Chapter 1: Overview of Corporate Finance Flashcards
Real estate investment trust (REIT)
A real estate investment trust is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate.
Three questions that must be answered when starting a business
The job of the financial manager to answer these
1) What long-term investments should you take on? (capital budgeting)
2) Where will you get the long-term financing to pay for your investment? AKA what type of financing (debt or equity financing) (capital structure)
3) How will you manage your everyday financial activities, such as collecting from customers and paying suppliers? (working capital management)
1) What long-term investments should you take on?
That is, what lines of business will you be in and what sorts of buildings, machinery, equipment, and research and development facilities will you need?
2) Where will you get the long-term financing to pay for your investment?
2) Where will you get the long-term financing to pay for your investment?
A striking feature of large corporations is that the ____________ are usually not directly involved in making business decisions, particularly on a day-to-day basis.
owners (the shareholders)
What have raised the stakes in financial managers decisions?
1) Globalization of markets,
2) advanced communications and computer technology,
3) and increased volatility of interest rates and foreign exchange rates
CFO
Chief Financial Officer
The COO reports to the_______, who may also be CEO
chairman
The ____ reports to the president, who is the chief operating officer (COO) in charge of day-to-day operations
CFO
However, as businesses become more complex, there is a growing pattern among large companies to separate the roles of chair and _____
CEO
The CEO has overall responsibility to the ______
board
The vice president of finance coordinates the activities of the ________ and the _______
treasurer and the controller
The ___________ handles cost and financial accounting, tax payments, and management information systems
controller’s office
The ____________ is responsible for managing the firm’s cash, its financial planning, and its capital expenditures
treasurer’s office
Who is above the board of directors in the hierarchy?
The shareholders
capital budgeting
The process of planning and managing a firm’s investment in long-term assets.
In ___________, the financial manager tries to identify investment opportunities that are worth more to the firm than they will cost to acquire
capital budgeting
Example of an capital budgeting decision
capital budgeting
Evaluating the _____, _________and __________ of future cash flows is the essence of capital budgeting
size, timing, and risk
The financial manager must be concerned with three basic types of questions, these are:
1) The first question concerns the firm’s long-term investments
2) The first question concerns the firm’s long-term investments
3) The third major question concerns working capital management
capital structure (aka financial structure)
The mix of debt and equity maintained by a firm.
Refers to the mixture of short-term debt, long-term debt, and equity the firm uses to finance its operations
The financial manager has two concerns when it comes to capital structure
1) First, how much should the firm borrow; that is, what mixture is best? The mixture chosen affects both the risk and value of the firm
2) Second, what are the least expensive sources of funds for the firm?
In addition to deciding on the financing mix, the __________ has to decide exactly how and where to raise the money.
financial manager
working capital management
Planning and managing the firm’s current assets and liabilities.
Working capital
Refers to the difference between a firm’s short-term asses, such as inventory, and its short-term liabilities, such as money owed to suppliers
Managing the firm’s _________is a day-to-day activity that ensures the firm has sufficient resources to continue its operations and avoid costly interruptions
working capital
Some of the questions about working capital that must be answered are
1) How much cash and inventory should we keep on hand?
2) Should we sell on credit and on what terms?
3) How do we obtain short-term financing?
4) Will we purchase on credit or borrow short term and pay cash?
5) If we borrow short term, how and when should we do it?
The three questions can be visualized on a balance sheet model
(1) What assets should the corporation invest in (left-hand side of balance sheet)?
(2) How should the corporation set the mix of debt and equity (right-hand side of balance sheet)?
(3) How should the corporation manage the short-term assets and liabilities (top of the balance sheet)?
Five different legal forms of business organization
1) Sole proprietorship
2) Partnership
3) Corporation
4) Income trust
5) Co-operative
Sole Proprietorship definition
A business owned by a single individual.
What is the simplest type of business to start and the least regulated form of organization
1) Sole proprietorship
What is most common type pf business?
Sole Proprietorship
Sole Proprietorship keep all the ______ but the owner has _________________ for business debts
Profits
Unlimited Liability
Unlimited Liability
This means that creditors can look beyond assets to the proprietor’s personal assets for payment.
Sole proprietorship get taxed how?
Similarly, there is no distinction between personal and business income, so all business income is taxed as personal income
When does a Sole proprietorship end?
When the owner of the business dies orrrr if they sell their entire business to someone
Partnership
A business formed by two or more co-owners.
general partnership
all the partners share in gains or losses, and all have unlimited liability for all partnership debts, not just some particular share
The way partnership gains (and losses) are divided is described in the _________
partnership agreement.
partnership agreement
This agreement can be an informal oral agreement or a lengthy, formal written document.
limited partnership
one or more general partners has unlimited liability and runs the business for one or more limited partners who do not actively participate in the business
A limited partner’s liability for business debts is limited to the amount contributed to the partnership
Invest 1 million, you are liable for 1 million
Examples: Real estate ventures
Advantages of partnerships
Same as sole proprietorship
Easy and inexpensive to form
When does the partnership terminate?
When a general partner wishes to sell dies
How is the income taxed for a partnership?
All income is taxed as personal income to the partners, and the amount of equity that can be raised is limited to the partners’ combined wealth
What are the primary disadvantages of sole proprietorship and partnership as forms of business organization
(1) unlimited liability for business debts on the part of the owners,
(2) limited life of the business, and
(3) difficulty of transferring ownership. These three disadvantages add up to a single, central problem—the ability of such businesses to grow can be seriously limited by an inability to raise cash for investment.
Corporation
A business created as a distinct legal entity owned by one or more individuals or entities.
In terms of size, the _________ is the most important form of business organization in Canada
corporation
Corporations can borrow _____ and own ______, can sue and be sued, and can enter into _________
money
property
Contracts
Forming a corporation involves preparing _________ (or a charter) and a __________
articles of incorporation
set of bylaws
The articles of incorporation
contain a number of things, including the corporation’s name, its intended Page 7life (which can be forever), its business purpose, and the number of shares that can be issued
Canadian firms can be incorporated under either the ____________________________ or _________________________
federal Canada Business Corporation Act or provincial law
The bylaws of a corporation
rules describing how the corporation regulates its own existence.
For example, the bylaws describe how directors are elected. These bylaws may be a very simple statement of a few rules and procedures, or they may be quite extensive for a large corporation.
In a large corporation, the___________ and the __________ are usually separate groups
shareholders and the management
IN a corporation, The shareholders elect the ___________, which then selects the managers
board of directors
Advantages to a corporation
Ownership (represented by shares of stock) can be readily transferred, and the life of the corporation is therefore not limited.
The corporation borrows money in its own name.
Ability to raise capital
As a result, the shareholders in a corporation have limited liability for corporate debts.
The most they can lose is what they have invested
SPERATE LEGAL ENTITY
While limited liability makes the corporate form attractive to ______, lenders sometimes view the limited liability feature as a ________
equity investors
disadvantage
Disadvantages to a corporation (corporate form)
1) federal and provincial governments tax corporate income
2) Corporate dividends received by shareholders are also taxable
3) The risk of managers not doing what is best for shareholders
Double taxation
1) federal and provincial governments tax corporate income
2) Corporate dividends received by shareholders are also taxable
Income Trust facets
- Starting in 2001, the income trust, a non-corporate form of business organization, grew in importance in Canada
- provincial legislation extended limited liability protection, which was previously limited to corporate shareholders, to trust unit holders
- Along the same lines, at the end of 2005, the TSX began to include income trusts in its benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index
Income Trust definition
Income funds
hold the debt and equity of an underlying business and distribute the income generated to unit holders
THEY ARE NOT CORPORATIONS
Co-operative (Co-op)
an enterprise that is equally owned by its members, who share the benefits of co-operation based on how much they use the co-operative’s services
Four types of co-operatives
1) Consumer Co-op
2) Producer Co-op
3) Worker Co-op
4) Multi-Stakeholder Co-op
1) Consumer Co-op
This provides products or services to its members (such as a retail co-op, housing, health-care or child-care co-op).