Working capital - Essay Example

Accounts receivable analysis is very important for cash is the lifeblood of the company. Accounts receivable must be converted to cash as soon as possible. This is where the AVERAGE COLLECTION PERIOD financial management tool is used regularly. The longer the average collection period, the lesser the liquidity ratio will be. The average collection period is dependent on the accounts receivable customers' ability to pay. To go deeper into the analysis, Ability to pay is dependent on the accounts receivable clients' liquidity.

A client that has just lost his or her job will have difficulty to pay your accounts receivable. A customer that has just run away because such customer has not intention of paying you when you will both meet will also affect the average collection period. When the average collection period is decreased, then the availability of the cash will increase liquidity. The increase in liquidity will result to a better financial statement. A better financial statement picture will increase the company's probability for the bank's approval of its long-term loan.

It also follows that sales are generated through the use of two methods. Cash sales are the first method of sales generation. Cash is received in exchange for goods that are sold to the company's customers. The second method (credit or account sales) will generate twice or even thrice the total amount of cash sales that the business produces. Are the sales on account Customers are allowed to take home the products they want to buy and the cash payment will be received either a few days or a few months or even a year or more from the customers' actual taking possession of the products sold.

It is also common knowledge, from personal experiences since our childhood transactions that not all things borrowed will be returned. Therefore, since some of the objects like books, pencils, bikes, or car, cash and others will be borrowed, we have accept the fact that there is a fine line between borrowers where companies are at risk of not being paid and the borrowers who are of good standing because they pay their monthly dues on time. One of the criteria that the banks and other business institutions approve the sale to clients ON CREDIT is to determine, based on the CREDIT customers' work related data, that there is a probability that the customers will pay their dues on time.

Allowance for Doubtful accounts is the accounting title for the estimated amount of accounts receivables from customers, subsidiary companies, branches and others that has a high probability of not being paid. The average collection period is the average length of time that the accounts receivables will not be paid by accounts receivable customers. It is simply the quotient when the total outstand accounts receivable is divided by the average daily sales. Another term for this is the collection ratio.

The main headache of the finance director of Raphael limited is that the company had