“WORKING CAPITAL

MANAGEMENT”

WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Working capital management is important part in firm financial management decision.

An optimal working capital management is expected to contribute positively to the

creation of firm value. To reach optimal working capital management firm manager

should control the trade off between profitability and liquidity accurately

Working capital refers to the firm’s investment in short-term assets (cash, marketable

securities, accounts receivable and inventories). Net working capital is the difference

between a firm’s current assets and its current liabilities. Working capital management

involves administering to both short-term assets and short-term liabilities. Assets and

liabilities must be matched and coordinated in order to keep costs to a minimum and to

control risks. Generally, we want to match the firm’s financing with the lives of its assets. If

we consider a company that is growing over time, then its assets can be decomposed into

three categories – fixed assets, permanent current assets and fluctuating current assets.

Short-term
Fluctuating
Current Assets

Permanent
 Current Assets Long-term

Fixed Assets

Fixed assets should be financed long-term, either equity or long-term debt, since the

assets are long-lived and need financing for a long period of time. The current assets can be

broken down into two portions, permanent current assets and fluctuating current assets. The

permanent current assets represent base levels of inventories, receivables, etc., that will

always be on hand. The fluctuating current assets represent the seasonal build-ups that

occur, such as inventories before Christmas and receivables after Christmas. The fluctuating

current asset levels should be financed short-term since we don’t want to pay financing

charges all year if we only need the money for a four-month period.

While the permanent current assets are, individually, short-lived assets, as a category

they are always there (hence, permanent) and will always need to be financed. Thus, the

permanent current assets should also be financed long-term, just like the fixed assets. While

it is possible to finance some of our permanent needs using short-term debt, it is risky to do

so. (Such financing is described as an “aggressive” working capital financing policy in your

text – aggressive being associated with risky.) The risk of financing permanent needs with

short-term financing is twofold: first, short-term interest rates fluctuate much more than long-

term interest rates. Rolling over short-term debt year after year will subject you to greater

fluctuation in your financing costs as a result. Probably a bigger risk is the inability to roll

over the short-term debt every year. You may have a bad year and find that lenders are

unwilling to refund the debt (forcing you to default).

Of course, some companies take the opposite approach – they will finance some of

their seasonal needs of the fluctuating current assets with long-term financing. This is a
conservative approach, but the financing is there when it is needed – but it costs money

during those times when it is not needed.

Banks generally do not want companies to utilize them as a source of permanent

financing. For this reason, many banks will require that a company’s line of credit be

completely paid off for at least one month each year. This is to prevent the company from

using the bank for permanent financing. Of course, banks are essentially matching their

assets and liabilities as well. The difference is that a banks assets are its loans which it

matches to its sources of financing – while firms match their financing to their assets. Since

a bank’s financing source is predominantly short-term deposits, it wants its loan portfolio to

be predominantly short-term as well.

Life insurance companies and pension funds, on the other hand, have liabilities that

are many years in the future. They would prefer to make longer term loans so that there isn’t

the need to reinvest the money every year.

COMPONENTS OF WORKING CAPITAL

Cash

Cash is probably the least productive asset you can have. Not only does it not earn

anything, it actually loses purchasing power as a consequence of inflation. So why do firms

hold cash? The three Keynsian motives for holding cash balances are

• Transactions motive – to conduct day-to-day business of paying for

purchases, labor, etc.

 • Precautionary motive – to cover unexpected expenditures. If the delivery truck

breaks down, it must be repaired or replaced if you want to stay in business.

• Speculative motive – unusually good opportunities occasionally arise. If you

have the money available, you can take advantage of these opportunities.

While cash is necessary to cover the transactions motive, the precautionary and

speculative motives can be covered with the near money (or near cash) of marketable

securities.

In order to maximize your cash balances, you can do one of two things; either

accelerate the inflow of funds (ask for an advance on your salary) or delay the outflow of

funds (postpone paying the phone bill until next month). But why would we want to maximize

our cash holdings if it is the least productive asset? Because idle cash, either sitting in a

checking account or tied-up in accounts receivable is extremely costly.

For example, suppose we have a client who owes us payment of Rs.1,000,000 that is

due. The opportunity cost of not collecting is the interest we could earn on the money.

Rs.1,000,000 Receivable due

5% Treasury bill rate
Rs. 50,000 Annual interest
Rs.50,000/365 days = Rs.137 per day

In fact, for a large enough amount of money, someone will meet you at the bank on Sunday

in order to accept your deposit.

This also illustrates the concept of “float”. Bank float is the period of time between

when a check is written to pay an obligation and when the funds are actually deducted from

your checking account. Within a city, it is common practice to have a local check clearing
system where banks meet each day to exchange checks written on one another’s accounts.

When the bank where a check is deposited is in a different city from the bank on which the

cheque is drawn, the deposited cheque first goes to the regional Federal Reserve Bank, and

is then forwarded to the issuing bank. This adds a day or two to the float period. If the check

is drawn on a bank account in another Federal Reserve District, then another day or so is

added as the local Fed must forward the check to the Fed in the issuing bank’s district which

then forwards the check to the bank. Exxon used to pay suppliers west of the Mississippi

river with checks written on a small bank in North Carolina, while suppliers east of the

Mississippi were paid with checks on a small bank in Arizona. One day’s worth of float to the

U.S. government is worth over $1 billion (which is one reason government employees now

get paid on the first of the following month rather than the last day of the month).

Most of us have probably played the float on at least one occasion (and probably

gotten caught!) It should be noted, however, that using float to cover up a deficit (i.e., hot

check) is illegal.

Another means of extending the float is through the use of drafts. A draft is like a

check, but must be returned to the issuer for verification prior being deposited. This, again,

adds 2-3 days to the float period. Insurance companies are most noted for using drafts within

the U.S. The type of draft that insurance companies use are known as sight drafts since they

are paid upon presentation. Time drafts are those which are payable upon a specific future

date. Time drafts are an important financing instrument in international trade and will be

discussed later.

While bank float and drafts delay the outflow of funds, cash balances can also be

increased by speeding up the inflow of funds. The primary means of accomplishing this is

through the use of a lock-box system. A lock-box is a post office box in a local city where
payments from customers in the area are sent. The lock-box is cleared daily and the checks

are deposited in a local bank and then wired to the company’s main bank account. Referred

to as concentration banking, it cuts 2-3 days off of the time it takes the checks to cross

several states and allows funds to be concentrated in one bank for investment in short-term

securities. The larger amount of funds that can be invested yields higher interest rates and

lower transactions costs.

The local bank will offer the lock-box system if a local office is not available or does

not want to devote the personnel to tend to the system. Banks, however, charge for the

services that they provide through either a direct service charge, or by requiring that a

minimum compensating balance be maintained. A compensating balance is one that does

not pay any interest. The minimum balance can be either an absolute minimum or an

average minimum.

Marketable Securities

Marketable securities are a way of holding cash but with the attribute of earning

interest. Market securities have three characteristics:

1. Short-term maturity (less than one year, or “money market instruments”

2. High marketability

3. Virtually no risk of default

Several types of marketable securities exist, the major ones being

• Treasury bills
 Treasury bills are auctioned every Monday by the government. Most have

maturities of 91 or 181 days, although some 9-month (270 days) and 12-

month (360 days) bills are sold. The t-bills, generally with a face value of

$10,000 each, are sold at a discount to the highest bidders. The difference

between the amount paid and the face value at maturity represents the

interest that is earned.

• Anticipation notes

Anticipation notes are issued by municipalities and school districts. Since their

revenues come from tax sources, the notes are “in anticipation” of future tax

receipts.

• Commercial paper

Commercial paper is the promissory notes of a major national firms. Most of

the firms that issue commercial paper sell it directly to investors (insurance

companies, money market funds, pension funds) although sometimes it will be

sold through investment bankers. Commercial paper is a substitute for bank

debt, but at a rate of interest that is one-fourth to on-half of a percent higher

than t-bills (currently about 4.3%) but significantly less than what banks would

charge (prime is currently about 8.5%).

• Banker’s Acceptances

A banker’s acceptance is a time draft that evolves from international

export/import financing. An exporter is paid by a time draft issued by a foreign

bank. Since the draft is not payable until some future date (1-3 months,

typically) the company that receives it will often sell it to its local bank at a
 discount. The local bank bundles the discounted drafts (banker’s

acceptances) and then resells them in the money markets.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are generated when a firm offers credit to its customers. The

first thing that needs to be addressed when establishing a credit policy is to set the standards

by which a firm is judged in determining whether or not credit will be extended. There is

what’s known as the 5 Cs of credit:

1. Character – the willingness of the borrower to repay the obligation

2. Capacity – the capability of the borrower to earn the money to repay the

obligation

3. Capital – sufficient assets available to support operations (as opposed to a

firm that is undercapitalized). Sometimes capital is interpreted to mean equity

capital; i.e., to make sure the owners of the firm have sufficient money at stake to

give them proper incentive to repay the loan and not let the company go bankrupt.

4. Collateral – assets to support the loan which can be liquidated if default occurs

5. Conditions – current and future anticipated conditions of the firm and the

industry.

Once the credit standards have been set, the terms of credit need to be established.

When must the customer pay? If they pay early, will they receive a discount? If they pay

late, do they get charged a penalty?

 While the whole purpose of extending credit is to increase sales and, thus, gross

profits, the expected increase in gross profits must be compared with the costs associated

with extending credit to customers. These costs include

• The time value of money tied up in accounts receivable

• Bad debts that occur

• Credit checks (to minimize bad debts)

• Collection costs

• Discounts for early payment (reduces revenues)

• Clerical costs associated with maintaining a credit department

Competitors will respond very quickly to a change in price. How many times have we

seen the claims that “We will meet or beat any advertised price”? A change in credit policy,

on the other hand, is a more subtle means of competing for customers and one that the

competition will not necessarily respond to. In fact, many firms base their business on easy

credit. How many times have we seen the advertisements where they tell us “Good credit?

Bad credit? No credit? We don’t care!” Of course, these firms will have larger bad debt

expenses and larger financing costs, etc. Obviously, they will also need to have higher

prices (higher gross profit margins) in order to cover these costs.

Inventories

Inventories (raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods) make up a large portion

of most firm’s current assets, and for many, total assets. As such, the extent to which a firm

efficiently manages its inventories can have a large influence on its profitability. Thus,

keeping abreast of inventory policy is critical to the profitability (and value) of the firm.
 Several factors influence the amount of inventory that a firm maintains. The most

important of these include

• Level of sales – typically, the more sales a firm has, the more inventory it

holds

• Length of time and technical nature of the production process – The longer it

takes to produce finished goods inventories from raw materials, the larger the

amount of finished goods that a firm will typically hold (a safety stock). Also, if the

production process is highly technical, requiring that retooling be performed prior

to each production run in order to assure that production is meeting specifications,

larger amounts of inventory will be produced with each production run in order to

minimize the set-up costs associated with retooling.

• Durability vs. Perishability – If an inventory item is highly perishable, such as

fresh vegetables, a small amount will be held. Similarly, fashions of clothes and

car styles are “perishable” and will result in smaller inventories than durable goods

such as tools and hardware.

• Costs – Cost of holding inventories as well as costs of obtaining inventories

will influence inventory sizes.

Inventory costs can be broken down into three major categories:

A. Ordering Costs

1. Fixed costs – stocking, clerical

2. Shipping costs – often fixed

3. Missed quantity discounts – an opportunity cost

 B. Carrying Costs

1. Time value of money tied-up in inventories

2. Warehousing costs

3. Insurance

4. Handling

5. Obsolescence, breakage, “shrinkage”

C. Stock-out Costs

1. Lost sales

2. Loss of goodwill

3. Special shipping costs

Ideally, we want to balance these costs against each other so that our total costs are

minimized.

Short-term Financing

Trade Credit

The major source of short-term financing for firms is that of trade credit. While it is an

account payable on our balance sheet, it is an account receivable on the balance sheet of

our supplier.

The terms of credit can vary quite a bit:

1. Cash on Delivery (i.e., no credit)

 2. Net amount due within a certain period of time

3. Net amount with a discount if paid within a certain period of time, net amount

within another period.

For example, 2/10 net 30 means that if you pay within the first ten days, you can

deduct 2% from the bill; otherwise the full amount of the bill is due within 30 days. Discounts

are offered by suppliers to keep their A/R balances down and minimize the funds that are

tied-up.

Not taking the discount can be a very expensive means of financing. For example,

suppose we do not pay within the first ten days. Then, if we pay on the thirtieth day, we have

paid 2% (approximately) for an additional twenty days’ use of the funds (the first ten days

were free anyway). Since there are 18 twenty-day periods in a year, this is approximately

2% * 18 = 36%

Actually, the cost is a little higher since we are paying 2% on top of the 98% we would

otherwise have to pay:

2 % 360days
* = 36. 7%
98% 20days

Of course, if you miss payment by day 10 for taking the discount, don’t pay the full amount of

day 11 or you have paid

2%*360 = 720%
Do banks charge 36% interest on loans? Not in Texas or most states. It is a violation of the

usury laws. Then why do many companies forego the discounts if the cost is so high? It is

the only source of funding that they can get. To reduce the effective cost, firms will often

stretch payment out past the due date. Of course, this subjects the firm to risk of its credit

being completely cut off by the supplier and possibly damages the credit reputation since

other suppliers will often request references before extending credit themselves.

Some firms will offer post-dated billing, typically in a seasonal industry. For example,

if a manufacturer’s primary sales are to retailers for the Christmas season they may

encourage retailers to order in June and July rather than waiting until September. The

encouragement is that if an order is placed in June or July, the manufacturer will not bill them

until September and even then regular credit terms will apply. The advantage here is that it

allows the manufacturer to smoothe out sale and thus production. The manufacturer can

then save on overtime with employees as well as not incur many of the carrying costs

associated with holding the inventories since the retailer takes possession and ownership

earlier.

Commercial Banks

The second major source of short-term financing for firms is commercial banks. A

firm wants to establish a close relationship with its bank and obtain a line of credit. In order

to get a credit line, you will want to show them your income statements, balance sheets,

financial ratios, etc. The bank will then allow a certain amount of credit with a set rate of

interest (usually prime plus). This can be renegotiated every year. In fact, commercial

banks’ bread and butter is their business accounts and they are very competitive with one
another in trying to attract corporate clients. The amount of the credit line is typically tied to

the amount of accounts receivable that the firm has and sometimes to the amount of

inventories that it holds.

Another type of credit line is referred to as a revolving line of credit. With a revolving

line of credit, the bank provides a written agreement guaranteeing loans up to a certain

amount. The firm will pay a normal rate of interest on the amounts of funds that it borrows

plus a commitment fee of one-half to one percent on any unborrowed funds. Unlike a regular

line of credit which can be changed, a revolving line of credit guarantees that the bank will

always make the amount available if needed. Additionally, a revolving line of credit will often

be extended jointly by several banks when the amounts used are larger than a single bank

can (or wants to) handle alone.

Types of Loans

Loans come in a variety of shapes. A simple loan requires that the firm maintain a

non-interest-bearing account at the bank. While compensating balances are not used as

much as they have been in the past, they are still encountered frequently.

Suppose a bank offers a one-year loan for $100,000 at an 8% rate of interest with a

compensating balance of 20%. Then,

$100,000 loan

Less: 20,000 compensating balance

$ 80,000 net proceeds

At the end of one year, the firm repays the bank $88,000. $8,000 is interest on the loan and

the other $80,000 (with the $20,000 in the compensating balance for a total of $100,000) is

the principal. Thus, the firm has effectively paid $8,000 interest on the use of $80,000 for an

annual rate of interest of 10%.

Alternatively, the bank may offer a discounted loan where the interest is deducted up-

front. Using our same example,

Rs.100,000 loan

Less: 8,000 interest

Rs. 92,000 net proceeds

At the end of the year, the firm repays the Rs.100,000 of principal (since the interest was paid

up-front). Effectively, the firm paid Rs.8,000 of interest for the use of Rs.92,000 of funds for a

rate of interest of 8.7% on the loan.

Banker is there to help you and may express concern that the need to come up with

Rs.100,000 at the end of the year could be difficult. He/she may suggest, instead, an interest

add-on loan where the amount of interest is added to the principal and then repaid in a series

of installments. Our example loan would then required that monthly payments of Rs.9,000 be

made (Rs.100,000 principal + Rs.8,000 interest = Rs.108,000/12 months = Rs.9,000 per

month).

Rs.100,000

Average
Owed
 12 months

As an approximation, the amount of the loan that was outstanding during the year

was, on average, only Rs.50,000. The Rs. 8,000 of interest thus represents an

approximately 16% rate of interest on the average amount of the loan.

More precisely, this loan appears as

0 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 12

100,000 (9,000) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (9,000) (9,000)

Of course, if you were the bank, the cash flows would be the same, only the signs

would be reversed. So as a bank officer, how would you determine the rate of interest that

you were earning on this investment?

The true cost of debt of any loan is the internal rate of return between what you

receive and what you have to pay back. Suppose we use our calculators and determine the

IRR of this interest add-on loan. We determine that the IRR is 1.2%. But remember that his

is 1.2% per month. Using simple interest, 1.2%*12 = 14.4% annual rate of interest.

Security for Bank Loans

Banks like some sort of collateral for loans to ensure repayment of the loan, at least in

part. The preferred collateral for bank loans is accounts receivable. The reason, of course,
is that collecting money is what banks do. Typically, a bank will loan up to 75-80% of the

receivables that are not over 60 days. There are two ways to obtain financing with

receivables:

Pledging of Accounts Receivable – This is the most common form. A lender will loan

up to 80% of the amount of the invoice. Upon payment, the borrower has “pledged” to use

the proceeds to reduce the amount of the loan. If the customer does not pay the invoice, the

borrower is still obligated to repay the loan.

Factoring of Accounts Receivable – The receivable is sold to a factoring institution.

Typically, this is used prior to making a sale on credit. The seller will go to a factor who will

run a credit check on the potential buyer. If the buyer has a good credit rating, the factor will

give the go-ahead to sell on credit and then buy the receivable (at a discount) from the seller.

The buyer is notified in writing to pay the factor directly for the receivable. Then, if the invoice

is not paid, it is up to the factor to collect from the buyer and the factor takes the risk of bad

debt. Sometimes, the factor may withhold 10% from the seller to make them share in the risk

of non-payment. Then, when payment is received, the 10% reserve will be refunded to the

seller.

The use of factoring is considerably more expensive than the pledging of accounts

receivable. This is due to the fact that, in addition to lending money for a period of 30-90

days, the factor also must run a credit check, incur the cost of collection, and undertake the

risk of nonpayment.

Banks will also use inventories as collateral for short-term loans. A blanket lien (or

floating lien) is one that covers all inventories. Even then, the lender will only loan 40-50% of

the cost of those goods. This is because, if default occurs, the lender will have to hire
someone to sell the inventories as well as substantially discounting them in order to liquidate

the inventories.

A warehouse receipts loan is where a third party holds the inventory as collateral for

the lender. A warehouse receipts loan is most commonly used in the canning industry or

where production of inventory is seasonal. For example, the cotton season runs from June to

October. Denim jeans, on the other hand, are purchased year-round. Thus, a denim

manufacturer might buy cotton in June and produce denim but not have enough for the

estimated annual demand. The producer could then go to a bank and borrow against the

bolts of denim that have been produced. These bolts of denim would then be stored in a

public warehouse as collateral and funds would be made available for the producer to

purchase more cotton and produce more denim. As inventories are sold, the loan could be

paid down, in which case the lender would notify the public warehousing company to release

X number of bolts of denim to the producer and the process reverses itself.

If the inventories are too bulky to transport to a public warehouse, a field warehouse

arrangement may be set up where the public warehousing company goes to the producer’s

place of business and physically segregates the inventories that are being held as collateral

for the lender. Only the public warehousing company would have access to the collateral

and would only release it upon notification by the lender.

Securities Loans

A borrower can pledge their inventories of securities of another company (bonds,

notes payable) as collateral for a loan as well. Thus, if you hold a note payable from a

creditworthy firm, many lenders will loan money against it. (This is similar, in a sense, to

what happens with a margin purchase.)

 In short, if a firm has assets of virtually any kind, it can use them as collateral for

short-term loans to meet its short-term cash needs.