Negative working capital means the excess of current liabilities over current assets in an enterprise. Let’s understand what working capital is to get more clarity about negative working capital. Meaning of Working Capital Working Capital refers to the difference between current assets and current lRead more
Negative working capital means the excess of current liabilities over current assets in an enterprise.
Let’s understand what working capital is to get more clarity about negative working capital.
Meaning of Working Capital
Working Capital refers to the difference between current assets and current liabilities of a business.
Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities
It is the capital that an enterprise employs to run its daily operations. It indicates the short term liquidity or the capacity to pay off the current liabilities and pay for the daily operations.
Items under Current Assets and Current Liabilities
It is important to know about the items under current assets and current liabilities to understand the significance of working capital.
Current assets include cash and bank balance, accounts receivables, inventories, short term investments, prepaid expenses etc.
Current liabilities include accounts payable, short term loans, bank overdraft, interest on short term investment, outstanding salaries and wages etc.
Types of working capital
Since the working capital is just the difference between current assets and liabilities, the working capital can be one of the following:
- Positive (Current assets > Current liabilities)
- Zero (Current assets = Current liabilities)
- Negative (Current assets < Current liabilities)
Hence, negative working capital exists when current liabilities are more than current assets.
Implications of having negative working capital
Having negative working capital is not an ideal situation for an enterprise. Having negative working capital indicates that the enterprise is not in a position to pay off its current liabilities and there may be a cash crunch in the business.
An enterprise may have to finance its working capital requirements through long term finance sources if its working capital remains negative for quite a long time.
The ideal situation is to have current assets two times the current liabilities to maintain a good short term liquidity of the business i.e.
Current Assets = 2(Current Liabilities)
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A statutory reserve is any reserve that has to be maintained by an Act or law. When it comes to insurance, a statutory reserve is a reserve that an insurance company is legally bound to maintain to ensure that the company is able to meet its policy obligations. In India, as per the Banking RegulatioRead more
A statutory reserve is any reserve that has to be maintained by an Act or law. When it comes to insurance, a statutory reserve is a reserve that an insurance company is legally bound to maintain to ensure that the company is able to meet its policy obligations. In India, as per the Banking Regulations Act, every banking company has to maintain at least 25% of its net profits as statutory reserves.
The companies are required to maintain such reserves to guarantee the availability of cash when it is required by the customer. Common examples of statutory reserves are Cash reserve ratio (CSR), Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR).
Treatment
Method
Rule-Based Approach – The company calculates the amount required by using standard formulas. However, since they are pre-determined formulas, it does not cover all risk determining factors.
Principle-based approach – This method is used to protect customers and ensure that the company stays solvent. They hold a higher amount of reserves than required after predicting all possible risks.
Statutory reserves are different from general reserves as general reserves are maintained voluntarily by the company. A company that does not follow statutory requirements will face financial penalties. These reserves are mostly maintained in the form of cash.
Maintenance of reserves gives confidence to investors that their money is secure. However, funds from these reserves can be used only for specific purposes. They should also maintain such reserves whether or not they earn profits.
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