Once a firm’s general goals for the planning period have been established, the next step is to set up a detailed plan of operation—the budget. A complete budget system encompasses all aspects of the firm’s operations over the planning period. It may even allow for changes in plans as required by factors outside the firm’s control.
Budgeting is a part of the total planning activity of the firm, so it must begin with a statement of the firm’s long-range plan. This plan includes a long-range sales forecast, which requires a determination of the number and types of products to be manufactured in the years encompassed by the long-range plan. Short-term budgets are formulated within the framework of the long-range plan. Normally, there is a budget for every individual product and for every significant activity of the firm.
Establishing budgetary controls requires a realistic understanding of the firm’s activities. For example, a small firm purchases more parts and uses more labour and less machinery; a larger firm will buy raw materials and use machinery to manufacture end items. In consequence, the smaller firm should budget higher parts and labour cost ratios, while the larger firm should budget higher overhead cost ratios and larger investments in fixed assets. If standards are unrealistically high, frustrations and resentment will develop. If standards are unduly lax, costs will be out of control, profits will suffer, and employee morale will drop.
One of the principal methods of forecasting the financial needs of a business is the cash budget, which predicts the combined effects of planned operations on the firm’s cash flow. A positive net cash flow means that the firm will have surplus funds to invest. But if the cash budget indicates that an increase in the volume of operations will lead to a negative cash flow, additional financing will be required. The cash budget thus indicates the amount of funds that will be needed or available month by month or even week by week.
A firm may have excess cash for a number of reasons. There are likely to be seasonal or cyclic fluctuations in business. Resources may be deliberately accumulated as a protection against a number of contingencies. Since it is wasteful to allow large amounts of cash to remain idle, the financial manager will try to find short-term investments for sums that will be needed later. Short-term government or business securities can be selected and balanced in such a way that the financial manager obtains the maturities and risks appropriate to a firm’s financial situation.
Accounts receivable are the credit a firm gives its customers. The volume and terms of such credit vary among businesses and among nations; for manufacturing firms in the United States, for example, the ratio of receivables to sales ranges between 8 and 12 percent, representing an average collection period of approximately one month. The basis of a firm’s credit policy is the practice in its industry; generally, a firm must meet the terms offered by competitors. Much depends, of course, on the individual customer’s credit standing.
To evaluate a customer as a credit risk, the credit manager considers what may be called the five Cs of credit: character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions. Information on these items is obtained from the firm’s previous experience with the customer, supplemented by information from various credit associations and credit-reporting agencies. (See credit bureau.) In reviewing a credit program, the financial manager should regard losses from bad debts as part of the cost of doing business. Accounts receivable represent an investment in the expansion of sales. The return on this investment can be calculated as in any capital budgeting problem.
Checking inventory of wine casks in the cellars of a northern California winery.
Comstock
Every company must carry stocks of goods and materials in inventory. The size of the investment in inventory depends on various factors, including the level of sales, the nature of the production processes, and the speed with which goods perish or become obsolete.
The problems involved in managing inventories are basically the same as those in managing other assets, including cash. A basic stock must be on hand at all times. Because the unexpected may occur, it is also wise to have safety stocks; these represent the little extra needed to avoid the costs of not having enough. Additional amounts—anticipation stocks—may be required for meeting future growth needs. Finally, some inventory accumulation results from the economies of purchasing in large quantities; it is always cheaper to buy more than is immediately needed, whether of raw materials, money, or plant and equipment.
There is a standard procedure for determining the most economical amounts to order, one that relates purchasing requirements to costs and carrying charges (i.e., the cost of maintaining an inventory). While carrying charges rise as average inventory holdings increase, certain other costs (ordering costs and stock-out costs) fall as average inventory holdings rise. These two sets of costs constitute the total cost of ordering and carrying inventories, and it is fairly easy to calculate an optimal order size that will minimize total inventory costs. The advent of computerized inventory tracking fostered a practice known as just-in-time inventory management and thereby reduced the likelihood of excess or inadequate inventory stocks.
