Let us first understand what working capital is. Working capital means the funds available for the day-to-day operations of an enterprise. It is a measure of a company’s liquidity and short term financial health. They are cash or mere cash resources of a business concern. It also represents the exceRead more
Let us first understand what working capital is.
Working capital means the funds available for the day-to-day operations of an enterprise. It is a measure of a company’s liquidity and short term financial health. They are cash or mere cash resources of a business concern.
It also represents the excess of current assets, such as cash, accounts receivable and inventories, over current liabilities, such as accounts payable and bank overdraft.

Sources of Working Capital
Any transaction that increases the amount of working capital for a company is a source of working capital.
Suppose, Amazon sells its goods for $1,000 when the cost is only $700. Then, the difference of $300 is the source of working capital as the increase in cash is greater than the decrease in inventory.
Sources of working capital can be classified as follows:

Short Term Sources
- Trade credit: Credit given by one business firm to the other arising from credit sales. It is a spontaneous source of finance representing credit extended by the supplier of goods and services.
- Bills/Note payable: The purchaser gives a written promise to pay the amount of bill or invoice either on-demand or at a fixed future date to the seller or the bearer of the note.
- Accrued expenses: It refers to the services availed by the firm, but the payment for which is yet to be done. It represents an interest-free source of finance.
- Tax/Dividend provisions: It is a provision made out of current profits to meet the tax/dividend obligation. The time gap between provision made and payment of actual payment serves as a source of short-term finance during the intermediate period.
- Cash Credit/Overdraft: Under this arrangement, the bank specifies a pre-determined limit for borrowings. The borrower can withdraw as required up to the specified limits.
- Public deposit: These are unsecured deposits invited by the company from the public for a period of six months to 3 years.
- Bills discounting: It refers to an activity wherein a discounted amount is released by the bank to the seller on purchase of the bill drawn by the borrower on their customers.
- Short term loans: These loans are granted for a period of less than a year to fulfil a short term liquidity crunch.
- Inter-corporate loans/deposits: Organizations having surplus funds invest with other organizations for up to six months at rates higher than that of banks.
- Commercial paper: These are short term unsecured promissory notes sold at discount and redeemed at face value. These are issued for periods ranging from 7 to 360 days.
- Debt factoring: It is an arrangement between the firm (the client) and a financial institution (the factor) whereby the factor collects dues of his client for a certain fee. In other words, the factor purchases its client’s trade debts at a discount.
Long Term Sources
- Retained profits: These are profits earned by a business in a financial year and set aside for further usage and investments.
- Share Capital: It is the money invested by the shareholders in the company via purchase of shares floated by the company in the market.
- Long term loans: These loans are disbursed for a period greater than 1 year to the borrower in his account in cash. Interest is charged on the full amount irrespective of the amount in use. These shareholders receive annual dividends against the money invested.
- Debentures: These are issued by companies to obtain funds from the public in form of debt. They are not backed by any collateral but carry a fixed rate of interest to be paid by the company to the debenture holders.
Another point I would like to add is that, although depreciation is recorded in expense and fixed assets accounts and does not affect working capital, it still needs to be accounted for when calculating working capital.
See less









Debit Balance A debit accounting entry represents an increase in asset or expense account or a decrease in liabilities of an individual or enterprise. Debit balance is the amount in excess of debit entries over credit entries in the general ledger. The debit balance is shown as Dr. Credit Balance ARead more
Debit Balance
A debit accounting entry represents an increase in asset or expense account or a decrease in liabilities of an individual or enterprise.
Debit balance is the amount in excess of debit entries over credit entries in the general ledger. The debit balance is shown as Dr.
Credit Balance
A credit accounting entry represents a decrease in assets or an increase in liabilities or income accounts of an individual or enterprise.
Credit balance is the amount in excess of credit entries over debit entries in the general ledger. The credit balance is shown as Cr.
Debit Balance in the Passbook
A passbook is a record of a customer’s account transactions kept by the bank. The passbook is a copy of the bank account of the customer in the books of banks. Debit balance in the passbook is also called “Overdraft”.
All the transactions either debit or credit are recorded in the passbook. When the total amount of all debit entries in a passbook is more than the total of credit entries, it results in a debit balance. It means that an individual or enterprise owes to the bank.
The overdraft facility given by the bank has a limit i.e. only a certain amount can be withdrawn in excess of the amount deposited and if one avails overdraft facility, interest is also charged by the bank.
The amount withdrawn by a customer from the bank is shown as a debit entry and the amount deposited by the customer is shown as a credit entry. The passbook’s debit balance is a negative balance or unfavourable balance while the passbook’s credit balance is a positive or favourable balance.
For example: An individual deposited $50,000 in a bank account and withdrew a total sum of $60,000. So here, the passbook will show an overdraft of $10,000 i.e. the debit balance of the passbook. It signifies negative cash flow of the individual and that individual owes $10,000 to the bank.
Credit balance in Pass Book
On the other hand, when the total amount of all the debit entries in a passbook is less than the total amount of credit entries, it results in a credit balance. It means the amount deposited by a customer is more than the amount withdrawn indicating the positive cashflow in the account.
Reconciliation
It is the process of identifying and rectifying differences between the passbook and cashbook maintained by the bank and customer respectively. The aim is to ensure the accuracy of the transaction recorded in the cashbook and passbook.
Debit Balance Reconciliation
The debit balance in the cashbook and the credit balance in the passbook shows that some outstanding cheques are in the process of clearing and these cheques need to be adjusted for reconciliation of the balance of the passbook and cashbook.
Credit Balance Reconciliation
The credit balance in the cashbook and debit balance in the passbook shows that deposits already recorded in the cashbook are yet to be recorded in the passbook by the bank and these deposits need to be adjusted in the passbook for reconciliation of the balance of the passbook and cashbook.
Conclusion
The debit and credit balance of the passbook is the indicator of the financial position of an enterprise or individual. A debit balance signifies more withdrawals than receipts resulting in an overdraft.
See less