Working Capital Management
Working Capital Management
Working Capital Management
AN INTRODUCTION
Working capital is the capital you require for the working i.e. functioning of your
business in the short run.
Gross working capital refers to the firm’s investment in the current assets and
includes cash, short term securities, debtors, bills receivables and inventories.
It is necessary to concentrate on the fact that the investment in the current assets
should be neither excessive nor inadequate.
WC requirement of a firm keeps changing with the change in the business activity and
hence the firm must be in a position to strike a balance between them. The financial
manager should know where to source the funds from, in case the need arise and
where to invest in case of excess funds.
The dangers of excessive working capital are as follows:
1. It results in unnecessary accumulation of inventories. Thus the chances of
inventory mishandling, waste, theft and losses increase
2. It is an indication of defective credit policy and slack collection period.
Consequently higher incidences of bad debts occur which adversely affects
the profits.
3. It makes the management complacent which degenerates into managerial
inefficiency
4. Tendencies of accumulating inventories to make speculative profits grow.
This may tend to make the dividend policy liberal and difficult to copes with
in future when the firm is unable to make speculative profits.
The dangers of inadequate working capital are as follows:
1. It stagnates growth .It becomes difficult for the firms to undertake
profitable projects for non-availability of the WC funds.
2. It becomes difficult to implement operating plans and achieve the firms
profit targets
3. Operating inefficiencies creep in when it becomes difficult even to meet
day-to-day commitments.
4. Fixed assets are not efficiently utilized. Thus the rate of return on
investment slumps.
5. It renders the firm unable to avail attractive credit opportunities etc.
6. The firm loses its reputation when it is not in position to honor its short-
term obligations. As a result the firm faces a tight credit terms.
Net working capital refers to the difference between the current assets and the
current liabilities. Current liabilities are those claims of outsiders, which are expected
to mature for payment within an accounting year and include creditors, bills payable,
bank overdraft and outstanding expenses.
When current assets exceed current liabilities it is called Positive WC and when
current liabilities exceed current assets it is called Negative WC.
The Net WC being the difference between the current assets and current liabilities is a
qualitative concept. It indicates:
• The liquidity position of the firm
• Suggests the extent to which the WC needs may be financed by permanent
sources of funds
It is a normal practice to maintain a current ratio of 2:1. Also, the quality of current
assets is to be considered while determining the current ratio. On the other hand a
weak liquidity position poses a threat to the solvency of the company and implies that
it is unsafe and unsound. The Net WC concept also covers the question of judicious
mix of long term and short-term funds for financing the current assets.
A firm needs WC because the production, sales and cash flows are not instantaneous.
The firm needs cash to purchase raw materials and pay expenses, as there may not be
perfect matching between cash inflows and outflows. Cash may also be held up to
meet future exigencies. The stocks of raw materials are kept in order to ensure smooth
production and to protect against the risk of non-availability of raw materials. Also
stock of finished goods has to be maintained to meet the demand of customers on
continuous basis and sudden demand of some customers. Businessmen today try to
keep minimum possible stock as it leads to blockage of capital. Goods are sold on
credit for competitive reasons. Thus, an adequate amount of funds has to be invested
in current assets for a smooth and uninterrupted production and sales process.
Because of the circulating nature of current assets it is sometimes called circulating
capital.
All firms do not have the same WC needs .The following are the factors that affect the
WC needs:
1. Nature and size of business: The WC requirement of a firm is closely
related to the nature of the business. We can say that trading and financial
firms have very less investment in fixed assets but require a large sum of
money to be invested in WC. On the other hand Retail stores, for
example, have to carry large stock of variety of goods little investment in
the fixed assets.
Also a firm with a large scale of operations will obviously require more WC
than the smaller firm.
The following table shows the relative proportion of investment in current assets
and fixed assets for certain industries:
2. Manufacturing cycle: It starts with the purchase and use of raw materials
and completes with the production of finished goods. Longer the
manufacturing cycle larger will be the WC requirement; this is seen mostly
in the industrial products.
3. Business fluctuation: When there is an upward swing in the economy,
sales will increase also the firm’s investment in inventories and book debts
will also increase, thus it will increase the WC requirement of the firm and
vice-versa.
4. Production policy: To maintain an efficient level of production the firm’s
may resort to normal production even during the slack season. This will
lead to excess production and hence the funds will be blocked in form of
inventories for a long time, hence provisions should be made accordingly.
Since the cost and risk of maintaining a constant production is high during
the slack season some firm’s may resort to producing various products to
solve their capital problems. If they do not, then they require high WC.
5. Firm’s Credit Policy: If the firm has a liberal credit policy its funds will
remain blocked for a long time in form of debtors and vice-versa.
Normally industrial goods manufacturing will have a liberal credit policy,
whereas dealers of consumer goods will a tight credit policy.
6. Availability of Credit: If the firm gets credit on liberal terms it will
require less WC since it can always pay its creditors later and vice-versa.
Also if the firm’s policy is to retain the profits it will increase their WC,
and if they decide to pay their dividends it will weaken their WC position, as the cash
will flow out. However this can be avoided by declaring bonus shares out of past
profits. This will help the firm to maintain a good image and also not part with the
money immediately, thus not affecting the WC position.
Depreciation policy of the firm, through its effect on tax liability and
retained earning, has an influence on the WC. The firm may charge a high rate of
depreciation, which will reduce the tax payable and also retain more cash, as the cash
does not flow out. If the dividend policy is linked with net profits, the firm can pay
fewer dividends by providing more depreciation. Thus depreciation is an indirect way
of retaining profits and preserving the firms WC position.
All business firms aim at maximizing the wealth of the shareholder for which
they need to earn sufficient return on their operations. To earn sufficient profits they
need to do enough sales, which further necessitates investment in current assets like
raw materiel etc. There is always an operating cycle involved in the conversion of
sales into cash.
The duration of time required to complete the following sequences of events in case
of a manufacturing firm is called the operating cycle:-
1. Conversion of cash into raw material
2. Conversion of raw material into WIP
3. Conversion of WIP into FG
4. Conversion of FG into debtors and bills receivable through sales
5. Conversion of debtors and bills receivable into cash
• Get better credit from suppliers You increase your cash resources
DEBTORS
CASH
CASH DEBTORS
STOCK OF
FINISHED
GOODS
Operating cycle of non-manufacturing firm like the wholesaler and retail includes
conversion of cash into stock of finished goods, stock of finished goods into debtors
and debtors into cash. Also the operating cycle of financial and service firms involves
conversion of cash into debtors and debtors into cash.
Thus we can say that the time that elapses between the purchase of raw material
and collection of cash for sales is called operating cycle whereas time length
between the payment for raw material purchases and the collection of cash for
sales is referred to as cash cycle. The operating cycle is the sum of the inventory
period and the accounts receivables period, whereas the cash cycle is equal to the
operating cycle less the accounts payable period.
STOCK ARRIVES
CASH RECD.
A/C’S Pay.
Period
OPERATING CYCLE
CASH CYCLE
Cash cycle
spontaneous source of finance refers to the automatic sources of short term funds like
creditors, bills payable and other outstanding expenses.
The firms to finance its WC requirements may use one of the following three
strategies:
Strategy A: Only long-term sources are used to finance its entire WC
requirements. When the WC requirements are less then the peak level the
balance is invested in liquid assets like cash and marketable securities.
However it leads to inefficient management of funds as you may have to
pay high interest or you could invest it in other places where you could
earn good returns.
Strategy B: Long-term financing is
used to meet the fixed asset
requirements, permanent WC
requirement and a portion of
fluctuating WC requirement. During
seasonal upswings, short- term
financing is used, during seasonal
down swings surplus is invested in liquid assets. This is also called the
conservative approach.
This is the middle route, where at least you know that you normally
wouldn’t fall short of WC. However you could still make better use of your
funds.
Under the aggressive approach, the firm finances a part of its permanent current
assets with short term financing. Sometimes they may even finance a part of their
fixed assets with short-term sources.
COST OF FINANCING:
In developed countries it has been observed that the
rate of interest is related to the maturity of the debt.
This relationship between the maturity of debt and
its cost is called the term structure of interest
rates. The curve related to it is called the yield
curve, which is generally upward sloping. Longer the maturity period, higher is the
rate of interest. However it is opposite in India.
The liquidity preference theory justifies the high rate of interest on debt
with long maturity period. No moneylender would want to take high risk of giving
loan, which will be paid after a long period of time, and hence, the only way to induce
him or her to give loan would be to pay high interest rate, thus, short term financing is
desirable from the point of view of return.
Flexibility: It is easier to repay short-term loans and hence if the firm were of the
opinion that it would require lesser funds in near future, it would be better to go in for
short-term sources.
Risk Of Financing: Long- term sources though expensive are less risky as you are
always assured of at least the minimum funds required by you, on the other hand you
may not always be able to get finance from short-term sources which in turn could
hamper the functioning of your business. Also though the return on equity is always
higher in case of aggressive policy, it is much more costly.
CONCLUSION
The relative liquidity of a firm’s assets structure is measured by the current
ratio. The greater this ratio the less risky as well a less profitable the firm will be and
vice-versa. Also the relative liquidity of a firm’s financial structure can be measured
by short- term financing to total financing ratio. The lower this ratio, less risky as well
a less profitable the firm will be and vice-versa.
Thus, in shaping its WC policy, the firm should keep in mind these two
dimensions; relative assets liquidity (level of current assets) and relative finance
liquidity (level of short- term financing).
2. Deduct the spontaneous current liabilities from the cash cost of current
assets: A portion of the cash cost of current assets is supported by trade credit
and accruals of wages on expense, which may be referred to as spontaneous
current liabilities. The balance left after such deduction has to be arranged
from other sources
In 1997, the RBI permitted banks to evolve their own norms for assessment of
the Working Capital requirements of their clients.
Cash flow based computation of working capital requirement has been recommended
by the RBI for assessment of working capital requirement permitting the banks to
evolve their own norms for such assessment
However the reluctance to provide the cash budgets thereby revealing
additional information to the banks, has led to even larger companies shying away
from Cash Budget method of assessing Working Capital. Consequently Cash Budget
method is currently prevalent mainly in case of seasonal industries, construction
sector as well as other entities whose operations are linked to projects.
Cash is the money, which the firm can disburse immediately without any restriction.
Near- cash items like marketable securities or bank time deposits are also included in
cash.
Cash management 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 a firm at a point of time.
Cash management is important because:
i. Cash is used for paying the firms obligation
ii. Cash is an unproductive asset, you need to invest it somewhere
iii. It is difficult to predict cash flows accurately as there can not be perfect
coincidence between the inflows and outflows of cash
iv. Though cash constitutes the smallest portion of total current assets,
management’s considerable time is devoted in managing it.
The obvious aim of the firm these days is to keep its cash balance minimum and to
invest the released cash funds in profitable opportunities.
In order to overcome the uncertainty about predictability of cash flow, the firms
should evolve strategies regarding the following four facets of cash management:
i. Cash planning: Cash surplus or deficit for each period should be planned;
this can be done by preparing the cash budget.
ii. Managing the cash flows: The firm should try to accelerate the inflows of
cash flow while trying to minimize the outflows.
iii. Optimum cash level: The cost of excess cash and the dangers of cash deficit
should be matched to determine the optimum level.
iv. Investing idle cash: The firm should about the division of such cash balances
between bank deposits and marketable securities.
In order to manage cash you need to manage the sources of additional working
capital, which includes the following:
The firm must decide the quantum of transactions and precautionary balances to
be held, which depends upon the following factors:
The expected cash inflows and outflows based on the cash budget
and forecasts, encompassing long/short range cash needs of the firm.
The degree of deviation between the expected and actual net cash flow.
The maturity structure of the firm’s liabilities.
The firm’s ability to borrow at a short notice, in case of emergency.
The philosophy of management regarding liquidity and risk of
insolvency
The efficient planning and control of cash.
CASH PLANNING
Cash planning is a technique to plan for and control the use of cash. The forecast may
be based on the present operations or the anticipated future operations.
Normally large, professionally managed firms do it on a daily or weekly basis,
whereas, medium size firms do it on a monthly basis. Small firms normally do not do
formal cash planning, incase they do it; it’s on a monthly basis.
As the firm grows and its operation becomes complex, cash planning becomes
inevitable for them.
method is appropriate in showing the company’s working capital and future financing
needs.
i. Receipts and Payment Method: It simply shows the timing and magnitude of
expected cash receipts and payments over the forecast receipts.
The most difficult part is to anticipate the amounts as well as the time when the
receipts will be collected, the reason being that he projection of cash receipts relies
heavily on sales forecasts and the guesses regarding the time of payment by the
customer.
Evaluation of the method: I
Its main advantages are:
Provides a complete picture of expected cash flows
Helps to keep a check over day-to-day transactions
ii. Adjusted net income method: It involves the tracing of working capital
flows. It is also called the sources and use approach. Its two objectives are:
To project company’s need for cash at some future date.
To show if the company can generate this money internally, and if
not, how much will have to be either borrowed or raised in the capital market.
It generally has three sections; sources of cash, uses of cash and adjusted net
balance .In preparing the adjusted net income forecasts items like net income,
depreciation, taxes dividends etc can be easily determined from the company’s annul
operating budget. Normally it is difficult to find WC changes, especially since the
inventories and receivable pose a problem.
Prompt Billing: It ensures early remittances. Also the firm has high
control in this area and hence there is a sizeable opportunity to free up the
cash. To tap this opportunity the treasurer should work with the controller and
others in:
Thus this helps saving mailing and processing time, reducing financial requirements.
This system leads to potential savings, which should be compared to the cost of
maintaining the system.
The main advantages of this system are, firstly, the bank handles the remittances prior
to deposit at a lower cost. Secondly the cheques are deposited immediately upon
receipt of remittances and their collection process starts sooner than if a firm would
have processed them for internal accounting purposes prior to their deposits.
The difference between the payment float and the collection float is referred to
as the net float. So if a firm enjoys a positive net float, it can still issue cheques, even
if it means overdrawn bank accounts in its books. This action is referred to a s
‘playing of float’. Though risky the firm may choose to play it safely and get a higher
mileage from its cash resource.
Cash balance is maintained for transaction purposes and an additional amount may be
maintained as a buffer or safety stock. It involves a trade off between the costs and the
risk.
If a firm maintains a small cash balance, it has to sell its marketable securities
and probably buy them later more often, than if it holds a large cash balance. More the
number of transactions more will be the trading cost and vice-versa; also, lesser the
cash balance, less will be the number of transaction and vice-versa. However the
opportunity cost of maintaining the cash rises, as the cash balance increases.
The excess amount of cash held by the firm to meet its variable cash
requirements and future contingencies should be temporarily invested in marketable
securities for earning returns. In choosing among the alternative securities the firm
should examine three basic features of security:
Safety: The firm has to invest in a security, which has a low default risk.
However it should be noted that, higher the default risk, higher the return on
security and vice-versa.
Maturity: Maturity refers to the time period over which interest and
principle are to be paid. The price of long-term securities fluctuates more widely
with the change in interest rates, then the price of short-term security. Over a period
of time interest rates have a tendency to change, and hence, long-term securities are
considered to be riskier, thus less preferred.
Marketability: If the security can be sold quickly and at a high price it is
considered to be a highly liquid or marketable. Since the firm would need the
invested money in near future for meting its WC requirements, it would invest in
security, which is readily marketable. Normally securities with low marketability
have high yields and vice-versa.
The choice in this case is restricted to the govt. treasury bills and commercial bank
deposits.
and redeemed at par value. Though the return on them is low they appeal for the
following reasons:
Commercial bank deposits: The firm can deposit its excess cash with
commercial banks for a fixed interest rate, which further depends on the period of
maturity. Longer the period, higher the rate .It is the safest short run investment
option for the investors. If the firm wishes to withdraw its funds before maturities, it
will lose on some interest.
is that it offers high interest rate, while its main drawback is that it does not have a
developed secondary market.
The lending company has to assured about the credit worthiness of the borrowing
company, as it is an unsecured loan. In addition it must fulfill the following
requirements as stipulated by section 370 of the COMPANY’S ACT:
ii. Try to go for bills backed by letter of credit rather than open
bills as the former are more secure because of the guarantee provided by the
buyer’s bank..
MANAGEMENT OF DEBTORS
small businesses that can least afford it. If you don't manage debtors, they will
begin to manage your business as you will gradually lose control due to reduced
cash flow and, of course, you could experience an increased incidence of bad debt.
Make sure that the control of credit gets the priority it deserves.
Establish clear credit practices as a matter of company policy.
Make sure that these practices are clearly understood by staff, suppliers and
customers.
Be professional when accepting new accounts, and especially larger ones.
Check out each customer thoroughly before you offer credit. Use credit
agencies, bank references, industry sources etc.
Establish credit limits for each customer... and stick to them.
Continuously review these limits when you suspect tough times are coming
or if operating in a volatile sector.
Keep very close to your larger customers.
Invoice promptly and clearly.
Consider charging penalties on overdue accounts.
Consider accepting credit /debit cards as a payment option.
Monitor your debtor balances and ageing schedules, and don't let any debts
get too large or too old.
Debtors due over 90 days unless within agreed credit terms should generally demand
immediate attention.
A customer who does not pay is not a customer. Here are a few ideas that may
help you in collecting money from debtors:
When asking for your money, be hard on the issue - but soft on the
person. Don't give the debtor any excuses for not paying.
To manage the credit in such a way that sales are expanded to an extent to which the
risk remains within an acceptable limit. Hence for maximizing the value, the firm
should manage its credit to:
The term credit policy refers to those decision variables that influence the
amount of trade credit; i.e. the investment in receivables. Main factors that affect the
V.E.S College of Arts, Science & Commerce 29
WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
credit policy are general economic conditions, industry norms, pace of technological
change, competition, etc.
Lenient or stringent credit policy: Firms following lenient credit policy tend to sell
on credit very liberally, even to those customers whose creditworthiness is doubtful,
where as, the firm following stringent credit policy; will give credit only to those
customers who have proven their creditworthiness.
Firms having liberal credit policy, attract more sales, and also enjoy more profits.
However at the same time, they suffer from high bad debt losses and from problem
of liquidity.
The concept of probability can be used to make the sales forecast. Different economic
conditions; good bad and average, can be anticipated and accordingly sales forecast
under different credit policies can be made.
The important variables you need to consider before deciding the credit policy are:
Credit terms: Two important components of credit terms are credit period and
cash discounts. Credit period is generally stated in terms of net period, for e.g.,
net 30’.it means that the payment has to be made within 30 days from day of
credit sale.
Cash discount is normally given to get faster payments from the debtors. The
complete credit terms indicate the rate of cash discount, the period of credit and the
discount period. For ex:’ 3/10, net 30’ this implies that 3 % discount will be granted if
the payment is made by the tenth day, if the offer is not availed the payment has to be
made by the thirtieth day.
The firm also needs to consider the competitors action, if the competitors also relax
their policy, when you relax your policy, the sales may not go up as expected.
Credit standards: Liberal credit standard tend to put up sales and vice-versa.
The firms credit standards are influenced by the five C’s:
P = S (1-V)-kI-bS
P = change in profit
S = change in sales
K = cost of capital
Collection procedure will differ from customer to customer .The credit evaluation
procedure of the individual accounts should involve the following steps:
i. Credit information: The firm should ensure the capacity and willingness of
the customer to pay before granting credit to him. Following sources may be
employed to get the information:
a) Financial statements: Financial statements like the balance sheet and the
P&L a/c can be easily obtained except in the cases of individuals or
partnership firms. If possible additional information should be sought from
firms having seasonal sales. The credit-granting firm should always insist on
the audited financial statements.
b) Bank references: A firm can get the credit information from the bank where
his customer has it account; he can do so, through its bank, since obtaining
direct information is difficult. Here the problem is that the customer may
provide reference of only those banks with which it has good relations.
c) Trade references: The firm can ask the customer to give trade references of
people with whom he has or is doing trade. The trade referee may be contacted
to get the necessary information. The problem here is that the customer may
provide misleading references.
e) Price and yields on securities: For listed companies, valuable inferences can
be obtained from the stock marker data. Higher the price earnings multiple and
lower the yield on bonds, other things being equal, lower will be the credit
risk.
f) Experience of the firm: Trading of the company with others or with same
Co. done before can be examined so as to get the necessary information and
take further decision.
ii. Credit investigation: The factors that affect the extent and nature of credit
investigation are:
iii. Credit analysis: The credit information supplied should be properly analyzed.
The ratios should be calculated to find out the liquidity position and should be
compared with the industry average. This will tell us whether the downfall if
any is because of general industrial environment or due to internal
inefficiencies of the firm.
For judging the customer the credit analyst may use quantitative measure like the
financial ratios and qualitative assessments like trustworthiness etc.
Credit analyst may use the following numerical credit scoring system:
On basis of this the credit granting decision is taken. If p is the probability that the
customer will pay, (1-p) the probability that he defaults, REV the revenue from sales,
(COST) the cost of goods sold, the expected profit for the action offer credit is:
The expected profit for the action ‘refuse credit’ is 0, if the expected profit of the
course of action ‘offer credit’ is positive; it is desirable to extend credit, otherwise not.
For ex: if the probability that a customer would pay is 0.7 and the probability that a
customer would default is 0.3,the revenue from sales is Rs 1400 and the cost of sales
is Rs 600;the expected profit of offering credit is
iv. Credit limits: The next logical step is to determine the amount and duration of
credit. It depends upon the customer’s creditability and the financial position
of the firm. A line credit is the maximum amount of credit, which the firm will
extend at a point of time. A customer may sometimes demand a credit higher
then his credit line, which may be granted to him if the product has a high
margin or the additional sales help to use the unutilized capacity of the firm.
The normal collection period should be determined keeping in mind the
industry norm.
v. Collection procedure: The firm should clearly lay down the collection
procedures for the individual accounts, and the actions it will resort to if the
payments are not made on time. Permanent customers need too be handled
carefully; else the firm may lose them to the competitors. In order to study
correctly the changes in the payment behavior of customers, it is necessary to
look at the pattern of collections associated with credit sales.
Inventories are the stock of the products a company is manufacturing for sale
and the components that make up the product. They exist in three forms; raw
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WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
materials, work-in-process and finished goods. A fourth kind of inventory the firms
also maintain i.e. the inventories of supplies. It includes office and plant cleaning
material, oil, fuel, light bulbs, etc.
Inventories constitute the most significant part of current assets of a large
majority of companies in India. For e.g., on an average, 60 % of the current assets in
the public limited companies are, inventories.
% OF INVENTORY
INDUSTRY TO CURRENT
ASSETS
Tea plantation, edible vegetables, hydrogenated oils, sugar,
cotton, jute and woolen textiles, non-ferrous metals, 60 %
transport equipments, engineering workshops etc
Printing and publishing, electricity generation and supply,
30 %
trading and shipping industries.
Tobacco 76 %
Need to hold inventory: Though maintaining inventories holds up companies cost,
yet holding inventories is unavoidable.
Avg. o/p of the process (avg. usage at the end of the movement) * time require for the
process. (Or time required in movement.)
For Ex1: if the avg. output of the process is 300 units per day and the process time is 5
days, the avg. process inventory would be 1500 units.
The firms are required to maintain enough inventories for smooth production and
selling process, also at the same time they need to keep the investment in them
minimum. The investment in the inventories should be justified at the optimum level.
The major dangers of over investment include blockage of funds leading to reduced
profits, excessive carrying cost and the risk of liquidity. On the other hand major
dangers of inadequate inventories include production hold ups, failure to meet
delivery commitments further leading to loss of firm’s image, losing customers to
competitors etc. Hence an effective inventory management should:
The key issue for a business is to identify the fast and slow stock movers with the
objectives of establishing optimum stock levels for each category and, thereby,
minimize the cash tied up in stocks. Factors to be considered when determining
optimum stock levels include:
When a firm orders a large quantity, with the aim of reducing the total ordering cost,
the average inventory, other things being equal, tends to be high thereby increasing
the carrying cost. Also, when a firm carries a larger safety stock to reduce the
shortage costs its carrying costs tends to be high. Hence the minimization of the
overall costs of inventory would require considerable trade off between these costs.
EOQ formula:
TC = U * F + Q * P * C
Q 2
U = Annual usage/demand
Q = Quantity ordered
F = Cost per order.
C = % carrying cost
P = Price per unit
TC = total of ordering and carrying costs.
Quantity Discounts And Order Quantity: When quantity discounts are available,
the price per unit is influenced by the order quantity. Hence total cost should be
calculated for various order quantity offered at discounted rates, and the one with the
least cost should be adapted.
Order Point: It is the quantity level on the attainment of which the next order has to
be placed. This is done in order to ensure continuous and smooth flow of materials for
production. If the usage rate of material and the lead-time for procurement were
known then the reorder level would be: lead time for procurement (days) * average
daily usage. However in real life due to uncertainties in lead-time and usage rate, an
extra level of stock i.e. safety stock is also maintained.
Here, Safety Stock = (Maximum Usage Rate – Average Usage Rate) * Lead
Time
Other factors you need to consider before deciding the reorder level include:
Anticipated scarcity
Expected price change: An expected increase in price may warrant an
increase in the level of inventory and vice-versa
Obsolescence risk: The presence of obsolescence risk suggests a level
of reduction in inventory carried and vice-versa
Government restriction: Government may impose restrictions on the
level of inventory that can be maintained (may be through policies of commercial
banks)
Marketing considerations: If the demand is unexpected and there is
heavy competition, high level of inventory may be maintained to meet the
demand.
Firms need to maintain various types of inventories .In most inventory a large portion
of the inventories account for only small amount of cost whereas small portion of
inventory contribute to a large value (in monetary terms). ABC analysis concentrates
on this fact, thus requires us to put in more efforts to control inventory that leads to
the maximum cost. This approach classifies the inventories in three broad categories
A, B, and C.
A Most important 15 to 25 % 60 TO 75 %
Moderate
B 20 to 30 % 20 to 30 %
importance
C Least important 40 to 60 % 10 to 15 %
The following procedure may be used for determining the three categories:
Taichi Okno of Japan originally developed it. It simply implies that the firm
should carry minimum level of inventory and depends on suppliers to get it’ just-in-
time.’ Normally the firm wants to keep more inventories so that they do not have
shortage problems leading to production and sales delays.
However many believe that the just in time concept is not about getting the
material just in time but reducing the lead time of the process, that is, shortening
the production cycle.
Two most important sources of working capital finance are trade credit and
bank credit. Over the period of years the amount of trade credit has gone up
significantly, at the same time obtaining the trade credit from banks for large-scale
industries has become increasingly difficult. A combination of short and long term
finances is used to finance to working capital requirements. Current assets are
normally financed by the short-term sources, which include the following:
Accruals: This includes what the firm owes to the employees. Its main
components are wages and taxes. Since they are payable at a future date, they have
been accrued but not shown as paid in the balance sheet. Till that time they serve as
source of finance. They are a source of spontaneous financing. Since the firm pays
no interest, they are regarded as a ‘free’ source of finance.
Cost of Trade Credit: If the supplier offers discount for prompt payment, there
is a cost associated with trade credit availed beyond the discount period. If the
terms of payment are say 2/10, net 30, then the cost of credit during the discount
period is nil, whereas the cost during non-discount period is:
Discount % * 360
the customer fails to do so. In this case though the customer provides the
credit the risk is borne by the bank. Hence we can say that it is an
indirect form of financing.
1) Short-Term Loans from Financial Institutions: The LIC, GIC and UTI
provide short-term loans to manufacturing companies that have a good track
record. The following are the eligibility conditions if obtaining the loans:
Declared an annual dividend of 6 % for the past 5 years, in some
cases it is 10 % over last 3 years
The debt equity ratio should not exceed 2:1
The current ratio should be at least 1:1
The average of the interest cover ratios for the past three years
should be at least 2:1.
2) Public Deposits: Unsecured deposits are taken from the public to finance the
working capital requirements. They are an important source of short and
medium term finances. A Co. can accept public deposits subject to the
stipulations of RBI from time to time maximum up to 35% of its paid up
capital and reserves, from the public and shareholders. These deposits may be
accepted for a period of 6 months to 3 years.
Advantages
Method of financing is simple and easy as it does not require much
formality.
Cheaper method of raising short term finance.
Does not require any security.
Disadvantages
Only for Co.s enjoying good reputation in the market.
The public depositors may put pressure on the Co. to refund the
deposits if there is a rumour that Co. is not doing well.
3) Right Debentures for working capital: In order to get long term resources for
working capital, the public limited companies can issue ‘rights’ debentures to
their shareholders. The key guidelines to be followed include:
The amount of debenture issue should not exceed 20 % of the gross
current assets, loans and advances minus the long term loans presently available
for financing working capital OR 20 % of paid up share capital, including
preference capital and free reserves, whichever is the lower of the two
The debt – equity ratio including the proposed dividend issue
should not exceed 1:1
They shall be first offered to Indian resident shareholders of the
company on a pro rata basis.
major weaknesses in the working capital finance a s pointed out by the Dehejia
committee and again identified by the Tondon committee are:
Borrower decides how much to borrow, hence the banker is in no
position to do any credit planning
Bank credit is treated as the first source of finance and not the
supplementary source
Credit given is based on security available and not on the basis of
operations of the borrower
Security given alone is not enough; safety lies in the efficient follow
up of the industrial operations of the borrower.
Lending Norms: Most firms face problems of inadequate working capital due to credit
indiscipline (diversion of working capital to meet long term requirements or to
acquire other assets).The banker is required to finance only a part of the working
capital gap. The working capital gap is defined as‘ current assets – current
liabilities excluding bank borrowings.’
The committee had suggested the following three methods for determining the
maximum permissible bank finance (MPBF):
In the first method the borrower will contribute 25 % of the
working capital gap; the remaining 75 % can be financed from bank borrowings.
This method will give a minimum current ratio of 1:1.
In the second method the borrower will constitute 75 % of the total
current assets. The remaining will be financed by the bank. MPBF = 0.75(CA) –
CL = this method will give a current ratio of 1.3:1. In this case current liability
including MPBF will be 30+45 =75.Therefore the current ratio will be 100/75 =
1.33
In the third method the borrower will finance 100 percent of core
assets (permanent component of the working capital), as defined and 25 % of the
balance of the current assets. The remaining can be met from the bank borrowing
0.75 (CA – CCA) – CL = 0.75(100-20) – 30 = 30 (assuming that CCA is 20).
CA = current assets
CL = non bank current liabilities
CCA = core current assets.
Style Of Credit: The committee has suggested a bifurcation of the total credit limit
into fixed and fluctuating parts. The fixed part will be treated as a demand loan for
the representing the minimum level of borrowing. The fluctuating part will be taken
care of by the demand cash credit. The cash credit part may be partly be used as
bills.
The committee also suggested that interest rate on the loan component be
charged lower than that on cash credit. The RBI has stipulated the differential at 1 %.
Also the key components of the Chore Committee recommendations, which highly
influence the existing reporting system, are as follows:
Quarterly information system-form 1: It gives estimation of production
and sales for the current year and the ensuing quarter, and the estimates of current
assets and liabilities for the ensuing year.
Quarterly information system-form 2: This gives the actual production
and sales in the current year and for the latest completed year and the actual current
assets and liabilities for the latest completed year.
Half yearly operating statements- form 3: It gives the actual operating
performance for the half year ended.
Half yearly funds flow statement-form 3b: It gives the sources and uses of
funds for the half year ended.
Whether the sales, production, etc estimates match with the actual? If
not, what are the reasons for deviations?
Are the information system requirements complied with?
Are the renewals of the limits in time?
Is the bank following the norms for inventory and receivables
prescribed by the RBI standing committee, if they are different, are they justified?
Financial information, specific industry analysis and financial models are used to
determine the credit worthiness of the borrower.
The small-scale sector has emerged as a dynamic and vibrant sector of the
Indian economy. The sector accounts for 40% of the industrial production, 35%
of the total exports. There are about 30 lacs Small Scale Industries in the country
and about 90% of employment in the country is in this sector.
We will now look at the management of working capital in SSI’s. For the
purpose of this project the details about various SSI’s are given below:
Sources of finance
The long-term finance, if required, is raised from commercial banks. The banks
provide loans to them to an extent of four times the money contributed by the
partners.
The short-term finance is raised by hundis. The company makes purchases of raw
materials with a credit period of 30 days. Similarly, they sell the goods also at 30
days credit period. The amount to be paid to the suppliers is normally paid after
the credit period of 30 days. Hence they efficiently manage their funds and reduce
their WC requirements.
As soon as the goods are sold, they draw a bill on the customer and then discount
the bill with the bank for funds. Also, the customer and the company share the
interest charged equally. Thus this provides a good source of short-term finance.
Inventory, Receivables
Formerly, they used to keep inventory of four weeks. But now they are practicing
JIT. They now maintain a stock for only 3 days. The value of the 3-day inventory
is around Rs 20 lakhs. They have realized the importance of funds and hence are
trying to avoid blocking of too much money in the inventory and hence are
resorting to modern inventory management practices.
Capacity utilization
The entire plant capacity is utilized, as Girnar gets enough orders. In fact, they
receive and accept 20 % more orders than their actual capacity. They do so to earn
more profits and because they expect a few cancellations or postponement of
some orders that they receive. If they cannot complete the orders, they give out the
job to other small firms and then they send it to their customers.
On – Line Packaging Ltd, situated in Goa, was established in the year 1998.
Sources of Finance
The owner’s meet the company’s Short term and Long-term finance needs.
The company does not have to depend on Banks or any other financial
institutions.
Working capital of the plant is 30 lacs, which is contributed by the partners.
Inventory The planning and production of the packaging material is done as
per the client’s policy of Just In Time (JIT). The company usually gets four
weeks for planning and production. The finished products are kept ready one
week prior to the actual delivery date. They simply keep the inventory to
minimum and procure it as and when necessary.
Long term and short term requirements of Janak Enterprises are covered by
Co - operative Banks like Saraswati & Kapol Co - operative Bank and Nationalised
Banks like State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. Nationalized banks also give
loans for R & D projects. They pay a comparatively high rate of bank interest.
Loans are given on the basis of past performance of the unit. But according
to them, bank financing depends to a considerable extent on Bank - Agent
relationships and facts of a proposal.
Sources of Finance
Long Term Finance:
Shivam Packaging Industries Pvt. Ltd. has taken a term loan of Rs.
36,00,000 from the Union Bank of India. They had to give 200% collateral
for getting this loan. The plant and machinery, land and building are also
pledged with the Union Bank of India. The tenure of this loan is 5 years at
the rate of 16.5%.
Working Capital:
They maintain a raw material inventory of about 45-50 tons, which is Rs.
14-15 Lakhs in money value.
The Economic Ordering Quantity for him is 10 tons of Paper, which is 1
truckload. The minimum time taken for the raw material to reach the factory is one
week, since all his suppliers are located at Vapi.
They maintain a maximum of 10-day inventory of finished goods,
depending on the consignment, or if the delivery is deferred.
Since it was a matter relating to finance, not everybody revealed all the aspects
of working capital management. However an effort was put in to get the maximum
out of them .The following conclusion can be made on the basis of information
gathered:
Most of them are not very professionally managed and hence they are really
not aware of their working capital policy as to whether it is aggressive or
conservative. Basically they are not very conscious about it. However now they have
started realizing the importance of cost of money and have started planning their
cash.
Cash management:
They are facing problems managing their cash as their cash is mainly stuck in
debts and inventory, to overcome this they try and discount the bill with the bank as
soon as possible, deal only on cash basis and keep the credit period to the minimum.
Receivables management:
They try to match the credit they get with the credit period they give, for
efficient management, as is in the case of Girnar packaging. (Matching approach)
Debtors take unusually long time to repay and hence most of their funds are
blocked in there. They need efficient receivable management system. Since they are
SSI’s it is practically difficult for them to have contract for payment period over
which they can charge interest, also there is more personal relation with their
customers and they normally wouldn’t take immediate action if the payment is not
made on time.
Inventory management:
Though most of them are not very professionally managed, some of them are
now practicing JIT and are aware of the EOQ concept. They have realized the need
to reduce blockage of funds in inventory and are working towards it.
Trying to reduce the lead time and servicing the orders as fast as possible is
the only way out for them.
in the case of Shivam packaging. Thus they are paying a high cost of cash and hence
need better cash management.
Many of them take cash credit to finance their fluctuating WC needs
Cash credit limit is fixed on the basis of sundry debtors and stock
hypothecated. Hence collateral is very important for obtaining bank loans.
Obtaining bank finance is not only about past performance and future
projections but also about developing trust-based relationship with the bankers. This
makes obtaining loans easier.
Below are those ratios which are important measures of working capital utilization.
They are explained with its formulae and its interpretation:-
(Total
Current
Similar to the Current Ratio but takes
Quick Assets -
= X times account of the fact that it may take time
Ratio Inventory)/
to convert inventory into cash.
Total Current
Liabilities
BALANCESHEET
Dec '01 Dec '02 Dec '03 Dec '04 Dec '05
Sources Of Funds
Application Of Funds
Dec '01 Dec '02 Dec '03 Dec '04 Dec '05
Income
11,082.1 10,871.1
Sales Turnover 11,755.04 10,928.36 11,962.54
0 2
Excise Duty 1,121.34 976.18 973.73 939.61 882.23
10,108.3
Net Sales 10,633.70 9,952.18 9,931.51 11,080.31
7
Other Income 522.52 475.69 519.09 440.24 389.77
10,747.6 10,295.0
Total Income 11,151.59 10,431.71 11,389.21
6 6
Expenditure
22,012.0 22,012.0
Shares in issue (lacs) 22,012.00 22,012.00 22,012.00
0 0
Earning Per Share (Rs) 7.19 8.04 6.35 4.78 5.67
CALCULATION OF RATIOS
Ratios
Dec '01 Dec '02 Dec '03 Dec '04 Dec '05
Stock Turnover
Ratio
= 5.19854 4.40033 4.41705 3.91650 4.94270
COGS / Avg. Stock
(times)
Receivables
Ratio
=
14.58050 13.49103 17.00177 17.98151 17.22270
Debtors * 365 /
Sales
(days)
Payables
Ratio
= 209..3951 216.7188
169.95306 207.94296 217.35940
Creditors * 365 / 5 7
Sales
(days)
Current
Ratio
=
1.02563 1.00251 1.00398 0.97665 0.71567
Total CA /
Total CL
(times)
Quick
Ratio
=
0.53229 0.50740 0.52490 0.43481 0.28520
(Total CA – Stock) /
Total CL
(times)
Working Capital
Turnover Ratio
=
62.3896 330.637 99.7156 54.1846 21.1929
Net Sales /
Working Capital
(% sales)
Stock to
Working Capital
Ratio
= 723.3084 4248.305 1383.496 807.234 116.719
Stock * 100 /
Working Capital
(% )
Assumptions:
2) Raw materials are issued to production right in the beginning, whereas wages
and overheads are incurred evenly.
4) 1year = 52 weeks
SOLUTION:-
Budgeted P/L
(A) Stock
Raw Material 20,00
0
V.E.S College of Arts, Science & Commerce 67
WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
(2,60,000/52 *4)
Finished Goods
39,61
59,616
6
(515,000/52*4)
(B) WIP
Raw Material
10,00
0
(2,60,000/52*2)
Wages
3,750
(1,95,000/52*2*0.5)
Overheads
1,154 14904
(60,000/52 *2*0.5)
(C) Debtors
87,500
(6,50,000/52*7)
(-)CURRENT LIABILITIES
(A) Creditors
Raw materials
30,000
(2,60,000/52*6)
(B)Wages
5,625
(1,95,000/52*1.5)
WC reqd.(CA-CL) 1,45,260
CONCLUSION
BIBLOGRAPHY
SDSDSD