Participating
Not participating
Risk level
Depending on
seasonal and cyclical
fluctuations in sales
By participating in the
production process
and sales of products
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Budget appropriations are received by state and municipal enterprises,
enterprises implementing state programs, etc.
Other sources include foreign investment, accounts payable, loans, funds
raised based on joint activities, etc.
The liquidity and solvency of the enterprise depend on the structure of
sources of working capital formation.
The difference between current assets and current liabilities is the net
working capital of the enterprise or its own working capital.
Thus, working capital as a separate object of enterprise management
consists of working capital and short-term financial investments. And the
sources of its reproduction are the net profit remaining at the disposal of the
enterprise, stable liabilities, short-term bank loans, budget allocations and other
sources.
Working capital items vary in liquidity level. Immediately marketable are
all funds in the current, settlement, currency account and cash desk, as well as
investments in the money market. Quickly sold include, for example,
investments in highly liquid securities, receivables secured by a pledge,
guarantee, or bank guarantee and for which the limitation period has not
expired. Inventories are slow to sell. Hard-to-implement articles of working
capital include stale stocks of raw materials and finished products, and bad debts
are illiquid, i.e. accounts receivable for which the limitation period has expired
or the obligation is terminated due to the bankruptcy of the buyer and its
liquidation.
If we consider investments in working capital from the point of view of
risk, then risk-free investments can be recognized as investments in the money
market subject to its stability. Accounts receivable, depending on the conditions
of its formation, can have any degree of risk: medium, low, or zero. It depends
on the financial condition of the debtor, conditions, and forms of payments.
Working capital can also be divided into permanent and temporary,
depending on the influence of seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in demand for
products manufactured by the enterprise. Permanent capital does not depend on
fluctuations in market conditions, and temporary capital is additional to constant
and is created under seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in sales.
In addition, part of the working capital is directly involved in the
production and sale of products, and part is distracted from this process. Without
working capital, production and sale of products cannot occur, and short-term
financial investments are diverted from the production and sale of products and
are used only in the financial market with the goal of a quick increase in
monetary assets. Thus, short-term financial investments perform the function of
ensuring the increment of money.
Depending on the financial performance of the enterprise, you can
characterize its working capital management policy, which can be formed in
several ways: conservative, aggressive, and moderate.
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With a conservative policy, the company restrains the growth of current
assets and seeks to minimize their volume. Their share in the total volume of
property is small, and the turnover period is small, which ensures a high return
on assets. This policy is carried out in the absence or low proportion of short-
term loans and borrowings in sources of financing. All the need for working
capital is covered only by our own sources and long-term liabilities.
Conservative policies can be implemented in two cases. If it is necessary to save
all types of resources to maintain and strengthen the financial situation of the
enterprise, as well as in conditions of complete certainty in the capital markets,
capital goods and commodity markets.
However, in the event of unforeseen circumstances in the commodity and
financial markets, there may be a risk of technical insolvency (delay or
calculation error, leading to a violation of the terms of receipt and payment of
funds).
Aggressive policies lead to an increase in stocks of raw materials,
materials, finished products, an increase in receivables and cash assets in bank
accounts. The share of current assets in the property is high, and the turnover
period is quite long, which ensures a relatively low profitability. Financing of
the need for current assets is carried out due to the large volume of short-term
loans and borrowings, which make up a significant share in the total amount of
liabilities. The company increases fixed costs due to the costs of servicing loans.
In this regard, the strength of the impact of financial and operating leverage is
increasing, indicating a high entrepreneurial risk.
Such a policy can be allowed if the enterprise has a monopoly position on
the market or a very high level of profitability of sales and production is
achieved due to the exclusivity of goods or services and with a stable
macroeconomic situation.
A moderate working capital management policy is characterized by an
average level of indicators such as the weight of current assets in the property,
economic profitability of current assets, the period of their turnover, etc.
Financing needs comes from the average level of short-term and long-term loans
and borrowings in the total amount of sources. Moderate policy can be applied
in any market situation, as it helps to reduce risks.
The main function of working capital is to ensure the production process.
This process should take place rhythmically, in connection with which it is
necessary to determine in advance the need for working capital to avoid
production stoppage due to lack of raw materials, materials or cash.
A number of factors affect the efficiency of working capital management:
the volume and composition of current assets, their liquidity, the ratio of own
and borrowed sources of coverage of current assets, the amount of net working
capital, the ratio of constant and variable capital, etc.
As applied to the phases of the life cycle, it can be noted that when entering
the market and in the growth phase, it is more advisable to apply a conservative
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or moderate policy, and in the maturity phase, an aggressive policy, but subject
to increased production volumes. In a crisis, strategies are better based on
conservative or moderate policies, and in crises of profitability and liquidity, it
is only necessary to adhere to the principles of conservative policies. In the
insolvency phase, it is not advisable to develop such a policy.
The principles and indicators underlying the formation and evaluation of
the implementation of the working capital management policy are presented in
Table 11.
Table 11.
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