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The Working Capital Cycle

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Submitted By Sharlette47
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The Working Capital Cycle and the Cost of Credit

1. In terms of cash flow, what are the stages of the working capital cycle?
Cash flows in a cycle into, around and out of a business. It is the business's life blood and every manager's primary task is to help keep it flowing and to use the cash flow to generate profits. If a business is operating profitably, then it should, in theory, generate cash surpluses. If it doesn't generate surpluses, the business will eventually run out of cash and expire. limit, you effectively create free finance to help fund future sales. Each component of working capital (namely inventory, receivables and payables) has two dimensions. TIME and MONEY. When it comes to managing working capital - TIME IS MONEY. If you can get money to move faster around the cycle (e.g. collect monies due from debtors more quickly) or reduce the amount of money tied up (e.g. reduce inventory levels relative to sales), the business will generate more cash or it will need to borrow less money to fund working capital. As a consequence, you could reduce the cost of bank interest or you'll have additional free money available to support additional sales growth or investment. Similarly, if you can negotiate improved terms with suppliers e.g. get longer credit or an increased credit 2. Describe the two components of a working capital management strategy.
Current Assets
Current assets are items that can be turned into cash quickly. Examples of current assets are cash on hand, short-term investments, inventory and accounts receivable. Accounts receivable must be collected in a timely manner the sooner you receive money owed, the sooner it can be reinvested to earn a profit. Effective inventory management is also essential. The goal is to have enough inventory to complete orders but not an excess. Excess inventory creates additional costs such as paying

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