Finance Discussion Topic #4

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cash Management

Chapter 27

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Key Concepts and Skills

• Understand the importance of float and how it affects the cash balance
• Understand how to accelerate collections and manage disbursements
• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of holding cash and some of the ways to invest idle cash

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Chapter Outline

27.1 Reasons for Holding Cash

27.2 Understanding Float

27.3 Cash Collection and Concentration

27.4 Managing Cash Disbursements

27.5 Investing Idle Cash

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Reasons for Holding Cash

• Speculative motive – hold cash to take advantage of unexpected opportunities
• Precautionary motive – hold cash in case of emergencies
• Transaction motive – hold cash to pay the day-to-day bills
• Trade-off between opportunity cost of holding cash relative to the transaction cost of converting marketable securities to cash for transactions

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Understanding Float

• Float – difference between cash balance recorded in the cash account and the cash balance recorded at the bank
• Disbursement float
• Generated when a firm writes checks
• Available balance at bank – book balance > 0
• Collection float
• Checks received increase book balance before the bank credits the account
• Available balance at bank – book balance < 0
• Net float = disbursement float + collection float

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Example: Types of Float

• You have $3,000 in your checking account. You just deposited $2,000 and wrote a check for $2,500.
• What is the disbursement float?
• What is the collection float?
• What is the net float?
• What is your book balance?
• What is your available balance?

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Example: Measuring Float

• Size of float depends on the dollar amount and the time delay
• Delay = mailing time + processing delay + availability delay
• Suppose you mail a check each month for $1,000 and it takes 3 days to reach its destination, 1 day to process, and 1 day before the bank makes the cash available
• What is the average daily float (assuming 30-day months)?
• Method 1: (3+1+1)(1,000)/30 = 166.67
• Method 2: (5/30)(1,000) + (25/30)(0) = 166.67

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Example: Cost of Float

• Cost of float – opportunity cost of not being able to use the money
• Suppose the average daily float is $3 million with a weighted average delay of 5 days.
• What is the total amount unavailable to earn interest?
• 5*3 million = 15 million
• What is the NPV of a project that could reduce the delay by 3 days if the cost is $8 million?
• Immediate cash inflow = 3*3 million = 9 million
• NPV = 9 – 8 = $1 million

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Cash Collection

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One of the goals of float management is to try to reduce the collection delay. There are several techniques that can reduce various parts of the delay.

Payment Payment Payment Cash

Mailed Received Deposited Available

Mailing Time

Processing Delay

Availability Delay

Collection Delay

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Example: Accelerating Collections – Part I

• Your company does business nationally, and currently, all checks are sent to the headquarters in Tampa, FL. You are considering a lock-box system that will have checks processed in Phoenix, St. Louis and Philadelphia. The Tampa office will continue to process the checks it receives in house.
• Collection time will be reduced by 2 days on average
• Daily interest rate on T-bills = .01%
• Average number of daily payments to each lockbox is 5,000
• Average size of payment is $500
• The processing fee is $.10 per check plus $10 to wire funds to a centralized bank at the end of each day.

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Example: Accelerating Collections – Part II

• Benefits
• Average daily collections = 3(5,000)(500) = 7,500,000
• Increased bank balance = 2(7,500,000) = 15,000,000
• Costs
• Daily cost = .1(15,000) + 3*10 = 1,530
• Present value of daily cost = 1,530/.0001 = 15,300,000
• NPV = 15,000,000 – 15,300,000 = -300,000
• The company should not accept this lock-box proposal

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Cash Disbursements

• Slowing down payments can increase disbursement float – but it may not be ethical or optimal to do this
• Controlling disbursements
• Zero-balance account
• Controlled disbursement account

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Investing Cash

• Money market – financial instruments with an original maturity of one year or less
• Temporary Cash Surpluses
• Seasonal or cyclical activities – buy marketable securities with seasonal surpluses, convert securities back to cash when deficits occur
• Planned or possible expenditures – accumulate marketable securities in anticipation of upcoming expenses

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Figure 27.6