Temporary
Management Banking
Cash Surplus
System

12.1 Electronic Fund Transfer

With the developments which took place in the Information technology, the
present banking system is switching over to the computerisation of banks branches
to offer efficient banking services and cash management services to their
customers. The network will be linked to the different branches, banks. This will
help the customers in the following ways:
 Instant updating of accounts.
 Quick transfer of funds.
 Instant information about foreign exchange rates.

12.2 Zero Balance Account

For efficient cash management some firms employ an extensive policy of
substituting marketable securities for cash by the use of zero balance accounts.
Every day the firm totals the cheques presented for payment against the account.
The firm transfers the balance amount of cash (in excess of payments) in the
account if any, for buying marketable securities. In case of shortage of cash, the
firm sells the marketable securities.

12.3 Money Market Operations

One of the tasks of ‘treasury function’ of larger companies is the investment of
surplus funds in the money market. The chief characteristic of money market
banking is one of size. Banks obtain funds by competing in the money market for
the deposits by the companies, public authorities, High Net worth Investors (HNI),
and other banks. Deposits are made for specific periods ranging from overnight to
one year; highly competitive rates which reflect supply and demand on a daily, even

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hourly basis are quoted. Consequently, the rates can fluctuate quite dramatically,
especially for the shorter-term deposits. Surplus funds can thus be invested in
money market easily.

12.4 Petty Cash Imprest System

For better control on cash, generally the companies use petty cash imprest system
wherein the day-to-day petty expenses are estimated taking into account past
experience and future needs and generally a week’s requirement of cash will be
kept separate for making petty expenses. Again, the next week will commence with
the pre-determined balance. This will reduce the strain of the management in
managing petty cash expenses and help in the managing cash efficiently.

12.5 Management of Temporary Cash Surplus

Temporary cash surpluses can be profitably invested in the following:
 Short-term deposits in Banks and financial institutions.
 Short-term debt market instruments.
 Or Long Term Debt Instruments with flexible maturity datesShares of Blue
chip listed companies.
Choice of investment can be based on economic situation, volatility of returns
and also the risk appetite of the organization.

12.6 Electronic Cash Management System

Most of the cash management systems now-a-days are electronically based, since
‘speed’ is the essence of any cash management system. Electronically, transfer of
data as well as funds play a key role in any cash management system. Various
elements in the process of cash management are linked through a satellite. Various
places that are interlinked may be the place where the instrument is collected, the
place where cash is to be transferred in company’s account, the place where the
payment is to be transferred etc.
Certain networked cash management system may also provide a very limited access
to third parties like parties having very regular dealings of receipts and payments
with the company etc. A finance company accepting deposits from public through

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sub-brokers may give a limited access to sub-brokers to verify the collections made
through him for determination of his commission among other things.

Electronic-scientific cash management results in:

 Significant saving in time.
 Increase in interest earned & decrease in interest expense.
 Reduces paper-work & hence manpower.
 Greater accounting accuracy as it allows easy detection of book-keeping errors.
 More control over time and funds.
 Supports electronic payments.
 Faster transfer of funds from one location to another, where required.
 Speedy conversion of various instruments into cash.
 Making available funds wherever required, whenever required.
 Reduction in the amount of ‘idle float’ to the maximum possible extent.
 Ensures no idle funds are placed at any place in the organization.
 It makes inter-bank balancing of funds much easier.
 It is a true form of centralized ‘Cash Management’.
 Produces faster electronic reconciliation.
 Reduces the number of cheques issued.

12.7 Virtual Banking

The practice of banking has undergone a significant change in the nineties. While
banks are striving to strengthen customer base and relationship and move towards
relationship banking, customers are increasingly moving away from the confines of
traditional branch banking and are seeking the convenience of remote electronic
banking services including net banking & mobile banking. And even within the
broad spectrum of electronic banking the virtual banking has gained prominence
Broadly virtual banking denotes the provision of banking and related services
through extensive use of information technology without direct recourse to the
bank by the customer. The origin of virtual banking in the developed countries can
be traced back to the seventies with the installation of Automated Teller Machines

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(ATMs). Subsequently, driven by the competitive market environment as well as

various technological and customer pressures, other types of virtual banking
services have grown in prominence throughout the world.
The Reserve Bank of India has been taking a number of initiatives, which will facilitate
the active involvement of commercial banks in the sophisticated cash management
system. One of the pre-requisites to ensure faster and reliable mobility of funds in a
country is to have an efficient payment system. Considering the importance of speed
in payment system to the economy, the RBI has taken numerous measures since mid-
Eighties to strengthen the payments mechanism in the country.
Introduction of computerized settlement of clearing transactions, use of Magnetic
Ink Character Recognition (MICR) technology, provision of inter-city clearing
facilities and high value clearing facilities, Electronic Clearing Service Scheme
(ECSS), Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) scheme, UPI payment platforms, Real Time
Gross Settlement System (RTGS), Delivery vs. Payment (DVP) for Government
securities transactions, setting up of Indian Financial Network (INFINET) are some
of the significant developments.

Other than above, Introduction of Centralised Funds Management System (CFMS),

Securities Services System (SSS) and Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS)
have been the other top priority items on the agenda to transform the existing
system into a state-of-the art payment infrastructure in India.
The current vision envisaged for the payment systems reforms is one, which
contemplates linking up of all the remaining bank branches with the domestic
payment systems network thereby facilitating cross border connectivity. With the
help of the systems already put in place in India and which are coming into being,
both banks and corporates can exercise effective control over the cash
management.

Advantages of Virtual Banking

The advantages of virtual banking services are as follows:
 Lower cost of handling a transaction.
 The increased speed of response to customer requirements.

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 The lower cost of operating branch network along with reduced staff costs
leads to cost efficiency.
 Virtual banking allows the possibility of improved and a range of services
being made available to the customer rapidly, accurately and at his
convenience.
The popularity which virtual banking services have won among customers is due to
the speed, convenience and round the clock access they offer.

13. MANAGEMENT OF MARKETABLE SECURITIES

Management of marketable securities is an integral part of investment of cash as
this may serve both the purposes of liquidity and cash, provided choice of
investment is made correctly. As the working capital needs are fluctuating, it is
possible to park excess funds in some short-term securities, which can be liquidated
when need for cash is felt. The selection of securities should be guided by three
principles.
 Safety: Return and risks go hand in hand. As the objective in this investment
is ensuring liquidity, minimum risk is the criterion of selection.
 Maturity: Matching of maturity and forecasted cash needs is essential. Prices
of long term securities fluctuate more with changes in interest rates and are
therefore, riskier. Since this is for temporary excess funds, short term
securities are preferred.
 Marketability: It refers to the convenience, speed and cost at which a security
can be converted into cash. If the security can be sold quickly without loss of
time and price it is highly liquid or marketable.
The choice of marketable securities is mainly limited to Government treasury bills,
Deposits with banks and Inter-corporate deposits. Units of Unit Trust of India and
commercial papers of corporates are other attractive means of parking surplus
funds for companies along with deposits with sister concerns or associate
companies.
Besides this Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs) have also emerged as one of
the avenues of short-term investment.

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ILLUSTRATION 11
The following information is available in respect of Sai trading company:

(i) On an average, debtors are collected after 45 days; inventories have an average
holding period of 75 days and creditor’s payment period on an average is 30 days.
(ii) The firm spends a total of ` 120 lakhs annually at a constant rate.
(iii) It can earn 10 per cent on investments.
From the above information, you are required to CALCULATE:
(a) The cash cycle and cash turnover,
(b) Minimum amounts of cash to be maintained to meet payments as they become due,
(c) Savings by reducing the average inventory holding period by 30 days.
SOLUTION
(a) Cash cycle = 45 days + 75 days – 30 days = 90 days (3 months)
Cash turnover = 12 months (360 days)/3 months (90 days) = 4.
(b) Minimum operating cash = Total operating annual outlay/cash turnover, that
is, ` 120 lakhs/4 = ` 30 lakhs.
(c) Cash cycle = 45 days + 45 days – 30 days = 60 days (2 months).
Cash turnover = 12 months (360 days)/2 months (60 days) = 6.
Minimum operating cash = ` 120 lakhs/6 = ` 20 lakhs.
Reduction in investments = ` 30 lakhs – ` 20 lakhs = ` 10 lakhs.

Savings = 0.10 × ` 10 lakhs = ` 1 lakh.

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UNIT - III
MANAGEMENT OF INVENTORY

14. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Inventories constitute a major element of working capital. It is, therefore, important
that investment in inventory is properly controlled. The objectives of inventory
management are, to a great extent, similar to the objectives of cash management.
Inventory management covers a large number of problems including fixation of
minimum and maximum levels, determining the size of inventory to be carried,
deciding about the issues, receipts and inspection procedures, determining the
economic order quantity, proper storage facilities, keeping check over
obsolescence and ensuring control over movement of inventories.

Inventory Management has been discussed in detail in Chapter 2 (Material Cost)

Paper 4: Cost and Management Accounting. Students are advised to refer the same.

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UNIT – IV
MANAGEMENT OF RECEIVABLES

15. MEANING AND OBJECTIVE

Management of receivables refers to planning and controlling of 'debt' owed to
the firm from customer on account of credit sales. It is also known as trade credit
management.
The basic objective of management of receivables (debtors) is to optimise the
return on investment on these assets.

When large amounts are tied up in receivables, there are chances of bad debts and
there will be cost of collection of debts. On the contrary, if the investment in
receivables is low, the sales may be restricted, since the competitors may offer more
liberal terms. Therefore, management of receivables is an important issue and requires
proper policies and their implementation.

16. ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT OF DEBTORS

There are basically three aspects of management of receivables:
1. Credit Policy: A balanced credit policy should be determined for effective
management of receivables. Decision of Credit standards, Credit terms and
collection efforts is included in Credit policy. It involves a trade-off between
the profits on additional sales that arise due to credit being extended on the
one hand and the cost of carrying those debtors and bad debt losses on the
other. This seeks to decide credit period, cash discount and other relevant
matters. The credit period is generally stated in terms of net days. For
example, if the firm’s credit terms are “net 50”. It is expected that customers
will repay credit obligations not later than 50 days.
Further, the cash discount policy of the firm specifies:
(a) The rate of cash discount.
(b) The cash discount period; and
(c) The net credit period.

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For example, the credit terms may be expressed as “3/15 net 60”. This means
that a 3% discount will be granted if the customer pays within 15 days; if he
does not avail the offer he must make payment within 60 days.

2. Credit Analysis: This requires the finance manager to determine as to how

risky it is to advance credit to a particular party. This involves due diligence
or reputation check of the customers with respect to their credit worthiness.
3. Control of Receivable: This requires finance manager to follow up debtors
and decide about a suitable credit collection policy. It involves both laying
down of credit policies and execution of such policies.

There is always cost of maintaining receivables which comprises of following

costs:
(i) The company requires additional funds as resources are blocked in
receivables which involves a cost in the form of interest (loan funds) or
opportunity cost (own funds)
(ii) Administrative costs which include record keeping, investigation of
credit worthiness etc.
(iii) Collection costs.
(iv) Defaulting costs.

17. FACTORS DETERMINING CREDIT POLICY

The credit policy is an important factor determining both the quantity and the
quality of accounts receivables. Various factors determine the size of the
investment a company makes in accounts receivables. They are, for instance:
(i) The effect of credit on the volume of sales;
(ii) Credit terms;
(iii) Cash discount;
(iv) Policies and practices of the firm for selecting credit customers;
(v) Paying practices and habits of the customers;

(vi) The firm’s policy and practice of collection; and

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(vii) The degree of operating efficiency in the billing, record keeping and
adjustment function, other costs such as interest, collection costs and bad
debts etc., would also have an impact on the size of the investment in
receivables. The rising trend in these costs would depress the size of
investment in receivables.
The firm may follow a lenient or a stringent credit policy. The firm which follows a
lenient credit policy sells on credit to customers on very liberal terms and standards.
On the contrary a firm following a stringent credit policy sells on credit on a highly
selective basis only to those customers who have proper credit worthiness and who
are financially sound.

Any increase in accounts receivables that is, additional extension of trade credit not
only results in higher sales but also requires additional financing to support the
increased investment in accounts receivables. The costs of credit investigations
and collection efforts and the chances of bad debts are also increased. On the
contrary, a decrease in accounts receivable due to a stringent credit policy may be
as a result of reduced sales with competitors offering better credit terms.

18. FACTORS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE

FINANCE MANAGER
The finance manager has operating responsibility for the management of the
investment in receivables. His involvement includes:-
(a) Supervising the administration of credit;
(b) Contribute to top management decisions relating to the best credit policies
of the firm;
(c) Deciding the criteria for selection of credit applications; and
(d) Speed up the conversion of receivables into cash by aggressive collection
policy.
In summary the finance manager has to strike a balance between the cost of
increased investment in receivables and profits from the higher levels of sales.

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19. APPROACHES TO EVALUATION OF CREDIT

POLICIES
There are basically two methods of evaluating the credit policies to be adopted by
a Company – Total Approach and Incremental Approach. The formats for the two
approaches are given as under:
Statement showing the Evaluation of Credit Policies (based on Total Approach)

Particulars Present Proposed Proposed Proposed

Policy Policy I Policy II Policy III
` ` ` `
A. Expected Profit:
(a) Credit Sales ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(b) Total Cost other than Bad
Debts
(i) Variable Costs ……… ………… ………. ……….
(ii) Fixed Costs ……… ………… ………. ……….
……… ………. ………. ……..
(c) Bad Debts ……… ………… ……… ……….
(d) Cash discount
(e) Expected Net Profit before .…….. ……….. ……… ……….
Tax (a-b-c-d)
(f) Less: Tax ……... ……….. ………. ………
(g) Expected Profit after Tax ..……. ……… ……… ………
B. Opportunity Cost of ..…… ……… ………. ………
Investments in Receivables
locked up in Collection Period
Net Benefits (A – B) ……… ……… ……… ……….

Advise: The Policy……. should be adopted since the net benefits under this policy
are higher as compared to other policies.

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Here
(i) Total Fixed Cost = [Average Cost per unit – Variable Cost per unit] × No. of
units sold on credit under Present Policy
(ii) Opportunity Cost = Total Cost of Credit Sales ×
Collection period (Days) Required Rate of Return
×
365 (or 360) 100

Statement showing the Evaluation of Credit Policies (based on Incremental

Approach)

Particulars Present Proposed Proposed Proposed

Policy Policy I Policy II Policy III
days days days days
` ` ` `
A. Incremental Expected Profit:
Credit Sales ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(a) Incremental Credit Sales ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(b) Less: Incremental Costs of
Credit Sales
(i) Variable Costs ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(ii) Fixed Costs ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(c) Incremental Bad Debt Losses ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(d) Incremental Cash Discount ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(e) Incremental Expected Profit ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(a-b-c-d)
(f) Less: Tax ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(g) Incremental Expected Profit ………. …………. ……….. ……….
after Tax
………. …………. ……….. ……….
B. Required Return on
Incremental Investments:
(a) Cost of Credit Sales ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(b) Collection Period (in days) ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(c) Investment in Receivable (a × ………. …………. ……….. ……….
b/365 or 360)

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(d) Incremental Investment in ………. …………. ……….. ……….

Receivables
(e) Required Rate of Return (in %) ………. …………. ……….. ……….
(f) Required Return on ………. …………. ……….. ……….
Incremental Investments (d ×
e)
Incremental Net Benefits (A – B) ………. …………. ……….. ……….

Advise: The Policy ……should be adopted since net benefits under this policy are
higher as compared to other policies.
Here:
(i) Total Fixed Cost = [Average Cost per unit – Variable Cost per unit] × No. of
units sold on credit under Present Policy
(ii) Opportunity Cost = Total Cost of Credit Sales ×
Collection period (Days) Required Rate of Return
×
365 (or 360) 100

ILLUSTRATION 12
A trader whose current sales are in the region of ` 6 lakhs per annum and an average
collection period of 30 days wants to pursue a more liberal policy to improve sales.
A study made by a management consultant reveals the following information:-

Credit Policy Increase in Increase in sales Present default

collection period anticipated
A 10 days ` 30,000 1.5%
B 20 days ` 48,000 2%
C 30 days ` 75,000 3%
D 45 days ` 90,000 4%

The selling price per unit is ` 3. Average cost per unit is ` 2.25 and variable costs per
unit are ` 2. The current bad debt loss is 1%. Required return on additional
investment is 20%. Assume a 360 days year.

ANALYSE which of the above policies would you recommend for adoption?

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SOLUTION
A. Statement showing the Evaluation of Debtors Policies (Total Approach)

Particulars Present Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed

Policy Policy A Policy B Policy C Policy D
30 days 40 days 50 days 60 days 75 days
` ` ` ` `
A. Expected Profit:
(a) Credit Sales 6,00,000 6,30,000 6,48,000 6,75,000 6,90,000
(b) Total Cost other
than Bad Debts
(i) Variable Costs 4,00,000 4,20,000 4,32,000 4,50,000 4,60,000
[Sales × 2/ 3]
(ii)Fixed Costs 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000
4,50,000 4,70,000 4,82,000 5,00,000 5,10,000
(c) Bad Debts 6,000 9,450 12,960 20,250 27,600
(d) Expected Profit [(a) 1,44,000 1,50,550 1,53,040 1,54,750 1,52,400
– (b) – (c)]
B. Opportunity Cost of 7,500 10,444 13,389 16,667 21,250
Investments in
Receivables
C. Net Benefits (A – B) 1,36,500 1,40,106 1,39,651 1,38,083 1,31,150

Recommendation: The Proposed Policy A (i.e. increase in collection period by 10

days or total 40 days) should be adopted since the net benefits under this policy
are higher as compared to other policies.
Working Notes:
(i) Calculation of Fixed Cost = [Average Cost per unit – Variable Cost per unit]
× No. of Units sold
= [` 2.25 - ` 2.00] × (` 6,00,000/3)
= ` 0.25 × 2,00,000 = ` 50,000

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(ii) Calculation of Opportunity Cost of Average Investments

Collection period Rate of Return
Opportunity Cost = Total Cost × ×
360 100
30 20
Present Policy = 4,50,000 × × = 7,500
360 100
40 20
Policy A = 4,70,000 × × = 10,444
360 100
50 20
Policy B = 4,82,000 × × = 13,389
360 100
60 20
Policy C = 5,00,000 × × = 16,667
360 100
75 20
Policy D = 5,10,000 × × = 21,250
360 100
B. Another method of solving the problem is Incremental Approach. Here we
assume that sales are all credit sales.
Particulars Present Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed
Policy Policy A Policy B Policy C Policy D
30 days 40 days 50 days 60 days 75 days
` ` ` ` `
A. Incremental
Expected Profit:
(a) Incremental --- 30,000 48,000 75,000 90,000
Credit Sales
(b) Incremental Costs
(i) Variable Costs --- 20,000 32,000 50,000 60,000
(ii)Fixed Costs --- - - - -
(c) Incremental Bad --- 3,450 6,960 14,250 21,600
Debt Losses
(d) Incremental 6,550 9,040 10,750 8,400
Expected Profit
(a – b –c)]
B. Required Return on

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Incremental
Investments:
(a) Cost of Credit 4,50,000 4,70,000 4,82,000 5,00,000 5,10,000
Sales
(b) Collection period 30 40 50 60 75
(c) Investment in 37,500 52,222 66,944 83,333 1,06,250
Receivable (a ×
b/360)
(d) Incremental --- 14,722 29,444 45,833 68,750
Investment in
Receivables
(e) Required Rate of 20 20 20 20
Return (in %)
(f) Required Return --- 2,944 5,889 9,167 13,750
on Incremental
Investments (d× e)
C. Net Benefits (A – B) --- 3,606 3,151 1,583 - 5,350

Recommendation: The Proposed Policy A should be adopted since the net

benefits under this policy are higher than those under other policies.
C. Another method of solving the problem is by computing the Expected Rate
of Return.
Incremental Expected Profit
Expected Rate of Return= ×100
Incremental Investment in Receivables
` 6,550
For Policy A = ×100 = 44.49%
` 14,722
` 9,040
For Policy B = ×100 = 30.70%
` 29, 444
` 10,750
For Policy C = ×100 = 23.45%
` 45,833
` 8, 400
For Policy D = ×100 = 12.22%
` 68,750

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Recommendation: The Proposed Policy A should be adopted since the Expected

Rate of Return (44.49%) is more than the Required Rate of Return (20%) and is
highest among the given policies compared.
ILLUSTRATION 1
XYZ Corporation is considering relaxing its present credit policy and is in the process
of evaluating two proposed policies. Currently, the firm has annual credit sales of `
50 lakhs and accounts receivable turnover ratio of 4 times a year. The current level
of loss due to bad debts is ` 1,50,000. The firm is required to give a return of 25% on
the investment in new accounts receivables. The company’s variable costs are 70%
of the selling price. Given the following information, IDENTIFY which is the better
option?
(Amount in ` )

Present Policy Policy

Policy Option I Option II
Annual credit sales 50,00,000 60,00,000 67,50,000
Accounts receivable turnover ratio 4 times 3 times 2.4 times
Bad debt losses 1,50,000 3,00,000 4,50,000

SOLUTION
Statement showing the Evaluation of Debtors Policies

Particulars Present Proposed Proposed

Policy Policy I Policy II
` ` `
A Expected Profit:
(a) Credit Sales 50,00,000 60,00,000 67,50,000
(b) Total Cost other than Bad Debts:
(i) Variable Costs 35,00,000 42,00,000 47,25,000
(c) Bad Debts 1,50,000 3,00,000 4,50,000
(d) Expected Profit [(a) – (b) – (c)] 13,50,000 15,00,000 15,75,000

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B Opportunity Cost of Investments in 2,18,750 3,50,000 4,92,188

Receivables
C Net Benefits (A – B) 11,31,250 11,50,000 10,82,812

Recommendation: The Proposed Policy I should be adopted since the net benefits
under this policy are higher as compared to other policies.
Working Note: Calculation of Opportunity Cost of Average Investments
Collection period Rate of Return
Opportunity Cost = Total Cost × ×
12 100
Collection Period in months = 12 / Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio
Present Policy = ` 35,00,000 × 3/12 × 25% = ` 2,18,750
Proposed Policy I = ` 42,00,000 × 4/12 × 25% = ` 3,50,000
Proposed Policy II = ` 47,25,000 × 5/12 × 25% = ` 4,92,188
ILLUSTRATION 1

A company is presently having credit sales of ₹ 12 lakh. The existing credit terms are
1/10, net 45 days and average collection period is 30 days. The current bad debts loss is
1.5%. In order to accelerate the collection process further as also to increase sales, the
company is contemplating liberalization of its existing credit terms to 2/10, net 45 days.
It is expected that sales are likely to increase by 1/3 of existing sales, bad debts increase
to 2% of sales and average collection period to decline to 20 days. The contribution to
sales ratio of the company is 22% and opportunity cost of investment in receivables is
15 percent (pre-tax). 50 per cent and 80 percent of customers in terms of sales revenue
are expected to avail cash discount under existing and liberalization scheme respectively.
The tax rate is 30%.
ADVISE, should the company change its credit terms? (Assume 360 days in a year).
SOLUTION
Working Notes:
(i) Calculation of Cash Discount
Cash Discount = Total credit sales × % of customers who take up discount ×
Rate

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12,00,000×50×.01
Present Policy = = ₹ 6,000
100
Proposed Policy = 16,00,000 × 0.80 × 0.02 = ₹ 25,600
(ii) Opportunity Cost of Investment in Receivables
Present Policy = 9,36,000 × (30/360) × (70% of 15)/100 = 78,000 × 10.5/100 =
` 8,190
Proposed Policy = 12,48,000 × (20/360) × 10.50/100 = ₹ 7,280
Statement showing Evaluation of Credit Policies

Particulars Present Proposed

Policy Policy
Credit Sales 12,00,000 16,00,000
Variable Cost @ 78%* of sales 9,36,000 12,48,000
Bad Debts @ 1.5% and 2% 18,000 32,000
Cash Discount 6,000 25,600
Profit before tax 2,40,000 2,94,400
Tax @ 30% 72,000 88,320
Profit after Tax 1,68,000 2,06,080
Opportunity Cost of Investment in Receivables 8,190 7,280
Net Profit 1,59,810 1,98,800

*Only relevant or variable costs are considered for calculating the opportunity
costs on the funds blocked in receivables. Since 22% is contribution, hence the
relevant costs are taken to be 78% of the respective sales.
Advise: Proposed policy should be adopted since the net benefit is increased
by (`1,98,800 − `1,59,810) ` 38,990.

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20. FINANCING RECEIVABLES

20.1 Pledging and Factoring
Pledging of accounts receivables and Factoring have emerged as the important
sources of financing of accounts receivables now-a-days.
(i) Pledging: This refers to the use of a firm’s receivable to secure a short term
loan. After cash, a firm’s receivables can be termed as its most liquid assets
and this serve as prime collateral for a secured loan. The lender scrutinizes the
quality of the account receivables, selects acceptable accounts, creates a lien
on the collateral and fixes the percentage of financing receivables which
ranges around 50 to 90%. The major advantage of pledging accounts
receivables is the ease and flexibility it provides to the borrower. Moreover,
financing is done regularly. This, however, suffers on account of high cost of
financing. Also being a loan, it leaves an impact on the debt equity ratio as
well by increasing the amount of debt.
(ii) Factoring: Factoring is a relatively new concept in financing of accounts
receivables. This refers to outright sale of accounts receivables to a factor or a
financial agency. A factor is a firm that acquires the receivables of other firms.
The factoring lays down the conditions of the sale in a factoring agreement. The
factoring agency bears the risk of collection and services the accounts for a fee.

Factor

Customers send The factor pays an agreed-upon

payment to the percentage of the accounts
factor receivable to the firm.

Customer Firm
Goods

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Factoring arrangement can be either on a recourse basis or on a non-recourse

basis:
- Recourse: In case factor is unable to collect the amount from receivables then,
factor can turn back the same to the organization for resolution (which
generally is by replacing those receivables with new receivables)
- Non-Recourse: The factor bears the ultimate risk of loss in case of default and
hence in such cases they charge higher commission.
There are a number of financial institutions providing factoring services in India.
Some commercial banks and other financial agencies provide this service. The
biggest advantages of factoring are the immediate conversion of receivables into
cash and predicted pattern of cash flows. Financing receivables with the help of
factoring can help a company having liquidity without creating a net liability on
its financial condition and hence no impact on debt equity ratio. Besides,
factoring is a flexible financial tool providing timely funds, efficient record keepings
and effective management of the collection process. This is not considered as a
loan. There is no debt repayment and hence no compromise to balance sheet, no
long-term agreements or delays associated with other methods of raising capital.
Factoring allows the firm to use cash for the growth needs of business.
The basic format of evaluating factoring proposal is given as under:
Statement showing the Evaluation of Factoring Proposal

Particulars `
A. Annual Savings (Benefit) on taking Factoring Service
Cost of credit administration saved ………...
Bad debts avoided …………
Interest saved due to reduction in average collection …………
period (Wherever applicable)
[Cost of Annual Credit Sales × Rate of Interest × (Present
Collection Period – New Collection Period)/360* days]
Total ………..

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 9.84 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

B. Annual Cost of Factoring to the Firm:

Factoring Commission [Annual credit Sales × % of ………..
Commission (or calculated annually)]
Interest Charged by Factor on advance (or calculated ………...
annually )
[Amount available for advance or (Annual Credit Sales –
Factoring Commission – Factoring Reserve)] ×
Collection Period (days)
[ × Rate of Interest]
360 *
Total ………..
C. Net Annual Benefits/Cost of Factoring to the Firm: A-B

Rate of Effective Cost of Factoring to the Firm

Net Annual cost of Factoring

= ×100 or
Amount available for advance

Net Annual cost of Factoring

= ×100
Advances to be paid

Advances to be paid = (Amount available for advance –

Interest deducted by factor)

*1 Year is taken as 360 days

Advise:
1. The company should avail Factoring services if rate of effective Cost of
Factoring to the firm is less than the existing cost of borrowing or if availing
services of factoring results in to positive Net Annual Benefits.
2. The company should not avail Factoring services if the Rate of Effective Cost
of Factoring to the Firm is more than the existing cost of borrowing.

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ILLUSTRATION 1
A Factoring firm has credit sales of ` 360 lakhs and its average collection period is 30
days. The financial controller estimates, bad debt losses are around 2% of credit sales.
The firm spends ` 1,40,000 annually on debtor’s administration. This cost comprises
of telephonic and fax bills along with salaries of staff members. These are the avoidable
costs. A Factoring firm has offered to buy the firm’s receivables. The factor will charge
1% commission and will pay an advance against receivables on an interest @15% p.a.
after withholding 10% as reserve. ANALYSE what should the firm do?

Assume 360 days in a year.

SOLUTION
Working notes:
30
Average level of receivables = ` 360 lakhs × = 30 lakhs
360
Factoring Commission = 1% of ` 30,00,000 = ` 30,000
Reserve = 10% of ` 30,00,000 = ` 3,00,000
Total (i) = ` 3,30,000
Thus, the amount available for advance is
Average level of receivables ` 30,00,000
Less: Total (i) from above ` 3,30,000
(ii) ` 26,70,000
Less: Interest @ 15% p.a. for 30 days ` 33,375
Net Amount of Advance available. ` 26,36,625
Evaluation of Factoring Proposal

Particulars ` `
A. Savings (Benefit) to the firm
Cost of Credit administration ` 1,40,000 ` 1,40,000
Cost of bad-debt losses (0.02 × 360 lakhs) ` 7,20,000
Total ` 8,60,000

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B. Cost to the Firm:

Factoring Commission [Annual credit 360 ` 3,60,000
` 30,000×
Sales × % of Commission (or calculated 30
annually)]
Interest Charges 360 ` 4,00,500
` 33,375×
30
Total ` 7,60,500
C. Net Benefits to the Firm: (A-B) ` 99,500

Advice: Since the savings to the firm exceeds the cost to the firm on account of
factoring, therefore, the proposal is acceptable.

20.2 Forfaiting

Meaning of Forfaiting
‘Forfait’ is a French term which means “relinquish a right”. Forfaiting is an
arrangement of bill discounting in which a financial institution or bank buys the
trade bills (invoices) or trade receivables from exporters of goods or services, where
the exporter relinquish his right to receive payment from importer. Financial
Institutions or banks provides immediate finance to exporter ‘without recourse’
basis in which risk and rewards related with the bills/ receivables transferred to the
financial institutions/ banks. It is a unique credit facility arrangement where an
overseas buyer (importer) can open a "letter of credit" (or other negotiable
instruments) in favour of the exporter and can import goods and services on
deferred payment terms.

Functions of Forfaiting
The functionality can be understood in the following manner:
(i) Exporter sells goods or services to an overseas buyer.

(ii) The overseas buyers i.e. the importer on the basis trade bills and import
documents draws a letter of credit (or other negotiable instruments) through
its bank (known as importer’s bank).

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(iii) The exporter on receiving the letter of credit (or other negotiable instruments)
approaches to its bank (known as exporter’s bank).
(iv) The exporter’s bank buys the letter of credit (or other negotiable instruments)
‘without recourse basis’ and provides the exporter the payment for the bill.

1. Exporter sells Goods/ Services

2. Importer draws Letter of Credit Importer

Exporter

3. Exporter approaches bank Exporter’s bank

4. Bank pays the Exporter

Features of Forfaiting
The Salient features of forfaiting are:
• It motivates exporters to explore new geographies as payment is assured.
• An overseas buyer (importer) can import goods and services on deferred
payment terms.
• The exporter enjoys reduced transaction costs and complexities of
international trade transactions.
• The exporter gets to compete in the international market and can continue
to put his working capital to good use to scale up operations.
• While importers avail of forfaiting facility from international financial
institutions in order to finance their imports at competitive rates.

Example of Forfaiting:
Exim Bank of India’s ‘Buyer’s Credit’ is an example of forfaiting arrangement. Buyer’s
Credit programme facilitates exports for SMEs by providing credit to overseas
buyer to import goods from India. It is offering financing of capital goods or
services on deferred payment terms and provides non-recourse finance to Indian

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exporters by converting deferred credit contract into cash contract. It extends

advance payments to Indian exporters on behalf of the overseas buyer.
The following is a diagrammatic illustration of Exim’s Buyer’s Credit:

(Source: https://www.eximbankindia.in/buyers-credit)

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21. INNOVATIONS IN RECEIVABLE MANAGEMENT

During the recent years, a number of tools, techniques, practices and measures
have been invented to increase effectiveness in accounts receivable management.
Following are the major determinants for significant innovations in accounts
receivable management and process efficiency.
1. Re-engineering Receivable Process: In some of the organizations real cost
reductions and performance improvements have been achieved by re-
engineering in accounts receivable process. Re-engineering is a fundamental
re-think and re-design of business processes by incorporating modern
business approaches. The nature of accounts receivables is such that decisions
made elsewhere in the organization are likely to affect the level of resources
that are expended on the management of accounts receivables.
The following aspects provide an opportunity to improve the management of
accounts receivables:
(a) Centralisation: Centralisation of high nature transactions of accounts
receivables and payable is one of the practices for better efficiency. This
focuses attention on specialized groups for speedy recovery.
(b) Alternative Payment Strategies: Alternative payment strategies in
addition to traditional practices result into efficiencies in the
management of accounts receivables. It is observed that payment of
accounts outstanding is likely to be quicker where a number of payment
alternatives are made available to customers. Besides, this convenient
payment method is a marketing tool that is of benefit in attracting and
retaining customers. The following alternative modes of payment may
also be used along with traditional methods like Cheque Book etc., for
making timely payment, added customer service, reducing remittance
processing costs and improved cash flows and better debtor turnover.
(i) Direct debit: I.e., authorization for the transfer of funds from the
purchaser’s bank account.
(ii) Integrated Voice Response (IVR): This system uses human
operators and a computer-based system to allow customers to

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make payment over phone. This system has proved to be

beneficial in the organisations processing a large number of
payments regularly.
(iii) Collection by a third party: The payment can be collected by an
authorized external firm. The payments can be made by cash,
cheque, credit card or Electronic fund transfer. Banks may also be
acting as collecting agents of their customers and directly
depositing the collections in customers’ bank accounts.
(iv) Lock Box Processing: Under this system an outsourced partner
captures cheques and invoice data and transmits the file to the
client firm for processing in that firm’s systems.
(v) Payments via Internet using fund transfer methods like RTGS,
NEFT, IPMS UPIs, App based payment like Paytm, Phone Pe, etc.

(c) Customer Orientation: Where individual customers or a group of

customers have some strategic importance to the firm a case study
approach may be followed to develop good customer relations. A
critical study of this group may lead to formation of a strategy for
prompt settlement of debt.
2. Evaluation of Risk: Risk evaluation is a major component in the
establishment of an effective control mechanism. Once risks have been
properly assessed controls can be introduced to either contain the risk to an
acceptable level or to eliminate them entirely. This also provides an
opportunity for removing inefficient practices. This involves a re-think of
processes and questioning the way that tasks are performed. This also opens
the way for efficiency and effectiveness benefits in the management of
accounts receivables.
3. Use of Latest Technology: Technological developments now-a-days
provides an opportunity for improvement in accounts receivables process.
The major innovations available are the integration of systems used in the
management of accounts receivables, the automation and the use of e-
commerce.

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(a) E-commerce refers to the use of computer and electronic

telecommunication technologies, particularly on an inter-
organisational level, to support trading in goods and services. It uses
technologies such as Electronic Data Inter-change (EDI), Electronic Mail,
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Catalogue Systems to
allow the buyer and seller to transact business by exchange of
information between computer application systems such as Amazon,
Flipkart etc.
(b) Automated Accounts Receivable Management Systems: Now-a-
days all the big companies develop and maintain automated receivable
management systems. Manual systems of recording the transactions
and managing receivables are not only cumbersome but ultimately
costly also. These integrated systems automatically update all the
accounting records affected by a transaction. For example, if a
transaction of credit sale is to be recorded, the system increases the
amount the customer owes to the firm, reduces the inventory for the
item purchased, and records the sale. This system of a company allows
the application and tracking of receivables and collections, using the
automated receivables system allows the company to store important
information for an unlimited number of customers and transactions,
and accommodate efficient processing of customer payments and
adjustments.
4. Receivable Collection Practices: The aim of debtors’ collection should be to
reduce, monitor and control the accounts receivable at the same time
maintain customer goodwill. The fundamental rule of sound receivable
management should be to reduce the time lag between the sale and
collection. Any delays that lengthen this span causes receivables to
unnecessary build up and increase the risk of bad debts. This is equally true
for the delays caused by billing and collection procedures as it is for delays
caused by the customer.

The following are major receivable collection procedures and practices:

(i) Issue of Invoice.
(ii) Open account or open-end credit.

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(iii) Credit terms or time limits.

(iv) Periodic statements and follow ups.

(v) Use of payment incentives and penalties.
(vi) Record keeping and Continuous Audit.

(vii) Export Factoring: Factors provide comprehensive credit management,

loss protection collection services and provision of working capital to
the firms exporting internationally.
(viii) Business Process Outsourcing: This refers to a strategic business tool
whereby an outside agency takes over the entire responsibility for
managing a business process like collections in this case.
5. Use of Financial tools/techniques: The finance manager while managing
accounts receivables uses a number of financial tools and techniques. Some
of them have been described hereby as follows:

(i) Credit analysis: While determining the credit terms, the firm has to
evaluate individual customers in respect of their credit worthiness and
the possibility of bad debts. For this purpose, the firm has to ascertain
credit rating of prospective customers.
Credit rating: An important task for the finance manager is to rate the
various debtors who seek credit facility. This involves decisions
regarding individual parties so as to ascertain how much credit can be
extended and for how long. In foreign countries specialized agencies
are engaged in the task of providing rating information regarding
individual parties. Dun and Broad street is one such source.
The finance manager has to look into the credit-worthiness of a party
and sanction credit limit only after he is convinced that the party is
sound. This would involve an analysis of the financial status of the party,
its reputation and previous record of meeting commitments.
The credit manager here has to employ a number of sources to obtain
credit information. The following are the important sources:

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Trade references; Bank references; Credit bureau reports; Past

experience; Published financial statements; and Salesman’s interview
and reports.

Once the credit-worthiness of a client is ascertained, the next question

is to set a limit of the credit. This credit limit once set can be further
enhanced as the favorable experience is gained while dealing with that
client. In all such enquiries, the credit manager must be discreet and
should always have the interest of high sales in view at the same time
balancing any risk of non-collection.
(ii) Credit Granting - Decision tree analysis: The decision whether to
grant credit or not is a decision involving costs and benefits. When a
customer pays, the seller makes profit but when he fails to pay the
amount of cost going into the product is also gone. If the relative
chances of recovering the dues can be decided, it can form a probability
distribution of payment or non-payment. If the chances of recovery are
9 out of 10 then probability of recovery is 0.9 and that of default is 0.1.
Credit evaluation of a customer shows that the probability of recovery is
0.9 and that of default is 0.1, the revenue from the order is ` 5 lakhs and
cost is ` 4 lakhs. The decision is whether credit should be granted or
not.
The analysis is presented in the following diagram.

Pays Probability (0.9) ₹1,00,000

Grant
Credit Does not Pay
₹4,00,000
Evaluation Probability (0.1)
Do not Grant

The weighted net benefit is ` [1,00,000 × 0.9 i.e. 90,000 – 0.1 × 4,00,000 i.e.
40,000] = 50,000. So, credit should be granted.
(iii) Control of receivables: Another aspect of management of debtors is the
control of receivables. Merely setting of standards and framing a credit policy

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is not sufficient; it is, equally important to control receivables by constant

monitoring and follow ups.
(iv) Collection policy: Efficient and timely collection of debtors ensures that the
bad debt losses are reduced to the minimum and the average collection
period is shorter. If a firm spends more resources on collection of debts, it is
likely to have smaller bad debts. Thus, a firm must work out the optimum
amount that it should spend on collection of debtors. This involves a trade-
off between the level of expenditure on the one hand and decrease in bad
debt losses and investment in debtors on the other.
The collection cell of a firm has to work in a manner that it does not create
too much resentment amongst the customers. On the other hand, it has to
keep the amount of the outstanding in check. Hence, it has to work in a very
smoothen manner and diplomatically.
It is important that clear-cut procedures regarding credit collection are set
up. Such procedures must answer questions like the following:
(a) How long should a debtor balance be allowed to exist before collection
process is started?
(b) What should be the procedure of follow up with defaulting customer?
How reminders are to be sent and how should and at what frequency,
each successive reminder be drafted?
(c) Should there be collection machinery whereby personal calls by
company’s representatives are made?
(d) What should be the procedure for dealing with doubtful accounts? Is
legal action to be instituted or some escalation matrix to be followed ?
How should account be handled?

22. MONITORING OF RECEIVABLES

Constant monitoring of the current status of receivables is very essential for any
organization to make sure that its receivables management is as effective as it
should be. Various steps that constitute constant monitoring are:
(i) Computation of average age of receivables: It involves computation of
average collection period.

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(ii) Ageing Schedule: When receivables are analysed according to their age,
the process is known as preparing the ageing schedules of receivables. The
computation of average age of receivables is a quick and effective method of
comparing the liquidity of receivables with the liquidity of receivables in the
past and also comparing liquidity of one firm with the liquidity of the other
competitive firm. It also helps the firm to predict collection pattern of
receivables in future. This comparison can be made periodically.
The purpose of classifying receivables by age groups is to have a closer
control over the quality of individual accounts. It requires going back to the
receivables’ ledger where the dates of each customer’s purchases and
payments are available. The ageing schedule, by indicating a tendency for
old accounts to accumulate, provides a useful supplement to average
collection period of receivables/sales analysis. Because an analysis of
receivables in terms of associated dates of sales enables the firm to recognise
the recent increases, and slumps in sales. To ascertain the condition of
receivables for control purposes, it may be considered desirable to compare
the current ageing schedule with an earlier ageing schedule in the same firm
and also to compare this information with the experience of other firms. The
following is an illustration of the ageing schedule of receivables:-
Ageing Schedule

Age Classes As on 30th June, 2022 As on 30th September, 2022

(Days) Month Balance of Percentage Month of Balance of Percentage
of Sale Receivables to total Sale Receivables to total
(` ) (` )
1-30 June 41,500 11.9 September 1,00,000 22.7
31-60 May 74,200 21.4 August 2,50,000 56.8
61-90 April 1,85,600 53.4 July 48,000 10.9
91-120 March 35,300 10.2 June 40,000 9.1
121 and more Earlier 10,800 3.1 Earlier 2,000 0.5
3,47,400 100 4,40,000 100

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The above ageing schedule shows a substantial improvement in the liquidity

of receivables for the quarter ending September, 2022 as compared with the
liquidity of receivables for the quarter ending June, 2022. It could be possible
due to greater collection efforts of the firm.

(iii) Debt Collection Programme:

(a) Monitoring the state of receivables.
(b) Intimation to customers when due date approaches.
(c) E-mail and telephonic advice to customers on the due date.
(d) Reminding the legal recourse on overdue A/cs and follow escalation
matrix if available.
(e) Legal action on overdue A/cs.
The following diagram shows the relationship between collection expenses
and bad debt losses which have to be established as initial increase in
collection expenses may have only a small impact on bad debt losses.

ILLUSTRATION 1
Mosaic Limited has current sales of ` 15 lakhs per year. Cost of sales is 75 per cent of
sales and bad debts are one per cent of sales. Cost of sales comprises 80 per cent variable
costs and 20 per cent fixed costs, while the company’s required rate of return is 12 per
cent. Mosaic Limited currently allows customers 30 days’ credit, but is considering
increasing this to 60 days’ credit in order to increase sales.

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It has been estimated that this change in policy will increase sales by 15 per cent, while
bad debts will increase from one per cent to four per cent. It is not expected that the policy
change will result in an increase in fixed costs and creditors and stock will be unchanged.
Should Mosaic Limited introduce the proposed policy? ANALYSE (Assume a 360 days year)
SOLUTION
New level of sales will be 15,00,000 × 1.15 = ` 17,25,000
Variable costs are 80% × 75% = 60% of sales
Contribution from sales is therefore 40% of sales
Fixed Cost are 20% × 75% = 15% of sales

Particulars ` `
Proposed investment in debtors = Variable Cost +
Fixed Cost* = (17,25,000 × 60%) + (15,00,000 × 15%)
60
= (10,35,000 + 2,25,000) ×
360
2,10,000
Current investment in debtors = [(15,00,000 × 60%)
30
+ (15,00,000 × 15%)] ×
360 93,750
Increase in investment in debtors 1,16,250
Increase in contribution = 15% × 15,00,000 × 40% 90,000
New level of bad debts = (17,25,000 × 4% ) 69,000
Current level of bad debts (15,00,000 × 1%) 15,000
Increase in bad debts (54,000)
Additional financing costs = 1,16,250 × 12% = (13,950)
Savings by introducing change in policy 22,050

* Fixed Cost is taken at existing level in case of proposed investment as well

Advise: Mosaic Limited should introduce the proposed policy.

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UNIT - V
MANAGEMENT OF PAYABLES (CREDITORS)

23. INTRODUCTION
There is an old age saying in business that if you can buy well then you can sell
well. Management of your creditors and suppliers is just as important as the
management of your debtors.
Trade creditor is a spontaneous / short term source of finance in the sense that it
arises from ordinary business transaction. But it is also important to look after your
creditors - slow payment by you may create ill-feeling and your supplies could be
disrupted and also create a bad image for your company.
Creditors are a vital part of effective cash management and should be managed
carefully to enhance the cash position.

24. COST AND BENEFITS OF TRADE CREDIT

(a) Cost of Availing Trade Credit
Normally it is considered that the trade credit does not carry any cost.
However, it carries the following costs:
(i) Price: There is often a discount on the price that the firm undergoes
when it uses trade credit, since it can take advantage of the discount
only if it pays immediately. This discount can translate into a high
implicit cost.
(ii) Loss of goodwill: If the credit is overstepped, suppliers may
discriminate against delinquent customers if supplies become short. As
with the effect of any loss of goodwill, it depends very much on the
relative market strengths of the parties involved.
(iii) Cost of managing: Management of creditors involves administrative
and accounting costs that would otherwise be incurred.
(iv) Conditions: Sometimes most of the suppliers insist that for availing the
credit facility the order should be of some minimum size or even on regular
basis.

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(b) Cost of Not Taking Trade Credit

On the other hand, the costs of not availing credit facilities are as under:
(i) Impact of Inflation: If inflation persists then the borrowers are favored
over the lenders as they were better off to pay the fixed outstanding
amount later than sooner. Also, the subsequent transactions shall be at
higher prices.
(ii) Interest: Trade credit is a type of interest free loan, therefore failure to
avail this facility has an interest cost. This cost is further increased if
interest rates are higher.
(iii) Inconvenience: Sometimes it may also cause inconvenience to the
supplier if the supplier is geared to the deferred payment.

25. COMPUTATION OF COST OF PAYABLES

By using the trade credit judiciously, a firm can reduce the effect of growth or
burden on investments in Working Capital.
Now question arises how to calculate the cost of not taking the discount.
The following equation can be used to calculate nominal cost, on an annual basis
of not taking the discount:
d 365 days
×
100 − d t

However, the above formula does not take into account the compounding effect
and therefore, the cost of credit shall be even higher. The cost of lost cash discount
can be estimated by the formula:
365
 100  t
  −1
 100 − d 

Where,
d= Size of discount i.e. for 6% discount, d = 6
t = The reduction in the payment period in days, necessary to obtain the
early discount or Days Credit Outstanding – Discount Period.

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 9.100 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

ILLUSTRATION 17
Suppose ABC Ltd. has been offered credit terms from its major supplier of 2/10, net
45. Hence the company has the choice of paying ` 10 per ` 100 or to invest ` 98 for
an additional 35 days and eventually pay the supplier ` 100 per ` 100. The decision
as to whether the discount should be accepted depends on the opportunity cost of
investing ` 98 for 35 days. ANALYSE what should the company do?
SOLUTION
If the company does not avail the cash discount and pays the amount after 45 days,
the implied cost of interest per annum would be approximately:
365
 100  35
  − 1 = 23.5%
 100 − 2 

Now let us assume that ABC Ltd. can invest the additional cash and can obtain an
annual return of 25% and if the amount of invoice is ` 10,000. The alternatives are
as follows:

Refuse Accept
discount discount
` `
Payment to supplier 10,000 9,800
Return from investing ` 9,800 between day 10 and day 45:
35 (235)
× ` 9,800×25%
365
Net Cost 9,765 9,800

Advise: Thus, it is better for the company to refuse the discount, as return on cash
retained is more than the saving on account of discount.
ILLUSTRATION 18 Paid within 0 days 2% dis
The Dolce Company purchases raw materials on terms of 2/10, net 30. A review of
the company’s records by the owner, Mr. Gautam, revealed that payments are usually
made 15 days after purchases are made. When asked why the firm did not take
advantage of its discounts, the accountant, Mr. Rohit, replied that it cost only 2 per
cent for these funds, whereas a bank loan would cost the company 12 per cent.

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(a) ANALYSE what mistake is Rohit making?

(b) If the firm could not borrow from the bank and was forced to resort to the use
of trade credit funds, what suggestion might be made to Rohit that would reduce
the annual interest cost? IDENTIFY.
SOLUTION
(a) Rohit’s argument of comparing 2% discount with 12% bank loan rate is not
rational as 2% discount can be earned by making payment 5 days in advance
i.e. within 10 days rather 15 days as payments are made presently. Whereas
12% bank loan rate is for a year.
Assume that the purchase value is `100, the discount can be earned by
making payment within 10 days is `2, therefore, net payment would be `98
only. Annualized benefit
` 2 365 days
= × ×100 = 149%
` 98 5 days

This means cost of not taking cash discount is 149%.

(b) If the bank loan facility could not be available, then in this case the company
should resort to utilise maximum credit period as possible.
Therefore, payment should be made in 30 days to reduce the interest cost.

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UNIT – VI
FINANCING OF WORKING CAPITAL

26. INTRODUCTION
After determining the amount of working capital required, the next step to be taken
by the finance manager is to arrange the funds.

As discussed earlier, it is advisable that the finance manager bifurcate the working
capital requirements between the permanent working capital and temporary
working capital.

The permanent working capital is always needed irrespective of sales fluctuation;

hence it should be financed by the long-term sources such as debt and equity. On
the contrary the temporary working capital may be financed by the short-term
sources of finance.
Broadly speaking, the working capital finance may be classified between the two
categories:
(i) Spontaneous sources; and
(ii) Negotiable sources.
Spontaneous Sources: Spontaneous sources of finance are those which naturally
arise in the course of business operations. Trade credit, credit from employees,
credit from suppliers of services, etc. are some of the examples which may be
quoted in this respect.
Negotiated Sources: On the other hand, the negotiated sources, as the name
implies, are those which have to be specifically negotiated with lenders say,
commercial banks, financial institutions, general public etc.

The finance manager has to be very careful while selecting a particular source, or a
combination thereof for financing of working capital. Generally, the following
parameters will guide his decisions in this respect:

(i) Cost factor

(ii) Impact on credit rating

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(iii) Feasibility
(iv) Reliability
(v) Restrictions

(vi) Hedging approach or matching approach i.e., Financing of assets with the
same maturity as of assets.

27. SOURCES OF FINANCE

27.1 Spontaneous Sources of Finance
(a) Trade Credit: As outlined above trade credit is a spontaneous source of
finance which is normally extended to the purchaser organization by the sellers or
services providers. This source of financing working capital is more important since
it contributes to about one-third of the total short-term requirements. The
dependence on this source is higher due to lesser cost of finance as compared with
other sources. Trade credit is guaranteed when a company acquires supplies,
merchandise or materials and does not pay immediately. If a buyer is able to get
the credit without completing much formality, it is termed as ‘open account trade
credit.’
(b) Bills Payable: On the other hand, in the case of “Bills Payable” the purchaser
will have to give a written promise to pay the amount of the bill/invoice either on
demand or at a fixed future date to the seller or the bearer of the note.
Due to its simplicity, easy availability and lesser explicit cost, the dependence on
this source is much more in all small or big organizations. Especially, for small
enterprises this form of credit is more helpful to small and medium enterprises.
The amount of such financing depends on the volume of purchases and the
payment timing.
(c) Accrued Expenses: Another spontaneous source of short-term financing is
the accrued expenses or the outstanding expenses liabilities. The accrued expenses
refer to the services availed by the firm, but the payment for which has yet to be
made. It is a built in and an automatic source of finance as most of the services
like wages, salaries, taxes, duties etc., are paid at the end of the period. The accrued

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expenses represent an interest free source of finance. There is no explicit or implicit

cost associated with the accrued expenses and the firm can ensure liquidity by
accruing these expenses.

27.2 Inter-corporate Loans and Deposits

Sometimes, organizations having surplus funds invest for short-term period with
other organizations. The rate of interest will be higher than the bank rate of interest
and depends on the financial soundness of the borrower company. This source of
finance reduces dependence on bank financing.

27.3 Commercial Papers

Commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured promissory note issued by a firm to raise
funds for a short period. This is an instrument that enables highly rated corporate
borrowers for short-term borrowings and provides an additional financial
instrument to investors with a freely negotiable interest rate. The maturity period
ranges from minimum 7 days to less than 1 year from the date of issue. CP can be
issued in denomination of ` 5 lakhs or multiples thereof.
Advantages of CP: From the point of the issuing company, CP provides the following
benefits:
(a) CP is sold on an unsecured basis and does not contain any restrictive
conditions.
(b) Maturing CP can be repaid by selling new CP and thus can provide a
continuous source of funds.
(c) Maturity of CP can be tailored to suit the requirement of the issuing firm.
(d) CP can be issued as a source of fund even when money market is tight.
(e) Generally, the cost of CP to the issuing firm is lower than the cost of
commercial bank loans.
However, CP as a source of financing has its own limitations:

(i) Only highly credit rating firms can use it. New and moderately rated firm
generally are not in a position to issue CP.

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(ii) CP can neither be redeemed before maturity nor can be extended beyond
maturity.

27.4 Funds Generated from Operations

Funds generated from operations, during an accounting period, increase working
capital by an equivalent amount. The two main components of funds generated
from operations are profit and depreciation. Working capital will increase by the
extent of funds generated from operations. Students may refer to funds flow
statement given earlier in this chapter.

27.5 Public Deposits

Deposits from the public are one of the important sources of finance particularly
for well-established big companies with huge capital base for short and medium-
term.

27.6 Bills Discounting

Bill discounting is recognized as an important short-term Financial Instrument and
it is widely used method of short-term financing. In a process of bill discounting,
the supplier of goods draws a bill of exchange with direction to the buyer to pay a
certain amount of money after a certain period, and gets its acceptance from the
buyer or drawee of the bill.

27.7 Bill Rediscounting Scheme

The Bill rediscounting Scheme was introduced by Reserve Bank of India with effect
from 1st November, 1970 in order to extend the use of the bill of exchange as an
instrument for providing credit and the creation of a bill market in India with a
facility for the rediscounting of eligible bills by banks. Under the bills rediscounting
scheme, all licensed scheduled banks are eligible to offer bills of exchange to the
Reserve Bank for rediscount.

27.8 Factoring
Students may refer to the unit on Receivable Management wherein the concept of
factoring has been discussed. Factoring is a method of financing whereby a firm

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sells its trade debts at a discount to a financial institution. In other words, factoring
is a continuous arrangement between a financial institution, (namely the factor) and
a firm (namely the client) which sells goods and services to trade customers on
credit. As per this arrangement, the factor purchases the client’s trade debts
including accounts receivables either with or without recourse to the client, and
thus, exercises control over the credit extended to the customers and administers
the sales ledger of his client. To put it in a layman’s language, a factor is an agent
who collects the dues of his client for a certain fee.
The differences between Factoring and Bills discounting are as follows:
(i) Factoring is called as ‘Invoice factoring’ whereas bills discounting is known as
“Invoice discounting”.
(ii) In factoring the parties are known as client, factor and debtor whereas in bills
discounting they are known as Drawer, Drawee and Payee.

(iii) Factoring is a sort of management of book debts whereas bills discounting is

a sort of borrowing from commercial banks.
(iv) For factoring there is no specific Act; whereas in the case of bills discounting,
the Negotiable Instrument Act is applicable.

28. WORKING CAPITAL FINANCE FROM BANKS

Banks in India today constitute the major suppliers of working capital credit to any
business activity. Recently, some term lending financial institutions have also
announced schemes for working capital financing. The two committees viz.,
Tandon Committee and Chore Committee have evolved definite guidelines and
parameters in working capital financing, which have laid the foundations for
development and innovation in the area.

28.1 Instructions on Working Capital Finance by Banks

Assessment of Working Capital

 Reserve Bank of India has withdrawn the prescription, in regard to assessment
of working capital needs, based on the concept of Maximum Permissible Bank
Finance (MPBF), in April 1997. Banks are now free to evolve, with the approval

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of their Boards, methods for assessing the working capital requirements of

borrowers, within the prudential guidelines and exposure norms prescribed.
Banks, however, have to take into account Reserve Bank’s instructions relating
to directed credit (such as priority sector, export, etc.), and prohibition of
credit (such as bridge finance, rediscounting of bills earlier discounted by
NBFCs) while formulating their lending policies.
 With the above liberalizations, all the instructions relating to MPBF issued by
RBI from time to time stand withdrawn. Further, various
instructions/guidelines issued to banks with objective of ensuring lending
discipline in appraisal, sanction, monitoring and utilization of bank finance
cease to be mandatory. However, banks have the option of incorporating
such of the instructions/guidelines as are considered necessary in their
lending policies/procedures.

29. FORMS OF BANK CREDIT

The bank credit will generally be in the following forms:
 Cash Credit: This facility will be given by the banker to the customers by
giving certain amount of credit facility on continuous basis. The borrower
will not be allowed to exceed the limits sanctioned by the bank.
 Bank Overdraft: It is a short-term borrowing facility made available to the
companies in case of urgent need of funds. The banks will impose limits on
the amount they can lend. When the borrowed funds are no longer required
they can quickly and easily be repaid. The banks issue overdrafts with a right
to call them in at short notice.
 Bills Discounting: The Company which sells goods on credit will normally
draw a bill on the buyer who will accept it and sends it to the seller of goods.
The seller, in turn discounts the bill with his banker. The banker will generally
earmark the discounting bill limit.
 Bills Acceptance: To obtain finance under this type of arrangement a
company draws a bill of exchange on bank. The bank accepts the bill thereby
promising to pay out the amount of the bill at some specified future date.

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 Line of Credit: Line of Credit is a commitment by a bank to lend a certain

amount of funds on demand specifying the maximum amount.
 Letter of Credit: It is an arrangement by which the issuing bank on the
instructions of a customer or on its own behalf undertakes to pay or accept
or negotiate or authorizes another bank to do so against stipulated
documents subject to compliance with specified terms and conditions.
 Bank Guarantees: Bank guarantee is one of the facilities that the commercial
banks extend on behalf of their clients in favour of third parties who will be
the beneficiaries of the guarantees.

SUMMARY
♦ Working Capital Management involves managing the balance between firm’s
short-term assets and its short-term liabilities.
♦ From the value point of view, Working Capital can be defined as Gross
Working Capital or Net Working Capital.

♦ From the point of view of time, the term working capital can be divided into
two categories viz., Permanent and temporary.
♦ A large amount of working capital would mean that the company has idle
funds. Since funds have a cost, the company has to pay huge amount as
interest on such funds. If the firm has inadequate working capital, such firm
runs the risk of insolvency.
♦ Some of the items/factors which need to be considered while planning for
working capital requirement are nature of business, market and demand
conditions, operating efficiency, credit policy etc.

♦ Finance manager has to pay particular attention to the levels of current assets
and their financing. To decide the levels and financing of current assets, the
risk return trade off must be taken into account.

♦ In determining the optimum level of current assets, the firm should balance
the profitability – Solvency tangle by minimizing total costs.

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♦ Working Capital cycle indicates the length of time between a company’s

paying for materials, entering into stock and receiving the cash from sales of
finished goods. It can be determined by adding the number of days required
for each stage in the cycle.
♦ Treasury management is defined as ‘the corporate handling of all financial
matters, the generation of external and internal funds for business, the
management of currencies and cash flows and the complex, strategies,
policies and procedures of corporate finance.
♦ The main objectives of cash management for a business are:-
(a) Provide adequate cash to each of its units;
(b) No funds are blocked in idle cash; and
(c) The surplus cash (if any) should be invested in order to maximize returns
for the business.
♦ Large amounts are tied up in sundry debtors, there are chances of bad debts
and there will be cost of collection of debts. On the contrary, if the investment
in sundry debtors is low, the sales may be restricted, since the competitors
may offer more liberal terms. Therefore, management of sundry debtors is
an important issue and requires proper policies and their implementation.
♦ There are basically three aspects of management of sundry debtors: Credit
policy, Credit Analysis and Control of receivables.
♦ Trade creditor is a spontaneous source of finance in the sense that it arises
from ordinary business transaction. But it is also important to look after your
creditors - slow payment by you may create ill-feeling and your supplies could
be disrupted and also create a bad image for your company.
♦ It is advisable that the finance manager bifurcates the working capital
requirements between the permanent working capital and temporary
working capital.
♦ The permanent working capital is always needed irrespective of sales
fluctuations, hence should be financed by the long-term sources such as debt
and equity. On the contrary the temporary working capital may be financed
by the short-term sources of finance.

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TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. The credit terms may be expressed as “3/15 net 60”. This means that a 3%
discount will be granted if the customer pays within 15 days, if he does not avail
the offer, he must make payment within 60 days.
(a) I agree with the statement
(b) I do not agree with the statement

(c) I cannot say.

2. The term ‘net 50’ implies that the customer will make payment:
(a) Exactly on 50th day
(b) Before 50th day
(c) Not later than 50th day
(d) None of the above.
3. Trade credit is a source of :
(a) Long-term finance
(b) Medium term finance
(c) Spontaneous source of finance
(d) None of the above.
4. The term float is used in:

(a) Inventory Management

(b) Receivable Management
(c) Cash Management

(d) Marketable securities.

5. William J Baumol’s model of Cash Management determines optimum cash level
where the carrying cost and transaction cost are:
(a) Maximum

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(b) Minimum
(c) Medium
(d) None of the above.

6. In Miller – ORR Model of Cash Management:

(a) The lower, upper limit, and return point of Cash Balances are set out
(b) Only upper limit and return point are decided
(c) Only lower limit and return point are decided
(d) None of the above are decided.
7. Working Capital is defined as:
(a) Excess of current assets over current liabilities
(b) Excess of current liabilities over current assets
(c) Excess of Fixed Assets over long-term liabilities
(d) None of the above.
8. Working Capital is also known as “Circulating Capital, fluctuating Capital and
revolving capital”. The aforesaid statement is;
(a) Correct
(b) Incorrect
(c) Cannot say.

9. The basic objectives of Working Capital Management are:

(a) Optimum utilization of resources for profitability
(b) To meet day-to-day current obligations

(c) Ensuring marginal return on current assets is always more than cost of
capital
(d) Select any one of the above statements.

10. The term Gross Working Capital is known as:

(a) The investment in current liabilities

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(b) The investment in long-term liability

(c) The investment in current assets

(d) None of the above.
11. The term net working capital refers to the difference between the current assets
minus current liabilities.
(a) The statement is correct
(b) The statement is incorrect

(c) I cannot say.

12. The term “Core current assets’ was coined by:
(a) Chore Committee

(b) Tandon Committee

(c) Jilani Committee
(d) None of the above.

13. The concept operating cycle refers to the average time which elapses between
the acquisition of raw materials and the final cash realization. This statement is:
(a) Correct

(b) Incorrect
(c) Partially True
(d) I cannot say.
14. As a matter of self-imposed financial discipline can there be a situation of zero
working capital now-a-days in some of the professionally managed
organizations.

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Impossible
(d) Cannot say.

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15. Over trading arises when a business expands beyond the level of funds available.
The statement is:
(a) Incorrect

(b) Correct
(c) Partially correct
(d) I cannot say.
16. A Conservative Working Capital strategy calls for high levels of current assets
in relation to sales.
(a) I agree
(b) Do not agree
(c) I cannot say.
17. The term Working Capital leverage refer to the impact of level of working capital
on company’s profitability. This measures the responsiveness of ROCE for
changes in current assets.
(a) I agree
(b) Do not agree
(c) The statement is partially true.
18. The term spontaneous source of finance refers to the finance which naturally
arise in the course of business operations. The statement is:
(a) Correct
(b) Incorrect
(c) Partially Correct
(d) I cannot say.
19. Under hedging approach to financing of working capital requirements of a firm,
each asset in the balance sheet assets side would be offset with a financing
instrument of the same approximate maturity. This statement is:
(a) Incorrect

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(b) Correct

(c) Partially correct

(d) I cannot say.
20. Trade credit is a:

(a) Negotiated source of finance

(b) Hybrid source of finance
(c) Spontaneous source of finance

(d) None of the above.

21. Factoring is a method of financing whereby a firm sells its trade debts at a
discount to a financial institution. The statement is:

(a) Correct
(b) Incorrect
(c) Partially correct

(d) I cannot say.

22. A factoring arrangement can be both with recourse as well as without recourse:
(a) True

(b) False
(c) Partially correct
(d) Cannot say.
23. The Bank financing of working capital will generally be in the following form.
Cash Credit, Overdraft, bills discounting, bills acceptance, line of credit; Letter of
credit and bank guarantee.
(a) I agree
(b) I do not agree
(c) I cannot say.

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24. When the items of inventory are classified according to value of usage, the
technique is known as:
(a) XYZ Analysis

(b) ABC Analysis

(c) DEF Analysis
(d) None of the above.
25. When a firm advises its customers to mail their payments to special Post Office
collection centers, the system is known as.
(a) Concentration banking
(b) Lock Box system
(c) Playing the float
(d) None of the above.

Theoretical Questions
1. DISCUSS the factors to be taken into consideration while determining the
requirement of working capital.

2. DISCUSS the liquidity vs. profitability issue in management of working capital.

3. DISCUSS the estimation of working capital need based on operating cycle
process.
4. EXPLAIN briefly the functions of Treasury Department.
5. EXPLAIN Baumol’s Model of Cash Management.
6. STATE the advantage of Electronic Cash Management System.

7. EXPLAIN with example the formula used for determining optimum cash balance
according to Baumol’s cash management model.
8. DISCUSS Miller-Orr Cash Management model.
9. EXPLAIN briefly the accounts receivable systems.
10. DESCRIBE Factoring.

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11. DESCRIBE the various forms of bank credit in financing the working capital of a
business organization.

Practical Problems
1. Following information is forecasted by R Limited for the year ending 31st March,
2022:

Balance as at Balance as at
31st March, 2022 31st March,
2021
(` in lakh) (` in lakh)
Raw Material 65 45
Work-in-progress 51 35
Finished goods 70 60
Receivables 135 112
Payables 71 68
Annual purchases of raw material (all 400
credit)
Annual cost of production 450
Annual cost of goods sold 525
Annual operating cost 325
Annual sales (all credit) 585

You may take one year as equal to 365 days.

You are required to CALCULATE:

(i) Net operating cycle period.
(ii) Number of operating cycles in the year.

(iii) Amount of working capital requirement.

2. The following data relating to an auto component manufacturing company is
available for the year 2021-22:

Raw material held in storage 20 days

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Receivables’ collection period 30 days

Conversion process period 10 days
(raw material – 100%, other costs – 50% complete)

Finished goods storage period 45 days

Credit period from suppliers 60 days
Advance payment to suppliers 5 days
Total cash operating expenses per annum ₹ 800 lakhs
75% of the total cash operating expenses are for raw material. 360 days are
assumed in a year.
You are required to CALCULATE:
(i) Each item of current assets and current liabilities,
(ii) The working capital requirement, if the company wants to maintain a
cash balance of ₹ 10 lakhs at all times.
3. The following figures and ratios are related to a company:

(i) Sales for the year (all credit) ` 90,00,000

(ii) Gross Profit ratio 35 percent
(iii) Fixed assets turnover (based on cost of goods sold) 1.5
(iv) Stock turnover (based on cost of goods sold) 6
(v) Liquid ratio 1.5:1
(vi) Current ratio 2.5:1
(vii) Receivables (Debtors) collection period 1 month
(viii) Reserves and surplus to Share capital 1:1.5
(ix) Capital gearing ratio 0.7875
(x) Fixed assets to net worth 1.3 : 1

You are required to PREPARE:

(a) Balance Sheet of the company on the basis of above details.

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(b) The statement showing working capital requirement, if the company

wants to make a provision for contingencies @15 percent of net working
capital.
4. PQ Ltd., a company newly commencing business in 2021-22 has the following
projected Profit and Loss Account:

(` ) (` )
Sales 2,10,000
Cost of goods sold 1,53,000
Gross Profit 57,000
Administrative Expenses 14,000
Selling Expenses 13,000 27,000
Profit before tax 30,000
Provision for taxation 10,000
Profit after tax 20,000
The cost of goods sold has been arrived at as
under:
Materials used 84,000
Wages and manufacturing Expenses 62,500
Depreciation 23,500
1,70,000
Less: Stock of Finished goods
(10% of goods produced not yet sold) 17,000
1,53,000

The figure given above relate only to finished goods and not to work-in-
progress. Goods equal to 15% of the year’s production (in terms of physical
units) will be in process on the average requiring full materials but only 40% of
the other expenses. The company believes in keeping materials equal to two
months’ consumption in stock.

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All expenses will be paid one month in advance. Suppliers of materials will
extend 1-1/2 months credit. Sales will be 20% for cash and the rest at two
months’ credit. 70% of the Income tax will be paid in advance in quarterly
instalments. The company wishes to keep ` 8,000 in cash. 10% has to be added
to the estimated figure for unforeseen contingencies.
PREPARE an estimate of working capital.
Note: All workings should form part of the answer.
5. M.A. Limited is commencing a new project for manufacture of a plastic
component. The following cost information has been ascertained for annual
production of 12,000 units which is the full capacity:

Costs per unit (`)

Materials 40.00
For
Direct labour and variable expenses 20.00 12000
Fixed manufacturing expenses 6.00 units
Depreciation 10.00
Fixed administration expenses 4.00
80.00

The selling price per unit is expected to be ` 96 and the selling expenses
` 5 per unit, 80% of which is variable.
In the first two years of operations, production and sales are expected to be as
follows:

Year Production (No. of units) Sales (No. of units)

1 6,000 5,000
2 9,000 8,500

To assess the working capital requirements, the following additional information

is available:

(a) Stock of materials 2.25 months’ average consumption

(b) Work-in-process Nil

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(c) Debtors 1 month’s average sales.

(d) Cash balance ` 10,000
(e) Creditors for supply of 1 month’s average purchase during the year.
materials
(f) Creditors for expenses 1 month’s average of all expenses during the
year.
PREPARE, for the two years:
(i) A projected statement of Profit/Loss (Ignoring taxation); and
(ii) A projected statement of working capital requirements.
6. Aneja Limited, a newly formed company, has applied to a commercial bank for
the first time for financing its working capital requirements. The following
information is available about the projections for the current year:
Estimated level of activity: 1,04,000 completed units of production plus 4,000
units of work-in-progress. Based on the above activity, estimated cost per unit
is:

Raw material ` 80 per unit

Direct wages ` 30 per unit
Overheads (exclusive of depreciation) ` 60 per unit
Total cost ` 170 per unit
Selling price ` 200 per unit
Raw materials in stock: Average 4 weeks consumption, work-in-progress
(assume 50% completion stage in respect of conversion cost) (materials issued
at the start of the processing).

Finished goods in stock 8,000 units

Credit allowed by suppliers Average 4 weeks
Credit allowed to debtors/receivables Average 8 weeks
Lag in payment of wages Average 1.5 weeks

Cash at banks (for smooth operation) is expected to be ` 25,000.

Assume that production is carried on evenly throughout the year (52 weeks) and
wages and overheads accrue similarly. All sales are on credit basis only.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.121

You are required to CALCULATE the net working capital required.

7. The management of Trux Company Ltd. is planning to expand its business and
consults you to prepare an estimated working capital statement. The records of
the company reveals the following annual information:

(`)
Sales – Domestic at one month’s credit 18,00,000
Export at three month’s credit (sales price 10% below domestic 8,10,000
price)
Materials used (suppliers extend two months credit) 6,75,000
Lag in payment of wages – ½ month 5,40,000
Lag in payment of manufacturing expenses (cash) – 1 month 7,65,000
Lag in payment of Administration Expenses – 1 month 1,80,000
Selling expenses payable quarterly in advance 1,12,500
Income tax payable in four installments, of which one falls in the 1,68,000
next financial year

Rate of gross profit is 20%. Ignore work-in-progress and depreciation.

The company keeps one month’s stock of raw materials and finished goods (each)
and believes in keeping ₹ 2,50,000 available to it including the overdraft limit of ₹
75,000 not yet utilized by the company.
The management is also of the opinion to make 10% margin for contingencies on
computed figure.
You are required to PREPARE the estimated working capital statement for the next
year.
8. The following information relates to Zeta Limited, a publishing company:
The selling price of a book is ` 15, and sales are made on credit through a book
club and invoiced on the last day of the month.
Variable costs of production per book are materials (` 5), labour (` 4), and
overhead (` 2)

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 9.122 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The sales manager has forecasted the following volumes:

Month No. of Books

November 1,000
December 1,000
January 1,000
February 1,250
March 1,500
April 2,000
May 1,900
June 2,200
July 2,200
August 2,300
Customers are expected to pay as follows:

One month after the sale 40%

Two months after the sale 60%

The company produces the books two months before they are sold and the
creditors for materials are paid two months after production.
Variable overheads are paid in the month following production and are expected
to increase by 25% in April; 75% of wages are paid in the month of production
and 25% in the following month. A wage increase of 12.5% will take place on
1st March.
The company is going through a restructuring and will sell one of its freehold
properties in May for ` 25,000, but it is also planning to buy a new printing press
in May for ` 10,000. Depreciation is currently ` 1,000 per month, and will rise
to ` 1,500 after the purchase of the new machine.
The company’s corporation tax (of ` 10,000) is due for payment in March.
The company presently has a cash balance at bank on 31 December 2021, of
` 1,500.
You are required to PREPARE a cash budget for the six months from January to
June, 2022.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.123

9. From the information and the assumption that the cash balance in hand on 1st
January 2022 is ` 72,500, PREPARE a cash budget.
Assume that 50 per cent of total sales are cash sales. Assets are to be acquired
in the months of February and April. Therefore, provisions should be made for
the payment of ` 8,000 and ` 25,000 for the same. An application has been
made to the bank for the grant of a loan of ` 30,000 and it is hoped that the
loan amount will be received in the month of May.
It is anticipated that a dividend of ` 35,000 will be paid in June. Debtors are
allowed one month’s credit. Creditors for materials purchased and overheads
grant one month’s credit. Sales commission at 3 per cent on sales is paid to the
salesman each month.

Month Sales Materials Salaries Production Office and

Purchases & Wages Overheads Selling
(` ) (` ) (` ) (` ) Overheads
(` )
January 72,000 25,000 10,000 6,000 5,500
February 97,000 31,000 12,100 6,300 6,700
March 86,000 25,500 10,600 6,000 7,500
April 88,600 30,600 25,000 6,500 8,900
May 1,02,500 37,000 22,000 8,000 11,000
June 1,08,700 38,800 23,000 8,200 11,500

10. Consider the balance sheet of Maya Limited as on 31 December, 2022. The
company has received a large order and anticipates the need to go to its bank
to increase its borrowings. As a result, it has to forecast its cash requirements
for January, February and March, 202 . Typically, the company collects 20 per
cent of its sales in the month of sale, 70 per cent in the subsequent month, and
10 per cent in the second month after the sale. All sales are credit sales.

Equity & liabilities Amount Assets Amount

(` in ‘000) (` in ‘000)
Equity shares capital 100 Net fixed assets 1,836
Retained earnings 1,439 Inventories 545
Long-term borrowings 450 Accounts receivables 530

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 9.124 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Accounts payables 360 Cash and bank 50

Loan from banks 400
Other liabilities 212
2,961 2,961

Purchases of raw materials are made in the month prior to the sale and amounts
to 60 per cent of sales. Payments for these purchases occur in the month after
the purchase. Labour costs, including overtime, are expected to be ` 1,50,000
in January, ` 2,00,000 in February, and ` 1,60,000 in March. Selling,
administrative, taxes, and other cash expenses are expected to be ` 1,00,000 per
month for January through March. Actual sales in November and December
and projected sales for January through April are as follows (in thousands):

Month ` Month ` Month `

November 500 January 600 March 650
December 600 February 1,000 April 750

On the basis of this information:

(a) PREPARE a cash budget and DETERMINE the amount of additional bank
borrowings necessary to maintain a cash balance of ` 50,000 at all times
for the months of January, February, and March.
(b) PREPARE a pro forma balance sheet for March 31.
11. PQR Ltd. having an annual sales of ` 30 lakhs, is re-considering its present
collection policy. At present, the average collection period is 50 days and the
bad debt losses are 5% of sales. The company is incurring an expenditure of `
30,000 on account of collection of receivables. Cost of funds is 10 percent.
The alternative policies are as under:

Alternative I Alternative II
Average Collection Period 40 days 30 days
Bad Debt Losses 4% of sales 3% of sales
Collection Expenses ` 60,000 ` 95,000
DETERMINE the alternatives on the basis of incremental approach and state
which alternative is more beneficial.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.125

12. As a part of the strategy to increase sales and profits, the sales manager of a
company proposes to sell goods to a group of new customers with 10% risk of
non-payment. This group would require one and a half months credit and is
likely to increase sales by ` 1,00,000 p.a. Production and Selling expenses
amount to 80% of sales and the income-tax rate is 50%. The company’s
minimum required rate of return (after tax) is 25%.
Should the sales manager’s proposal be accepted? ANALYSE
Also COMPUTE the degree of risk of non-payment that the company should be
willing to assume if the required rate of return (after tax) were (i) 30%, (ii) 40%
and (iii) 60%.
13. Slow Payers are regular customers of Goods Dealers Ltd. and have approached
the sellers for extension of credit facility for enabling them to purchase goods.
On an analysis of past performance and on the basis of information supplied,
the following pattern of payment schedule emerges in regard to Slow Payers:

Pattern of Payment Schedule

At the end of 30 days 15% of the bill
At the end of 60 days 34% of the bill
At the end of 90 days 30% of the bill
At the end of 100 days 20% of the bill
Non-recovery 1% of the bill

Slow Payers want to enter into a firm commitment for purchase of goods of
` 15 lakhs in 2021-22, deliveries to be made in equal quantities on the first day
of each quarter in the calendar year. The price per unit of commodity is ` 150
on which a profit of ` 5 per unit is expected to be made. It is anticipated by
Goods Dealers Ltd., that taking up of this contract would mean an extra
recurring expenditure of ` 5,000 per annum. If the opportunity cost of funds in
the hands of Goods Dealers is 24% per annum, would you as the finance
manager of the seller recommend the grant of credit to Slow Payers? ANALYSE.
Workings should form part of your answer. Assume year of 365 days.
14. PREPARE a working capital estimate to finance an activity level of 52,000 units
a year (52 weeks) based on the following data:
Raw Materials - ` 400 per unit
Direct Wages - ` 150 per unit

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 9.126 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Overheads (Manufacturing) - `200 per unit

Overheads (Selling & Distribution) - `100 per unit
Selling Price - ` 1,000 per unit, Raw materials & Finished Goods remain in stock
for 4 weeks, Work in process takes 4 weeks. Debtors are allowed 8 weeks for
payment whereas creditors allow us 4 weeks.
Minimum cash balance expected is `50,000. Receivables are valued at Selling
Price.

ANSWERS/SOLUTIONS
Answers to the MCQs
1. (a) 2. (c) 3. (c) 4. (c) 5. (b) 6. (a)
7. (a) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (c) 11. (a) 12. (b)
13. (a) 14. (a) 15. (b) 16. (a) 17. (a) 18. (a)
19. (b) 20. (c) 21. (a) 22. (a) 23. (a) 24. (b)
25. (b)

Answers to the Theoretical Questions

1. Please refer paragraph 9.3
2. Please refer paragraph 9.4.1
3. Please refer paragraph 9.5
4. Please refer paragraph 9.8
5. Please refer paragraph 9.11.1
6. Please refer paragraph 9.12.6
7. Please refer paragraph 9.11.1
8. Please refer paragraph 9.11.2
9. Please refer paragraph 9.21
10. Please refer paragraph 9.20
11. Please refer paragraph 9.29

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.127

Answers to the Practical Problems

1. Working Notes:
1. Raw Material Storage Period (R)
Average Stock of Raw Material
= ×365
Annual Consumption of Raw Material

` 45+`65
= 2 ×365 = 52.83 or 53 days
`380
Annual Consumption of Raw Material = Opening Stock + Purchases -
Closing Stock
= `45 + `400 – `65 = `380 lakh
2. Work – in - Progress (WIP) Conversion Period (W)
Average Stock of WIP
= ×365
Annual Cost of Production

`35+ `51
= 2 ×365 = 34.87 or 35 days
` 450
3. Finished Stock Storage Period (F)
Average Stock of Finished Goods
= ×365
Cost of Goods Sold

`60+ `70
= 2 ×365 =45.19 or 45 days.
`525
4. Receivables (Debtors) Collection Period (D)
Average Receivables
= ×365
Annual Credit Sales

`112+ `135
= 2 × 365 = 77.05 or 77 days
`585

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 9.128 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

5. Payables (Creditors) Payment Period (C)

Average Payables formaterials
= ×365
Annual Credit purchases

`68+ `71
= 2 ×365 = 63.41 or 64 days
` 400
(i) Net Operating Cycle Period
=R+W+F+D-C
= 53 + 35 + 45 + 77 – 64 = 146 days
(ii) Number of Operating Cycles in the Year
365 365
= = = 2.5 times
Operating Cycle Period 146

(iii) Amount of Working Capital Required

Annual Operating Cost ` 325
= = = ` 130 lakh
Number of Operating Cycles 2.50

2. Since WIP is 100% complete in terms of material and 50% complete in terms
of other cost, the same has been considered for number of days for WIP
inventory i.e. 10 days for material and 5 days for other costs respectively.

Particulars For Raw For Other Costs Total

Material

Cash Operating expenses 75 25 800.00

× 800 = 600 × 800 = 200
100 100

Raw Material Stock Holding 20 - 33.33

× 600 = 33.33
360

WIP Conversion 10 5 19.45

× 600 = 16.67 × 200 = 2.78
360 360

Finished Goods Stock Holding 45 45 100.00

× 600 = 75 × 200 = 25
360 360

Receivable Collection Period 30 30 66.67

× 600 = 50 × 200 = 16.67
360 360

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.129

Advance to suppliers 5 - 8.33

× 600 = 8.33
360

Credit Period from suppliers 60 - 100.00

× 600 = 100
360

Computation of working capital

₹ in lakhs
Raw Material Stock 33.33
WIP 19.45
Finished Goods stock 100.00
Receivables 66.67
Advance to Suppliers 8.33
Cash 10.00
237.78
Less: Payables (Creditors) 100.00
Working capital 133.78

3. Working Notes:
(i) Cost of Goods Sold = Sales – Gross Profit (35% of Sales)
= ` 90,00,000 – ` 31,50,000
= ` 58,50,000
(ii) Closing Stock = Cost of Goods Sold / Stock Turnover
= ` 58,50,000/6 = ` 9,75,000
(iii) Fixed Assets = Cost of Goods Sold / Fixed Assets Turnover
= ` 58,50,000/1.5
= ` 39,00,000
(iv) Current Assets and Current Liabilities
Current Ratio = 2.5 and Liquid Ratio = 1.5
CA / CL = 2.5 … (i)
(CA – Inventories) / CL = 1.5 …(ii)

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 9.130 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

By subtracting equation (ii) from (i), we get,

Inventories / CL =1
Current Liabilities = Inventories (stock) = ` 9,75,000
∴ Current Assets = ` 9,75,000 x 2.5 = ` 24,37,500
Or
Current Ratio / Quick Ratio = Current Assets / Quick Assets
2.5 / 1.5 = Current Assets / (Current Assets – Inventory)
2.5/1.5 Current Assets – 2.5/1.5 x ` 9,75,000 = Current Assets
Hence, Current Assets = ` 24,37,500
(v) Liquid Assets (Receivables and Cash)
= Current Assets – Inventories (Stock)
= ` 24,37,500 – ` 9,75,000
= `14,62,500
(vi) Receivables (Debtors) = Sales × Debtors Collection period /12
= ` 90,00,000 × 1/12
= ` 7,50,000
(vii) Cash = Liquid Assets – Receivables (Debtors)
= `14,62,500 – ` 7,50,000 = ` 7,12,500
(viii) Net worth = Fixed Assets /1.3
= ` 39,00,000/1.3 = ` 30,00,000
(ix) Reserves and Surplus
Reserves and Surplus / Share Capital = 1/1.5
Share Capital= 1.5 Reserves and Surplus … (i)
Now, Reserves and Surplus + Share Capital = Net worth … (ii)
From (i) and (ii), we get,
2.5 Reserves and Surplus = Net worth
Reserves and Surplus = ` 30,00,000 / 2.5 = ` 12,00,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.131

(x) Share Capital = Net worth – Reserves and Surplus

= ` 30,00,000 – ` 12,00,000
= ` 18,00,000
(xi) Long-term Debts
Capital Gearing Ratio = Long-term Debts / Equity Shareholders’ Fund
Long-term Debts = ` 30,00,000 × 0.7875 = ` 23,62,500
(a) Balance Sheet of the Company

Particulars Figures as Figures as

the end of the end of
31-03-2021 31-03-2020
(`) (`)
I. EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Shareholders’ funds
(a) Share capital 18,00,000 -
(b) Reserves and surplus 12,00,000 -
Non-current liabilities
(a) Long-term borrowings 23,62,500 -
Current liabilities 9,75,000 -
TOTAL 63,37,500 -
II. ASSETS
Non-current assets
Fixed assets 39,00,000 -
Current assets
Inventories 9,75,000 -
Trade receivables 7,50,000 -
Cash and cash equivalents 7,12,500 -
TOTAL 63,37,500 -

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 9.132 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

(b) Statement Showing Working Capital Requirement

(`) (`)
A. Current Assets
(i) Inventories (Stocks) 9,75,000
(ii) Receivables (Debtors) 7,50,000
(iii) Cash in hand & at bank 7,12,500
Total Current Assets 24,37,500
B. Current Liabilities:
Total Current Liabilities 9,75,000
Net Working Capital (A – B) 14,62,500
Add: Provision for contingencies 2,19,375
(15% of Net Working Capital)
Working capital requirement 16,81,875

4. Statement showing the requirements of Working Capital

Particulars (`) (`)

A. Current Assets:
Inventory:
Stock of Raw material (` 96,600 × 2/12) 16,100
Stock of Work-in-progress (As per Working Note) 16,350
Stock of Finished goods (` 1,46,500 × 10/100) 14,650
Receivables (Debtors) (`1,27,080 × 2/12) 21,180
Cash in Hand 8,000
Prepaid Expenses:
Wages & Mfg. Expenses (` 66,250 × 1/12) 5,521
Administrative expenses (` 14,000 × 1/12) 1,167
Selling & Distribution Expenses (`13,000 × 1,083
1/12)
Advance taxes paid {(70% of `10,000) × 3/12} 1,750
Gross Working Capital 85,801 85,801

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B. Current Liabilities:
Payables for Raw materials (`1,12,700 × 1.5/12) 14,088
Provision for Taxation (Net of Advance Tax) 3,000
(`10,000 × 30/100)
Total Current Liabilities 17,088 17,088
C. Excess of CA over CL 68,713
Add: 10% for unforeseen contingencies 6,871
Net Working Capital requirements 75,584

Working Notes:
(i) Calculation of Stock of Work-in-progress

Particulars (`)
Raw Material (` 84,000 × 15%) 12,600
Wages & Mfg. Expenses (` 62,500 × 15% × 40%) 3,750
Total 16,350

(ii) Calculation of Stock of Finished Goods and Cost of Sales

Particulars (`)
Direct material Cost [` 84,000 + ` 12,600] 96,600
Wages & Mfg. Expenses [`62,500 + ` 3,750] 66,250
Depreciation 0
Gross Factory Cost 1,62,850
Less: Closing W.I.P (16,350)
Cost of goods produced 1,46,500
Add: Administrative Expenses 14,000
1,60,500
Less: Closing stock (14,650)
Cost of Goods Sold 1,45,850
Add: Selling and Distribution Expenses 13,000
Total Cash Cost of Sales 1,58,850
Debtors (80% of cash cost of sales) 1,27,080

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(iii) Calculation of Credit Purchase

Particulars (`)
Raw material consumed 96,600
Add: Closing Stock 16,100
Less: Opening Stock -
Purchases 1,12,700
5. (i) M.A. Limited
Projected Statement of Profit / Loss
(Ignoring Taxation)
Year 1 Year 2
Production (Units) 6,000 9,000
Sales (Units) 5,000 8,500
(`) (`)
Sales revenue (A) (Sales unit × ` 96) 4,80,000 8,16,000
Cost of production:
Materials cost 2,40,000 3,60,000
(Units produced × ` 40)
Direct labour and variable expenses 1,20,000 1,80,000
(Units produced × ` 20)
Fixed manufacturing expenses 72,000 72,000
(Production Capacity: 12,000 units × ` 6)
Depreciation 1,20,000 1,20,000
(Production Capacity : 12,000 units × ` 10)
Fixed administration expenses 48,000 48,000
(Production Capacity : 12,000 units × ` 4)
Total Costs of Production 6,00,000 7,80,000
Add: Opening stock of finished goods --- 1,00,000
(Year 1 : Nil; Year 2 : 1,000 units)
Cost of Goods available for sale 6,00,000 8,80,000
(Year 1: 6,000 units; Year 2: 10,000 units)

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Less: Closing stock of finished goods at (1,00,000) (1,32,000)

average cost (year 1: 1000 units, year 2 :
1500 units)
(Cost of Production × Closing stock/ units
produced)
Cost of Goods Sold 5,00,000 7,48,000
Add: Selling expenses – Variable (Sales 20,000 34,000
unit × ` 4)
Add: Selling expenses -Fixed (12,000 12,000 12,000
units × ` 1)
Cost of Sales : (B) 5,32,000 7,94,000
Profit (+) / Loss (-): (A - B) (-) 52,000 (+) 22,000

Working Notes:
1. Calculation of creditors for supply of materials:
Year 1 (`) Year 2 (`)
Materials consumed during the year 2,40,000 3,60,000
Add: Closing stock (2.25 month’s 45,000 67,500
average consumption)
2,85,000 4,27,500
Less: Opening Stock --- 45,000
Purchases during the year 2,85,000 3,82,500
Average purchases per month 23,750 31,875
(Creditors)
2. Creditors for expenses:
Year 1 (`) Year 2 (`)
Direct labour and variable expenses 1,20,000 1,80,000
Fixed manufacturing expenses 72,000 72,000
Fixed administration expenses 48,000 48,000
Selling expenses (variable + fixed) 32,000 46,000
Total (including 2,72,000 3,46,000
Average per month 22,667 28,833

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(ii) Projected Statement of Working Capital requirements

Year 1 (`) Year 2 (`)

Current Assets:
Inventories:
- Stock of materials 45,000 67,500
(2.25 month’s average consumption)
- Finished goods 1,00,000 1,32,000
Debtors (1 month’s average sales) (including 40,000 68,000
profit)
Cash 10,000 10,000
Total Current Assets/ Gross working capital (A) 1,95,000 2,77,500
Current Liabilities:
Creditors for supply of materials 23,750 31,875
(Refer to working note 1)
Creditors for expenses 22,667 28,833
(Refer to working note 2)
Total Current Liabilities: (B) 46,417 60,708
Estimated Working Capital Requirements: (A-B) 1,48,583 2,16,792

Projected Statement of Working Capital Requirement

(Cash Cost Basis)

Year 1 Year 2
(`) (`)
(A) Current Assets
Inventories:
- Stock of Raw Material 45,000 67,500
(6,000 units × ` 40 × 2.25/12);
(9,000 units × ` 40 × 2.25 /12)
- Finished Goods (Refer working note 3) 80,000 1,11,000
Receivables (Debtors) (Refer working note 4) 36,000 56,250
Minimum Cash balance 10,000 10,000
Total Current Assets/ Gross working capital (A) 1,71,000 2,44,750

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.137

(B) Current Liabilities

Creditors for raw material (Refer working note 1) 23,750 31,875
Creditors for Expenses (Refer working note 2) 22,667 28,833
Total Current Liabilities 46,417 60,708
Net Working Capital (A – B) 1,24,583 1,84,042

Working Note:
3. Cash Cost of Production:
Year 1 Year 2
(`) (`)
Cost of Production as per projected 6,00,000 7,80,000
Statement of P&L
Less: Depreciation 1,20,000 1,20,000
Cash Cost of Production 4,80,000 6,60,000
Add: Opening Stock at Average Cost: -- 80,000
Cash Cost of Goods Available for sale 4,80,000 7,40,000
Less : Closing Stock at Avg. Cost (80,000) (1,11,000)
 ` 4,80,000×1,000   ` 7, 40,000×1,500 
 6,000
;  10,000

   

Cash Cost of Goods Sold 4,00,000 6,29,000

4. Receivables (Debtors)

Year 1 Year 2
(`) (`)
Cash Cost of Goods Sold 4,00,000 6,29,000
Add : Variable Expenses @ ` 4 20,000 34,000
Add : Total Fixed Selling expenses 12,000 12,000
(12,000 units × `1)
Cash Cost of Debtors 4,32,000 6,75,000
Average Debtors 36,000 56,250

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6. Calculation of Net Working Capital requirement:

(`) (`)
A. Current Assets:
Inventories:
- Raw material stock 6,64,615
(Refer to Working note 3)
- Work in progress stock 5,00,000
(Refer to Working note 2)
- Finished goods stock 13,60,000
(Refer to Working note 4)
Receivables (Debtors) 25,10,769
(Refer to Working note 5)
Cash and Bank balance 25,000
Gross Working Capital 50,60,384 50,60,384
B. Current Liabilities:
Creditors for raw materials 7,15,740
(Refer to Working note 6)
Creditors for wages
(Refer to Working note 7) 91,731
8,07,471 8,07,471
Net Working Capital (A - B) 42,52,913

Working Notes:
1. Annual cost of production

(`)
Raw material requirements 86,40,000
{(1,04,000 units × ` 80)+ `3,20,000}
Direct wages {(1,04,000 units × ` 30) + `60,000} 31,80,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.139

Overheads (exclusive of depreciation) 63,60,000

{(1,04,000 × ` 60)+ `1,20,000}
Gross Factory Cost 1,81,80,000
Less: Closing W.I.P (5,00,000)
Cost of Goods Produced 1,76,80,000
Less: Closing Stock of Finished Goods (13,60,000)
(`1,76,80,000 × 8,000/1,04,000)
Total Cash Cost of Sales 1,63,20,000

2. Work in progress stock

(`)
Raw material requirements (4,000 units × ` 80) 3,20,000
Direct wages (50% × 4,000 units × ` 30) 60,000
Overheads (50% × 4,000 units × ` 60) 1,20,000
5,00,000

3. Raw material stock

It is given that raw material in stock is average 4 weeks consumption.
Since, the company is newly formed, the raw material requirement for
production and work in progress will be issued and consumed during
the year.
Hence, the raw material consumption for the year (52 weeks) is as
follows:

(`)
For Finished goods (1,04,000 × ` 80) 83,20,000
For Work in progress (4,000 × ` 80) 3,20,000
86,40,000

` 86, 40,000
Raw material stock × 4 weeks i.e. ` 6,64,615
52 weeks

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 9.140 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

4. Finished goods stock: 8,000 units @ ` 170 per unit = ` 13,60,000

8
5. Debtors for sale: 1,63,20,000× = ` 25,10,769
52
6. Creditors for raw material:

Material Consumed (` 83,20,000 + ` 3,20,000) ` 86,40,000

Add: Closing stock of raw material ` 6,64,615
Purchases of Raw Material ` 93,04,615

` 93,04,615
Credit allowed by suppliers = × 4 weeks = ` 7,15,740
52 weeks
7. Creditors for wages
` 31,80,000
Outstanding wage payment = ×1.5 weeks = ` 91,731
52 weeks
7. Preparation of Statement of Working Capital Requirement for Trux
Company Ltd.

(₹) (₹)

A. Current Assets
(i) Inventories:
Material (1 month)
 ` 6,75,000 
 ×1 month 
 12months  56,250

Finished goods (1 month) 2,36,250

 ` 21,60,000  1,80,000
 ×1 month 
 12months 
(ii) Receivables (Debtors)
 `15,17,586  1,26,466
For Domestic Sales  ×1month 
 12months 

 ` 7,54,914  1,88,729 3,15,195

For Export Sales  ×3months 
 12months 

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.141

(iii) Prepayment of Selling expenses

 `1,12,500 
 ×3months 
 12months 
28,125
(iii) Cash in hand & at bank (net of overdraft) 1,75,000
Total Current Assets 7,54,570
B. Current Liabilities:
(i) Payables (Creditors) for materials
(2 months)
 ` 6,75,000  1,12,500
 ×2 month 
 12months 
(ii) Outstanding wages (0.5 months)
 ` 5, 40,000  22,500
 ×0.5month 
 12months 
(iii) Outstanding manufacturing expenses
 ` 7,65,000 
 ×1 month 
 12months  63,750
(iv) Outstanding administrative expenses
 `1,80,000 
 ×1month 
 12months  15,000

(v) Income tax payable 42,000

Total Current Liabilities 2,55,750
Net Working Capital (A – B) 4,98,820
Add: 10% contingency margin 49,882
Total Working Capital required 5,48,702

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 9.142 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Working Notes:
1. Calculation of Cost of Goods Sold and Cost of Sales

Domestic Export Total (₹)

(₹) (₹)
Domestic Sales 18,00,000 8,10,000 26,10,000
Less: Gross profit @ 20% on 3,60,000 90,000 4,50,000
domestic sales and 11.11% on
export sales (Working note-2)
Cost of Goods Sold 14,40,000 7,20,000 21,60,000
Add: Selling expenses (Working 77,586 34,914 1,12,500
note-3)

Cash Cost of Sales 15,17,586 7,54,914 22,72,500

2. Calculation of gross profit on Export Sales

Let domestic selling price is ₹ 100. Gross profit is ₹ 20, and then cost
per unit is ₹ 80
Export price is 10% less than the domestic price i.e. ₹ 100–(1-0.1)= ₹ 90
Now, gross profit will be = ₹ 90 - ₹ 80 = ₹ 10
` 10
So, Gross profit ratio at export price will be = × 100 = 11.11%
` 90
3. Apportionment of Selling expenses between Domestic and Exports
sales:
Apportionment on the basis of sales value:
` 1,12,500
Domestic Sales = × ` 18,00,000 = ₹ 77,586
` 26,10,000
` 1,12,500
Exports Sales = × ` 8,10,000 = ₹ 34,914
` 26,10,000

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.143

4. Assumptions
(i) It is assumed that administrative expenses is related to production
activities.
(ii) Value of opening and closing stocks are equal.
8. Workings:
1. Sale receipts
Month Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Forecast 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,250 1,500 2,000 1,900 2,200

sales (S)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

S×15 15,000 15,000 15,000 18,750 22,500 30,000 28,500 33,000

Debtors pay:

1month 40% 6,000 6,000 6,000 7,500 9,000 12,000 11,400

2month 60% - 9,000 9,000 9,000 11,250 13,500 18,000

- - 15,000 15,000 16,500 20,250 25,500 29,400

2. Payment for materials – books produced two months before sale

Month Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Qty 1,000 1,250 1,500 2,000 1,900 2,200 2,200 2,300

produced
(Q)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Materials 5,000 6,250 7,500 10,000 9,500 11,000 11,000 11,500

(Q×5)

Paid (2 - - 5,000 6,250 7,500 10,000 9,500 11,000

months
after)

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 9.144 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

3. Variable overheads
Month Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Qty produced (Q) 1,000 1,250 1,500 2,000 1,900 2,200 2,200 2,300
` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Var. overhead 2,000 2,500 3,000 4,000 3,800

(Q×2)

Var. overhead 5,500 5,500 5,750

(Q×2.50)

Paid one month 2,000 2,500 3,000 4,000 3,800 5,500 5,500
later

4. Wages payments
Month Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Qty produced (Q) 1,250 1,500 2,000 1,900 2,200 2,200 2,300
` ` ` ` ` ` `

Wages (Q × 4) 5,000 6,000 8,000

Wages (Q × 4.50) 8,550 9,900 9,900 10,350

75% this month 3,750 4,500 6,000 6,412 7,425 7,425 7,762

25% this month 1,250 1,500 2,000 2,138 2,475 2,475

5,750 7,500 8,412 9,563 9,900 10,237

Cash budget – six months ended June

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

` ` ` ` ` `

Receipts:
Sales receipts 15,000 15,000 16,500 20,250 25,500 29,400
Freehold property - - - - 25,000 -
15,000 15,000 16,500 20,250 50,500 29,400
Payments:
Materials 5,000 6,250 7,500 10,000 9,500 11,000
Var. overheads 2,500 3,000 4,000 3,800 5,500 5,500

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.145

Wages 5,750 7,500 8,412 9,563 9,900 10,237

Printing press - - - - 10,000 -
Corporation tax - - 10,000 - - -
13,250 16,750 29,912 23,363 34,900 26,737

Net cash flow 1,750 (1,750) (13,412) (3,113) 15,600 2,663

Balance b/f 1,500 3,250 1,500 (11,912) (15,025) 575
Cumulative cash 3,250 1,500 (11,912) (15,025) 575 3,238
flow

9. Cash Budget
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Total
` ` ` ` ` ` `

Receipts

Cash sales 36,000 48,500 43,000 44,300 51,250 54,350 2,77,400

Collections from - 36,000 48,500 43,000 44,300 51,250 2,23,050

debtors

Bank loan - - - - 30,000 - 30,000

Total 36,000 84,500 91,500 87,300 1,25,550 1,05,600 5,30,450

Payments

Materials - 25,000 31,000 25,500 30,600 37,000 1,49,100

Salaries and wages 10,000 12,100 10,600 25,000 22,000 23,000 1,02,700

Production - 6,000 6,300 6,000 6,500 8,000 32,800

overheads

Office & selling - 5,500 6,700 7,500 8,900 11,000 39,600

overheads

Sales commission 2,160 2,910 2,580 2,658 3,075 3,261 16,644

Capital expenditure - 8,000 - 25,000 - - 33,000

Dividend - - - - - 35,000 35,000

Total 12,160 59,510 57,180 91,658 71,075 1,17,261 4,08,844

Net cash flow 23,840 24,990 34,320 (4,358) 54,475 (11,661) 1,21,606

© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

 9.146 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Balance, beginning 72,500 96,340 1,21,330 1,55,650 1,51,292 2,05,767 72,500

of month

Balance, end of 96,340 1,21,330 1,55,650 1,51,292 2,05,767 1,94,106 1,94,196

month

10. (a) Cash Budget (in thousands)

Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar.

` ` ` ` `
Opening Balance (A) 50 50 50
Sales 500 600 600 1,000 650
Receipts:
Collections, current month’s sales 120 200 130
Collections, previous month’s sales 420 420 700
Collections, previous 2 month’s sales 50 60 60
Total (B) 590 680 890
Purchases 360 600 390 450
Payments:
Payment for purchases 360 600 390
Labour costs 150 200 160
Other expenses 100 100 100
Total (C) 610 900 650
Surplus/Deficit (D) = (A + B – C) 30 (170) 290
Minimum cash balance (E) 50 50 50
Additional borrowings (F) = (E - D) 20 220 (240)

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.147

Jan. Feb. Mar.

` ` `

Additional borrowings 20 220 (240)

Cumulative borrowings (Opening balance of 400) 420 640 400

The amount of financing peaks in February owing to the need to pay for
purchases made the previous month and higher labour costs. In March,
substantial collections are made on the prior month’s billings, causing
large net cash inflow sufficient to pay off the additional borrowings.
(b) Pro forma Balance Sheet, 31st March, 2023

Equity & liabilities Amount Assets Amount

(` in ‘000) (` in ‘000)
Equity shares capital 100 Net fixed assets 1,836
Retained earnings 1,529 Inventories 635
Long-term 450 Accounts 620
borrowings receivables
Accounts payables 450 Cash and bank 50
Loan from banks 400
Other liabilities 212
3,141 3,141

Accounts receivable = Sales in March × 0.8 + Sales in February × 0.1

= ` 650 × 0.8 + ` 1,000 × 0.1 = ` 620
Inventories = ` 545 + Total purchases from January to
March − Total sales from January to March ×0.6
= ` 545 + (` 600 + ` 390 + ` 450) − (` 600 +
` 1000 + ` 650) × 0.6 = ` 635
Accounts payable = Purchases in March = ` 450

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 9.148 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Retained earnings = ` 1,439 + Sales – Payment for purchases –

Labour costs and – Other expenses, all for
January to March
= ` 1,439 + (` 600 + ` 1000 + ` 650) – (` 360 +
` 600 + ` 390) – (` 150 + ` 200 + ` 160) –
(` 100 + ` 100 + ` 100) = ` 1,529
11. Evaluation of Alternative Collection Programmes

Present Alternative Alternative

Policy I II
` ` `
Sales Revenues 30,00,000 30,00,000 30,00,000
Average Collection Period (ACP) 50 40 30
(days)
Receivables 4,16,667 3,33,333 2,50,000
 ACP 
(`)  Sales × 
 360 
Reduction in Receivables from
Present Level (`) − 83,334 1,66,667
Savings in Interest @ 10% p.a. − ` 8,333 ` 16,667
(A)
% of Bad Debt Loss 5% 4% 3%
Amount (`) 1,50,000 1,20,000 90,000
Reduction in Bad Debts from
Present Level − 30,000 60,000
(B)
Incremental Benefits from Present
Level (C) = (A) + (B) − 38,333 76,667
Collection Expenses (`) 30,000 60,000 95,000
Incremental Collection Expenses
from Present Level (D) − 30,000 65,000
Incremental Net Benefit (C – D) − ` 8,333 ` 11,667

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.149

Conclusion: From the analysis it is apparent that Alternative I has a benefit of

` 8,333 and Alternative II has a benefit of ` 11,667 over present level.
Alternative II has a benefit of ` 3,334 more than Alternative I. Hence
Alternative II is more viable.
(Note: In absence of Cost of Sales, sales has been taken for purpose of
calculating investment in receivables. 1 year = 360 days.)
12. Statement showing the Evaluation of Proposal

Particulars `
A. Expected Profit:
Net Sales 1,00,000
Less: Production and Selling Expenses @ 80% (80,000)
Profit before providing for Bad Debts 20,000
Less: Bad Debts @10% (10,000)
Profit before Tax 10,000
Less: Tax @ 50% (5,000)
Profit after Tax 5,000
B. Opportunity Cost of Investment in Receivables (2,500)
C. Net Benefits (A – B) 2,500

Advise: The sales manager’s proposal should be accepted.

Working Note: Calculation of Opportunity Cost of Funds
Opportunity Cost = Total Cost of Credit Sales ×
Collection period Required Rate of Return 1.5 25
× = ` 80,000 × × =` 2,500
12 100 12 100
Statement showing the Acceptable Degree of Risk of Non-payment

Particulars Required Rate of Return

30% 40% 60%
Sales 1,00,000 1,00,000 1,00,000
Less: Production and Sales 80,000 80,000 80,000
Expenses

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 9.150 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Profit before providing for 20,000 20,000 20,000

Bad Debts
Less: Bad Debts (assume X) X X X
Profit before tax 20,000 – X 20,000 – X 20,000 – X
Less: Tax @ 50% (20,000 – X) 0.5 (20,000 – X) 0.5 (20,000 – X) 0.5
Profit after Tax 10,000 –0.5X 10,000 –0.5X 10,000 –0.5X
Required Return (given) 30% of 10,000* 40% of 10,000* 60% of 10,000*
= ` 3,000 = ` 4,000 = ` 6,000

Collection period
*Average Debtors = Total Cost of Credit Sales ×
12
1.5
= ` 80,000 × = ` 10,000
12
Computation of the value and percentage of X in each case is as follows:
Case I 10,000 – 0.5x = 3,000
0.5x = 7,000
X = 7,000/0.5 = ` 14,000
Bad Debts as % of sales = ` 14,000/`1,00,000 × 100 = 14%
Case II 10,000 – 0.5x = 4,000
0.5x = 6,000
X = 6,000/0.5 = ` 12,000
Bad Debts as % of sales = ` 12,000/`1,00,000 × 100 = 12%
Case III 10,000 – 0.5x = 6,000
0.5x = 4,000
X = 4,000/0.5 = ` 8,000
Bad Debts as % of sales = ` 8,000/`1,00,000 × 100 = 8%
Thus, it is found that the Acceptable Degree of risk of non-payment is 14%, 12%
and 8% if required rate of return (after tax) is 30%, 40% and 60% respectively.

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 MANAGEMENT OF WORKING CAPITAL 9.151

13. Statement showing the Evaluation of Debtors Policies

Particulars Proposed
Policy `
A. Expected Profit:
(a) Credit Sales 15,00,000
(b) Total Cost
(i) Variable Costs 14,50,000
(ii) Recurring Costs 5,000
14,55,000
(c) Bad Debts 15,000
(d) Expected Profit [(a) – (b) – (c)] 30,000
B. Opportunity Cost of Investments in Receivables 68,787
C. Net Benefits (A – B) (38,787)

Recommendation: The Proposed Policy should not be adopted since the net
benefits under this policy are negative
Working Note: Calculation of Opportunity Cost of Average Investments
Collection period Rate of Return
Opportunity Cost = Total Cost × ×
365 100
Particulars 15% 34% 30% 20% Total
A. Total Cost 2,18,250 4,94,700 4,36,500 2,91,000 14,40,450
B. Collection period 30/365 60/365 90/365 100/365
C. Required Rate of 24% 24% 24% 24%
Return
D. Opportunity Cost 4,305 19,517 25,831 19,134 68,787
(A × B × C)
14.

Cost Structure for 52,000 units

Particulars Amount (`)
Raw Material @ ` 400P 2,08,00,000

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 9.152 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Direct Wages @ ` 150 78,00,000

Manufacturing Overheads @ ` 200 1,04,00,000
Selling and Distribution OH @ ` 100 52,00,000
Total Cost 4,42,00,000
Sales @ ` 1,000 5,20,00,000

Particulars Calculation Amount (`)

A. Current Assets:
4
2, 08, 00, 000 x
Raw Material Stock 52 16,00,000
Work in Progress (78,00,000+1,04,00,000) 4 23,00,000
2,08,00,000+ ×
(WIP) Stock** 2 52
4
Finished Goods Stock
4, 42,00,000 x 34,00,000
52
8
Receivables
5,20,00,000 x 80,00,000
52
Cash 50,000
Total Current Assets 1,53,50,000
B. Current Liabilities:
4
Creditors
2,08,00,000 x 16,00,000
52
C. Working Capital 1,37,50,000
Estimates(A-B)

** Assuming that labour and overhead are incurred evenly throughout the year.

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© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India