CHAPTER 30
Working Capital Management
Answers to Practice Questions
1.
2.
a.
There is a 2% discount if the bill is paid within 30 days of the invoice date;
otherwise, the full amount is due within 60 days.
b.
There is a 2% discount if payment is made within 5 days of the end of the
month; otherwise, the full amount is due within 30 days of the invoice date.
c.
Cash on delivery. Payment is due in full amount of the invoice upon
delivery of goods.
a.
Paying in 60 days (as opposed to 30) is like paying interest of $2 on a $98
loan for 30 days. Therefore, the equivalent annual rate of interest, with
compounding, is:
 100 


 98 
b.
(365 / 30)
1  0 .2786  27.86%
For a purchase made at the end of the month, these terms allow the buyer
to take the discount for payments made within five days, or to pay the full
amount within thirty days. For these purchases, the interest rate is
computed as follows:
 100 


 98 
(365 / 25)
1  0 .3431  34.31%
All sales are treated as if they were made at the end of the month;
therefore, the above calculation is correct for all sales.
3.
The more stringent policy should be adopted because profit will increase. For
every $100 of current sales:
Current
More Stringent
Policy
Policy
Sales
$100.0
$95.0
Less: Bad Debts*
6.0
3.8
Less: Cost of Goods**
80.0
76.0
Profit
$14.0
$15.2
* 6% of sales under current policy; 4% under proposed policy
** 80% of sales
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4.
When the company sells its goods cash on delivery, for each $100 of sales, costs
are $95 and profit is $5. Assume now that customers take the cash discount
offered under the new terms. Sales will increase to $104, but after rebating the
cash discount, the firm receives: 0.98  $104 = $101.92
Since customers pay with a ten-day delay, the present value of these sales is:
$101.92
 $101.757
1.06 (10/365)
Since costs remain unchanged at $95, profit becomes:
$101.757 – $95 = $6.757
If customers pay on day 30 and sales increase to $104, then the present value of
these sales is:
$104
 $103.503
1.06 (30/365)
Profit becomes: $103.503 – $ 95 = $8.503
In either case, granting credit increases profits.
5.
Consider the NPV (per $100 of sales) for selling to each of the four groups:
Classification
NPV per $100 Sales
1
 85 
100  (1  0)
 $13.29
1.15 45 / 365
2
 85 
100  (1  0 .02)
 $11.44
1.15 42 / 365
3
 85 
100  (1  0 .10)
 $ 3.63
1.15 40 / 365
4
 85 
100  (1  0.20)
  $ 7.41
1.15 80 / 365
If customers can be classified without cost, then Velcro should sell only to
Groups 1, 2 and 3. The exception would be if non-defaulting Group 4 accounts
subsequently became regular and reliable customers (i.e., members of Group 1,
2 or 3). In that case, extending credit to new Group 4 customers might be
profitable, depending on the probability of repeat business.
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6.
By making a credit check, Velcro Saddles avoids a $7.41 loss per $100 sale
25 percent of the time. Thus, the expected benefit (loss avoided) from a credit
check is:
0.25  $7.41 = $1.85 per $100 of sales, or 1.85%
A credit check is not justified if the value of the sale is less than x, where:
0.0185 x = $95
x = $5,135
7.
Original terms:
NPV per $100 sales   $80 
$100
 $17.70
1.12 75 / 365
Changed terms: Assume the average purchase is at mid-month and that the
months have 30 days.
NPV per $100 sales   $ 80 
8.
0.60  $98 0.40  $100

 $17.27
1.12 30 / 365 1.12 80 / 365
For every $100 of prior sales, the firm now has sales of $102. Thus, the cost of
goods sold increases by 2%, as do sales, both cash discount and net:
NPV per $100 of initial sales = 1.02 × $17.27 = $17.62
9.
Internet exercise; answers will vary.
10.
a.
Knob collects $180 million per year, or (assuming 360 days per year) $0.5
million per day. If the float is reduced by three days, then Knob gains by
increasing average balances by $1.5 million.
b.
The line of credit can be reduced by $1.5 million, for savings per year of:
$1,500,000  0.12 = $180,000
c.
The cost of the old system is $40,000 plus the opportunity cost of the extra
float required ($180,000), or $220,000 per year. The cost of the new
system is $100,000. Therefore, Knob will save $120,000 per year by
switching to the new system.
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11.
12.
a.
An increase in interest rates should decrease cash balances, because an
increased interest rate implies a higher opportunity cost of holding cash.
b.
A decrease in volatility of daily cash flow should decrease cash balances.
c.
An increase in transaction costs should increase cash balances and
decrease the number of transactions.
The cost of a wire transfer is €7, and the cash is available the same day. The
cost of a check is €$0.50 plus the loss of interest for three days, or:
€0.50 + [0.05  (3/365)  (amount transferred)]
Setting this equal to €7 and solving, we find the minimum amount transferred is
€15,817.
13.
Price of three-month Treasury bill = 100 – [(3/12)  10] = 97.50
Yield = (100/97.50)4 – 1 = 0.1066 = 10.66%
Price of six-month Treasury bill = 100 – [(6/12)  10] = 95.00
Yield = (100/95.00)2 – 1 = 0.1080 = 10.80%
Therefore, the six-month Treasury bill offers the higher yield.
14.
The annually compounded yield of 5.18% is equivalent to a two-month yield of:
1.0518(2/12) – 1 = 0.008453 = 0.8453%
The price (P) must satisfy the following:
(100/P) – 1 = 0.008453
Therefore: P = $99.1618
The return for the month is:
($99.1618/$98.75) – 1 = 0.004170
The annually compounded yield is:
1.00417012 – 1 = 0.0512 = 5.12%
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15.
Price of the one-month bill is: 100 – [(1/12)  5] = 99.5833
Return over one month is: ($100/$99.5833) – 1 = 0.004184 = 0.4184%
Yield (on a simple interest basis) is: 0.004184  12 = 0.05021 = 5.021%
Realized return over two months is: ($99.5833/$98.75) – 1 = 0.0084 = 0.84%
16.
Answers here will vary depending on when the problem is assigned.
17.
In general, a strategy of investing in the financial markets would not generate a
positive NPV. In efficient markets, investments in the financial markets are
typically zero NPV investments. It is not advisable to invest excess cash in longmaturity debt. Even if debt securities are actively traded and can be sold on
short notice, the risk of such an investment, in terms of price volatility, is high.
Presumably, it is expected that this excess cash will be needed in the near
future, perhaps in a matter of weeks or even days. The liquidity required for
investment of excess cash over short periods of time is not simply a matter of the
ability to sell a security on short notice; liquidity also requires that such a sale is
made without loss of principal.
18.
Let X = the investor’s marginal tax rate. Then, the investor’s after-tax return is
the same for taxable and tax-exempt securities, so that:
0.0352 (1 – X) = 0.0244
Solving, we find that X = 0.3068 = 30.68%, so that the investor’s marginal tax
rate is 30.68%.
Numerous other factors might affect an investor’s choice between the two types
of securities, including the securities’ respective maturities, default risk, coupon
rates, and options (such as call options, put options, convertibility).
19.
If the IRS did not prohibit such activity, then corporate borrowers would borrow at
an effective after-tax rate equal to [(1 – tax rate)  (rate on corporate debt)], in
order to invest in tax-exempt securities if this after-tax borrowing rate is less than
the yield on tax-exempts. This would provide an opportunity for risk-free profits.
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20.
For the individual paying 35 percent tax on income, the expected after-tax yields
are:
a.
b.
c.
On municipal note: 7.0%
On Treasury bill: 0.10  (1 – 0.35) = 0.065 = 6.5%
On floating-rate preferred: 0.075  (1 – 0.35) = 0.04875 = 4.875%
For a corporation paying 35 percent tax on income, the expected after-tax
yields are:
a.
b.
c.
On municipal note: 7.0%
On Treasury bill: 0.10  (1 – 0.35) = 0.065 = 6.50%
On floating-rate preferred (a corporate investor excludes from taxable
income 70% of dividends paid by another corporation):
Tax = 0.075  (1 - 0.70)  0.35 = 0.007875
After-tax return = 0.075 – 0.007875 = 0.067125 = 6.7125%
Two important factors to consider, other than the after tax yields, are the credit
risk of the issuer and the effect of interest rate changes on long-term securities.
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Challenge Questions
1.
Research exercise; answers will vary
2.
[Note: in the following solution, we have assumed an interest rate of 10%.]
At a purchase price of $10, the sales of 30,000 umbrellas will generate $300,000
in sales and $47,000 in profit. It follows that the cost of goods sold is:
($300,000 - $47,000)/30,000 = $8.43 per umbrella
Assume that, if Plumpton pays, it does so on the due date. Then, at a 10 percent
interest rate, the net present value of profit per umbrella is:
NPV per umbrella = PV(Sales price) – Cost of goods
NPV per umbrella = [$10/(1.10)(60 /365)] – $8.43 = $1.41
(If Plumpton pays 30 days slow, i.e., in 90 days, then the NPV falls to $1.34)
Thus, the sales have a positive NPV if the probability of collection exceeds 86
percent. However, if Reliant thinks this sale may lead to more profitable sales in
Nevada, then it may go ahead even if the probability of collection is less than
86 percent.
Relevant credit information includes a fair Dun and Bradstreet rating, but some
indication of current trouble (i.e., other suppliers report Plumpton paying 30 days
slow) and indications of future trouble (a pending re-negotiation of a term loan).
Financial ratios can be calculated and compared with those for the industry.
Debt ratio
Net working capital / total assets
Current ratio
Quick ratio
Sales / total assets
Net profit margin
Inventory turnover
Return on total assets
Return on equity
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=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
0.15
0.39
2.2
0.40
3.0
0.020 = 2.0%
2.9
0.059 = 5.9%
0.054 = 5.4%
Some things the credit manager should consider are:
i.
ii.
What does the stock market seem to be saying about Plumpton?
How critical is the term loan renewal? Can we get more information about
this from the bank or delay the credit decision until after renewal?
iii. Is there any way to make the debt more secure, e.g., use a promissory note,
time draft, or conditional sale?
iv. Should Reliant seek to reduce risk, e.g., by a lower initial order or credit
insurance? How painful would default be to Reliant?
v. What alternatives are available? Are there better ways to enter the Nevada
market? What is the competition?
3.
a.
For every $100 in current sales, Galenic has $5.0 profit, ignoring bad
debts. This implies the cost of goods sold is $95.0. If the bad debt ratio is
1%, then per $100 sales the bad debts will be $1 and actual profit will be
$4.0, a net profit margin of 4%.
b.
Sales will fall to 91.6% of their previous level (9,160/10,000), or to $91.6
per $100 of original sales. With a cost of goods sold ratio of 95%, CGS
will be $87.0. Bad debts will be: (0.007  $91.6) = $0.64
Therefore, the profit under the new scoring system, per $100 of original
sales, will be $4.0. Profit will be unaffected.
c.
There are many reasons why the predicted and actual default rates may
differ. For example, the credit scoring system is based on historical data
and does not allow for changing customer behavior. Also, the estimation
process ignores data from loan applications that have been rejected,
which may lead to biases in the credit scoring system. If a company
overestimates the accuracy of the credit scoring system, it will reject too
many applications.
d.
If one of the variables is whether the customer has an account with
Galenic, the credit scoring system is likely to be biased because it will
ignore the potential profit from new customers who might generate repeat
orders.
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