financial performance definitions Flashcards
adverse variance
actual profit turns out to be lower than the budgeted profit (due to costs higher than target or revenue lower than target)
assets
items of value eg. land machinery, cash
balance sheet
statement of an organisations assets and liabilities at one point in time, shows the value of the company.
- net assets must balance with total equity
break-even output
the quantity of output at which total revenue just equals total costs
budget
financial plan which states future expected costs and revenue.
budgets = targets rather than forecasts
budgeting
try to keep within or below a certain level of spending
capital expenditure
spending on new non-current assets typically machinery
capital structure
the way in which a business raises finance to purchase assets, how much from shares an how much from loans
(gearing show proportion)
contribution definition
how much money is left over from the sale of a product, after variable costs have been deducted, that can be used to pay off the fixed costs
contribution per unit
definition
the amount each unit sold contributes towards covering the fixed costs
contribution per unit equation
contribution per unit = price - variable cost per unit
current assets
items of value owned by a business that are likely to be turned into cash within one year. eg cash, inventories and recievables
current liability
debts scheduled for repayment within one year eg oak overdraft
current ratio definition
measurement of the level of liquidity
wether there are enough liquid assets to pay for imminent bills. should be 1.5:1
current ratio equation
current assets (cash + inventories + receivables) / current liabilities (trade payables and other current liabilities)
debt factoring
a business sells its receivables (invoices) to a third party at a discount. may solve cash flow issues
direct costs
includes raw materials direct labour and all expenses directly involved with production
external source of finance
funding that comes from outside the business eg new share issue, bank loan / overdraft and venture capital
favourable variance
when the actual profit is higher than the budgeted profit. due to lower costs than budgeted or more revenue than budget
financial decision making
strategies chosen to help improve cash flow, gearing, profitability or profits
financial efficiency ratios
way of measuring how well an organisation manages its working capital
- inventory turnover
- payables days
- receivables days
financial objectives
monetary goals that a business sets itself usually a set target in a certain time
gearing definition
measure of the extent to which a firms capital is financed using long term loans. 25% - 50% is best
gearing equation
gearing (%) = non current liabilities / total equity + non current liabilities (or capital employed)
X100
going into administration
court appoints accountants to run a business after being declared insolvent + unable to pay its liabilities
gross profit definition & equation
excess of revenue over the cost of sales, expenses have not yet been deducted
gross profit = revenue - direct costs