Exam 16: Working Capital Management

The twin goals of inventory management are (1) to ensure that the inventories needed to sustain operations are available, but (2) to hold the costs of ordering and carrying inventories to the lowest possible level.

Ingram Office Supplies, Inc., buys on terms of 2/15, net 50 days. It does not take discounts, and it typically pays on time, 50 days after the invoice date. Net purchases amount to $450,000 per year. On average, what is the dollar amount of costly trade credit (total credit - free credit) the firm receives during the year? (Assume a 365-day year, and note that purchases are net of discounts.)

Other things held constant, which of the following would tend to reduce the cash conversion cycle?

Buskirk Construction buys on terms of 2/15, net 60 days. It does not take discounts, and it typically pays on time, 60 days after the invoice date. Net purchases amount to $450,000 per year. On average, how much "free" trade credit does the firm receive during the year? (Assume a 365-day year, and note that purchases are net of discounts.)

An informal line of credit and a revolving credit agreement are similar except that the line of credit creates a legal obligation for the bank and thus is a more reliable source of funds for the borrower.

The cash budget and the capital budget are handled separately, and although they are both important, they are developed completely independently of one another.

Soenen Inc. had the following data for 2008 (in millions). The new CFO believes that the company could improve its working capital management sufficiently to bring its NWC and CCC up to the benchmark companies' level without affecting either sales or the costs of goods sold. Soenen finances its net working capital with a bank loan at an 8% annual interest rate, and it uses a 365-day year. If these changes had been made, by how much would the firm's pre-tax income have increased?

The calculated cost of trade credit can be reduced by paying late.

Because money has time value, a cash sale is always more profitable than a credit sale.

Cash is often referred to as a "non-earning" asset. Thus, one goal of cash management is to minimize the amount of cash necessary for conducting a firm's normal business activities.

Shorter-term cash budgets--say a daily cash budget for the next month-- are generally used for actual cash control while longer-term cash budgets--say monthly cash budgets for the next year--are generally used for planning purposes.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Which of the following statement completions is CORRECT? If the yield curve is upward sloping, then the marketable securities held in a firm's portfolio, assumed to be held for emergencies, should

Van Den Borsh Corp. has annual sales of $50,735,000, an average inventory level of $15,012,000, and average accounts receivable of $10,008,000. The firm's cost of goods sold is 85% of sales. The company makes all purchases on credit and has always paid on the 30th day. However, it now plans to take full advantage of trade credit and to pay its suppliers on the 40th day. The CFO also believes that sales can be maintained at the existing level but inventory can be lowered by $1,946,000 and accounts receivable by $1,946,000. What will be the net change in the cash conversion cycle, assuming a 365-day year?

Data on Wentz Inc. for 2008 are shown below, along with the payables deferral period (PDP) for the firms against which it benchmarks. The firm's new CFO believes that the company could delay payments enough to increase its PDP to the benchmarks' average. If this were done, by how much would payables increase? Use a 365-day year.

The four primary elements in a firm's credit policy are (1) credit standards, (2) discounts offered, (3) credit period, and (4) collection policy.

Which of the following items should a company report directly in its monthly cash budget?

Which of the following statements is NOT CORRECT?

Dimon Products' sales are expected to be $5 million this year, with 90% on credit and 10% for cash. Sales are expected to grow at a stable, steady rate of 10% annually in the future. Dimon's accounts receivable balance will remain constant at the current level, because the 10% cash sales can be used to support the 10% growth rate, other things held constant.

Since receivables and payables both result from sales transactions, a firm with a high receivables-to-sales ratio must also have a high payables-to-sales ratio.