Exam 16: Working Capital Management

Which of the following is NOT a situation that might lead a firm to increase its holdings of short-term marketable securities?

Synchronization of cash flows is an important cash management technique, as proper synchronization can reduce the required cash balance and increase a firm's profitability.

For a zero-growth firm, it is possible to increase the percentage of sales that are made on credit and still keep accounts receivable at their current level, provided the firm can shorten the length of its collection period sufficiently.

The cash conversion cycle (CCC) combines three factors: The inventory conversion period, the average collection period, and the payables deferral period, and its purpose is to show how long a firm must finance its working capital. Other things held constant, the shorter the CCC, the more effective the firm's working capital management.

Changes in a firm's collection policy can affect sales, working capital, and profits.

Funds from short-term loans can generally be obtained faster than from long-term loans for two reasons: (1) when lenders consider long-term loans they must make a more thorough evaluation of the borrower's financial health, and (2) long-term loan agreements are more complex.

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

A lockbox plan is most beneficial to firms that

The maturity matching, or "self-liquidating," approach to financing involves obtaining the funds for permanent current assets with a combination of long-term capital and short-term capital that varies depending on the level of interest rates. When short-term rates are relatively high, short-term assets will be financed with long-term debt to reduce costs.

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

Zorn Corporation is deciding whether to pursue a restricted or relaxed current asset investment policy. The firm's annual sales are expected to total $3,600,000, its fixed assets turnover ratio equals 4.0, and its debt and common equity are each 50% of total assets. EBIT is $150,000, the interest rate on the firm's debt is 10%, and the tax rate is 40%. If the company follows a restricted policy, its total assets turnover will be 2.5. Under a relaxed policy its total assets turnover will be 2.2. -What's the difference in the projected ROEs under the restricted and relaxed policies?

Halka Company is a no-growth firm. Its sales fluctuate seasonally, causing total assets to vary from $320,000 to $410,000, but fixed assets remain constant at $260,000. If the firm follows a maturity matching (or moderate) working capital financing policy, what is the most likely total of long-term debt plus equity capital?

The concept of permanent current operating assets reflects the fact that some components of current assets do not shrink to zero even when a business is at its seasonal or cyclical low. Thus, permanent current operating assets represent a minimum level of current assets that must be financed.

Zorn Corporation is deciding whether to pursue a restricted or relaxed current asset investment policy. The firm's annual sales are expected to total $3,600,000, its fixed assets turnover ratio equals 4.0, and its debt and common equity are each 50% of total assets. EBIT is $150,000, the interest rate on the firm's debt is 10%, and the tax rate is 40%. If the company follows a restricted policy, its total assets turnover will be 2.5. Under a relaxed policy its total assets turnover will be 2.2. -If the firm adopts a restricted policy, how much lower would its interest expense be than under the relaxed policy?

Other things held constant, if a firm "stretches" (i.e., delays paying) its accounts payable, this will lengthen its cash conversion cycle (CCC).

Data on Shick Inc. for 2008 are shown below, along with the days sales outstanding of the firms against which it benchmarks. The firm's new CFO believes that the company could reduce its receivables enough to reduce its DSO to the benchmarks' average. If this were done, by how much would receivables decline? Use a 365-day year.

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

Loans from commercial banks generally appear on balance sheets as notes payable. A bank's importance is actually greater than it appears from the dollar amounts shown on balance sheets because banks provide nonspontaneous funds to firms.

Whitmer Inc. sells to customers all over the U.S., and all receipts come in to its headquarters in New York City. The firm's average accounts receivable balance is $2.5 million, and they are financed by a bank loan at an 11% annual interest rate. The firm is considering setting up a regional lockbox system to speed up collections, and it believes this would reduce receivables by 20%. If the annual cost of the system is $15,000, what pre-tax net annual savings would be realized?

A firm buys on terms of 2/8, net 45 days, it does not take discounts, and it actually pays after 58 days. What is the effective annual percentage cost of its non-free trade credit? (Use a 365-day year.)