Capital

Capital, in the financial sense, is the money that gives the business the power to buy goods to be used in the production of other goods or the offering of a service.

The Desirability Of Budgeting

Budget is a document which documents the plan of the business. This may include the objective of business, targets set, and results in financial terms, e.g., the target set for sale, resulting cost, growth, required investment to achieve the planned sales, and financing source for the investment. Also budget may be long term or short term. Long term budgets have a time horizon of 5–10 years giving a vision to the company; short term is an annual budget which is drawn to control and operate in that particular year.

Capital budget

This concerns proposed fixed asset requirements and how these expenditures will be financed. Capital budgets are often adjusted annually and should be part of a longer-term Capital Improvements Plan.

Cash budget

Working capital requirements of a business should be monitored at all times to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to meet short-term expenses.

The cash budget is basically a detailed plan that shows all expected sources and uses of cash. The cash budget has the following six main sections:

1. Beginning Cash Balance - contains the last period's closing cash balance.
2. Cash collections - includes all expected cash receipts (all sources of cash for the period considered, mainly sales)
3. Cash disbursements - lists all planned cash outflows for the period, excluding interest payments on short-term loans, which appear in the financing section. All expenses that do not affect cash flow are excluded from this list (e.g. depreciation, amortisation, etc)
4. Cash excess or deficiency - a function of the cash needs and cash available. Cash needs are determined by the total cash disbursements plus the minimum cash balance required by company policy. If total cash available is less than cash needs, a deficiency exists.
5. Financing - discloses the planned borrowings and repayments, including interest.
6. Ending Cash balance - simply reveals the planned ending cash balance.

Management of current assets

Credit policy

Credit gives the customer the opportunity to buy goods and services, and pay for them at a later date.

Advantages of credit trade

• Usually results in more customers than cash trade.
• Can charge more for goods to cover the risk of bad debt.
• Gain goodwill and loyalty of customers.
• People can buy goods and pay for them at a later date.
• Farmers can buy seeds and implements, and pay for them only after the harvest.
• Stimulates agricultural and industrial production and commerce.
• Can be used as a promotional tool.
• Increase the sales.
• Modest rates to be filled.

Disadvantages of credit trade

• Risk of bad debt.
• High administration expenses.
• People can buy more than they can afford.
• More working capital needed.
• Risk of Bankruptcy.
• May lose peace of mind.

Forms of credit

• Suppliers credit:
• Credit on ordinary open account
• Installment sales
• Bills of exchange
• Credit cards
• Contractor's credit
• Factoring of debtors
• Cash credit
• Cpf credits
• Exchange of product

Factors which influence credit conditions

• Nature of the business's activities
• Financial position
• Product durability
• Length of production process
• Competition and competitors' credit conditions
• Country's economic position
• Conditions at financial institutions
• Discount for early payment
• Debtor's type of business and financial positions

Credit collection

Overdue accounts

• Attach a notice of overdue account to statement.
• Send a letter asking for settlement of debt.
• Send a second or third letter if first is ineffectual.
• Threaten legal action.

Effective credit control

• Increases sales
• Reduces bad debts
• Increases profits
• Builds customer loyalty
• Builds confidence of financial industry
• increase company capitlisation

Sources of information on creditworthiness

• Business references
• Bank references
• credit agencies
• Chambers of commerce
• Employers
• Credit application forms
• Credit repair companies

Duties of the credit department

• Legal action
• Taking necessary steps to ensure settlement of account
• Knowing the credit policy and procedures for credit control
• Setting credit limits
• Ensuring that statements of account are sent out
• Ensuring that thorough checks are carried out on credit customers
• Keeping records of all amounts owing
• Ensuring that debts are settled promptly
• Timely reporting to the upper level of management for better management.

Stock

Purpose of stock control

• Ensures that enough stock is on hand to satisfy demand.
• Protects and monitors theft.
• Safeguards against having to stockpile.
• Allows for control over selling and cost price.

Stockpiling

This refers to the purchase of stock at the right time, at the right price and in the right quantities.

There are several advantages to the stockpiling, the following are some of the examples:

• Losses due to price fluctuations and stock loss kept to a minimum
• Ensures that goods reach customers timeously; better service
• Saves space and storage cost
• Investment of working capital kept to minimum
• No loss in production due to delays

There are several disadvantages to the stockpiling, the following are some of the examples:

• Obsolescence
• Danger of fire and theft
• Initial working capital investment is very large
• Losses due to price fluctuation

Rate of stock turnover

This refers to the number of times per year that the average level of stock is sold. It may be worked out by dividing the cost price of goods sold by the cost price of the average stock level.

Determining optimum stock levels

• Maximum stock level refers to the maximum stock level that may be maintained to ensure cost effectiveness.
• Minimum stock level refers to the point below which the stock level may not go.
• Standard order refers to the amount of stock generally ordered.
• Order level refers to the stock level which calls for an order to be made.

Cash

Reasons for keeping cash

• Cash is usually referred to as the "king" in finance, as it is the most liquid asset.
• The transaction motive refers to the money kept available to pay expenses.
• The precautionary motive refers to the money kept aside for unforeseen expenses.
• The speculative motive refers to the money kept aside to take advantage of suddenly arising opportunities.

Advantages of sufficient cash

• Current liabilties may be catered for.
• Cash discounts are given for cash payments.
• Production is kept moving
• Surplus cash may be invested on a short-term basis.
• The business is able to pay its accounts in a timely manner, allowing for easily-obtained credit.
• Liquidity

Management of fixed assets

Depreciation

Depreciation is the allocation of the cost of an asset over its useful life as determined at the time of purchase. It is calculated yearly to enforce the matching principle.

Insurance

Insurance is the undertaking of one party to indemnify another, in exchange for a premium, against a certain eventuality.

Uninsured risks

• Bad debt
• Changes in fashion
• Time lapses between ordering and delivery
• New machinery or technology
• Different prices at different places

Requirements of an insurance contract

• Insurable interest
• The insured must derive a real financial gain from that which he is insuring, or stand to lose if it is destroyed or lost.
• The item must belong to the insured.
• One person may take out insurance on the life of another if the second party owes the first money.
• Must be some person or item which can, legally, be insured.
• The insured must have a legal claim to that which he is insuring.
• Good faith
• Uberrimae fidei refers to absolute honesty and must characterise the dealings of both the insurer and the insured.

Shared Services

There is currently a move towards converging and consolidating Finance provisions into shared services within an organization. Rather than an organization having a number of separate Finance departments performing the same tasks from different locations a more centralized version can be created.

Finance of states

Country, state, county, city or municipality finance is called public finance. It is concerned with

• Identification of required expenditure of a public sector entity
• Source(s) of that entity's revenue
• The budgeting process
• Debt issuance (municipal bonds) for public works projects

Financial Economics

Financial economics is the branch of economics studying the interrelation of financial variables, such as prices, interest rates and shares, as opposed to those concerning the real economy. Financial economics concentrates on influences of real economic variables on financial ones, in contrast to pure finance.

It studies:

• Valuation - Determination of the fair value of an asset
• How risky is the asset? (identification of the asset appropriate discount rate)
• What cash flows will it produce? (discounting of relevant cash flows)
• How does the market price compare to similar assets? (relative valuation)
• Are the cash flows dependent on some other asset or event? (derivatives, contingent claim valuation)

• Financial markets and instruments
• Commodities
• Stocks
• Bonds
• Money market instruments
• Derivatives
• Financial institutions and regulation

Financial Econometrics is the branch of Financial Economics that uses econometric techniques to parameterise the relationships.