Skip to main content

Working Capital Cycle

Working capital is vital to a business. They have to have funds available to pay their day to day bills, wages and so on. The working capital is made up of the current assets net of the current liabilities. It is very important to a company to manage its working capital carefully. This is particularly true where there is a substantial time lag between making the product and receiving the money for it. In this situation the company has paid out all the costs associated with making the product (labour, raw materials and so on) but not yet got any money for it. They must therefore ensure they have enough cash to do this.

The way working capital moves around the business is modelled by the working capital cycle. This shows the cash coming into the business, what happens to it while the business has it and then where it goes. A simple working capital cycle may look something like:-

Working capital cycle

Between each stage of this working capital cycle there is a time delay. For some businesses this will be very long where it takes them a long time to make and sell the product. They will need a substantial amount of working capital to survive. Others though may receive their cash very quickly after paying out for raw materials etc... (perhaps even before they've paid their bills?) - they will need less working capital.

For all businesses though they need to plan how much cash they are going to have. The best way of doing this is a CASH FLOW FORECAST.


Source:
http://www.bized.co.uk/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interactive Worksheet: The Accounting Equation

by Ken Delaney-Moore, Sheffield Hallam University Aims: This worksheet deals with: The accounting equation. The accounting concepts of 'business entity' and 'dual aspect'. The effects of transactions on the balance sheet. After having completed the worksheet you should be better able to perform to syllabus specifications relating to these points. When you are done, please fill-in the on-line evaluation form in order for us to monitor the quality of the materials we provide for you. Tell us what we're doing right and wrong. It takes very little time, and your opinions are valued - thank you. A business start-up Imagine that 'Jim Sayers' puts £5,000 of his personal savings into a business bank accoun...

MEMBUAT DATABASE APLIKASI AKUNTANSI DENGAN MICROSOFT ACCESS 2007

Microsoft Office Access 2007 merupakan aplikasi pembuatan database yang diciptakan Raksasa Microsoft Corporation, Hingga saat ini banyak sekali perusahaan menggunakan aplikasi ini dalam membuat database untuk keperluan bisnisnya, baik dengan menggunakan 100% access, maupun dengan memanfaatkan enginenya dan menggabungkan dengan aplikasi visual lainnya seperti Visual Basic, dsb. Access 2007 merupakan dipenyempurnaan dari access 2003. Berikut ini kita akan mencoba membuat database sederhana untuk keperluan akuntansi. Untuk membuat aplikasi database akuntansi tentu diperlukan banyak tabel, query, dan report yang harus dipersiapkan. Apalagi jika akuntansi untuk perusahaan dagang, dan manufaktur. Untuk lebih memudahkan bagi pemula yang ingin belajar membuat aplikasi dengan menggunakan Microsoft office access 2007, maka disini saya akan mencoba membahas aplikasi database akuntansi sederhana untuk perusahaan jasa. dalam menyusun suatu database tentu sebelumnya kita harus menyusun normalisas...

The Current Ratio

The Current Ratio The current ratio is also known as the working capital ratio and is normally presented as a real ratio. That is, the working capital ratio looks like this: Current Assets: Current Liabilities = x: y eg 1.75: 1 The Carphone Warehouse is our business of choice, so here is the information to help us work out its current ratio. Consolidated Balance Sheet 31 March 2001 25 March 2000 £'000 £'000 Total Current Assets 315,528 171,160 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 222,348 173,820 As we saw in the brief review of accounts section with Tesco's financial statements, the phrase current liabilities is the same as Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year . Here's the table to fill in. OK, so we've done this one for you! Current Ratio For the Carphone Warehouse 31 March 2001 Current Assets: Current Liabilities 315,528: 222,348 1.42: 1 25 March 2000 Current Assets: Current Liabilities 171,160: 173,820 0.98: 1 Math...