Credit Management Flashcards
What are the benefits of advancing credit?
- Encourage customers to stay with your business
-Potentially make them spend more money with your business
-This will potentially generate more profit
-If a customer receives credit then the business may not have to give them discounts
What are the risks of advancing credit?
-The business will have less working capital available as it will receive money from customers later
-There may be increased costs of administration (i.e. to collect the debts)
There is an increased risk of loss:
- there will be higher amounts outstanding from each debtor
- credit could be given to poorer quality customers
-Losses due to writing off a bad debt - it takes many times its value to cover.
Why is liquidity important for a business?
Liquidity is a measure of the extent to which a person or organization has cash – or can raise cash – to meet immediate and short-term liabilities.
What sources of information are available to us to help our business decide if we want to give or increase credit to a customer?
Bank references Management accounts Sales team Credit control team Credit circles Companies House
What does ‘Undoubted’ mean on a bank reference?
A good risk for the figure quoted
What does ‘good for your figure and purpose’ mean on a bank reference?
A reasonable risk and most probably OK
What does ‘should prove good for your figures and purpose’ mean on a bank reference?
Not so sure about this one - well worth investigating further before making a decision
What does ‘Although their capital is fully employed we do not consider the directors would enter into a commitment they could not see their way to fulfil’ mean on a bank reference?
This business has cash flow problems and should not be allowed any credit
What are the three attitudes the business depends on to run their business?
- Risk
- Liquidity
- Profitability
What does profitability mean?
The ability to generate income which exceeds costs and to repay debts in the future!
What does the current ratio show?
Working capital expressed as a ratio.
- The higher the better
What does quick ratio show?
A ratio comparing liquidity with short-term debts, but excluding inventory (which takes longer to turn into cash)
- the higher the ratio, the better
What does the receivables collection period show?
The number of days on average that it takes for a receivable to pay
What does the payable period show?
The number of days on average it takes to pay a supplier
What does the inventory holding period show?
Number of days on average that inventory is held.
- ideally the figure should not increase over time
What does gross profit margin show?
profit made before deduction of expenses
What does operating profit margin show?
profit made before deduction of tax and interest
- this should remain stable
What does net profit margin show?
Profit made after deduction of all expenses
- this should ideally increase over the years and not fall
What does the interest cover show?
The ability of a business to pay interest out of its profits
- the higher the figure the better
What does return on capital employed show?
profit made related to the capital employed by the company
What does gearing show?
The extent to which the business is funded by debt
- the higher the figure, the less secure the company
What does overtrading mean?
Overtrading is where the business grows its sales then finds it has too little working capital and so not enough cash available to support that level of sales
What are some of the warning signs of overtrading?
- Rapidly increasing sales revenue, extended customer credit terms, trading with customers with a lower credit score.
- Profit margins falling
- Increased inventory and trade receivables increasing funds tied up in working capital
- Reduced margins - business tries to saturate the market
- Reduction in cash or new/ increased overdraft
- Increased level of trade payables is common but not a sign on its own.
What are the solutions to overtrading?
- Reduce sales to a manageable level
- Managing the sales ledger more effectively and renegotiating supplier terms
- Increasing resources through a new investor or extra capital