Futures Hedging A futures contract compels the buyer to purchase a particular quantity of assets within a certain period of time. The price of the purchase is agreed in the contract at the time of entering this contract. The asset that is to be purchased is referred to as the underlying asset and the time when this asset is purchased or sold is known as the expiry date or maturity date. While the major difference between a futures contract from an options contract is the obligation to purchase an asset, forward contracts also oblige the buyer to purchase the underlying asset. However, in contrast to forward contracts, futures contracts are drawn according to standardized forms and are more liquid since they are traded on secondary markets. Futures contracts provide more liquidity in comparison with forward contracts. A party that enters a futures agreement to purchase security may sell this right Continue reading
Business Finance Concepts
Impact of Inflation on Working Capital Requirement
The term inflation refers to rise in general (on an average basis) price level of goods and services in the economy, i.e., fall in purchasing power of money. Working Capital is the money used to make goods and attract sales. During the period of rising prices, a firm needs more funds to finance working capital. Hence, it should be planned properly. Not under-standing the impact of inflation on working capital has been the cause of many business failures. Cost of financing the working capital rises because of increase in interest rates. Cash should never be allowed to remain idle (Time eats value of money, i.e., on one hand the company suffers loss of interest and on the other purchasing power of wealth kept as cash declines). Good cash management can provide a major source of profit, while poor cash management can destroy a company in a short time. When the Continue reading
Need for Financial Restructuring
Financial restructuring is the reorganization of the financial assets and liabilities of a corporation in order to create the most beneficial financial environment for the company. The process of financial restructuring is often associated with corporate restructuring, in that restructuring the general function and composition of the company is likely to impact the financial health of the corporation. When completed, this reordering of corporate assets and liabilities can help the company to remain competitive, even in a depressed economy. Just about every business goes through a phase of financial restructuring at one time or another. In some cases, the process of restructuring takes place as a means of allocating resources for a new marketing campaign or the launch of a new product line. When this happens, the restructure is often viewed as a sign that the company is financially stable and has set goals for future growth and expansion. Need Continue reading
Interest Rate Concepts
In market economy, there are many economic-financial categories, including credit and credit interest rate which are two of the most important ones. Credit activities are borrowing and lending activities. The capital-using relationship between borrowers and lenders bases on the principles of reimbursement. Lenders who are in excess of capital have opportunities not only to preserve but also capital get profit. Borrowers who are short of capital have chances to get additional capital to meet production, business or living needs. Therefore, owing to the credit activities that a large proportion of capital in the economy are mobilized, concentrated and distributed from temporary capital surplus sections to shortage ones to meet different needs of all entities in the economy. Indispensable leverage and tool in credit activities is interest rate. Interest rate of bank credit is the ratio in percentage between income and amount of loan for a certain period. Thus, interest rate Continue reading
Project Financing – Financing Options For Projects
Project advisory services falls under one of the core branches of corporate advisory services. It deals with the decision of financing a project based on its strength of assuring the future cash inflows. In other words Project financing deals with financing a project, which can in turn generate return for its stakeholders and help in repaying the interest and loan on the proposed project. The assets used for undertaking that project are used as collateral for financing that project. The following constitute the differences between project financing and the other types. In project financing, the lenders look at the strength of the project to perform and generate sufficient returns to serve the interest and loan on that project. Even if the assets are taken as collateral, they may not be able to cover the entire loan through the sale of assets. Hence the lenders mainly look about the profitability of Continue reading
Activity-Based Costing for Small and Service Industries
Activity Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting method that assigns costs to activities according to their use of resources, rather than products or services. This enables resources and other related costs to be more accurately attributed to the products and the services which they use. It does not change or eliminate any costs, in the other way; it provides detailed information on how costs are consumed. The main benefits of Activity Based Costing are providing understanding into the fastest growing and least visible element of cost-overhead. We can also improve profitability by monitoring total life-cycle cost and performance so that we can improve the effectiveness of budgeting by identifying the cost of different service levels. In addition, ABC costing does encourage continuous improvement and total quality control because control and planning are directed at the process level and it links the corporate strategy to operational decision making. By using ABC Continue reading