By: Beroe Inc. --
30 May, 2018
Saranya Sundararajan -- Team Lead and Sujeet Pandey -- Senior Research Analyst; additional inputs by Sakthi Prasad
Working Capital Management has been considered as one of the top 5 priorities for CFOs every year. It plays a key role in determining the solvency of a firm, maintaining goodwill, and for smooth business operations.
Working capital management system ensures the right balance of inventories and cash in the business. Optimizing working capital helps companies by improving their cash flow and reducing their inventory and capital costs.
While there has been no significant change in the working capital days in the last five years -- having deteriorated by 0.8 days -- it appears this may have been achieved in a manner which is placing increased pressure on the supply chain, PWC said in a recent report. The firm added that higher Days Payables Outstanding (DPO) “may be indicative of increased creditor stretching activity, which might not be sustainable in the long term.”
In an ideal scenario, a supplier gets paid on invoices almost immediately -- but that almost never happens. A delay in customer payments or ad hoc extension of payment terms can be a frustrating experience for any supplier.
Efficient working capital management, hence, becomes crucial and it needs to be done in a manner without stressing out the supply chain.
Objective: The aim of an effective working capital management system is to increase the accounts payable period, while reducing the accounts receivable period and inventory.
Components |
Objective |
Ease of Impact |
Accounts Payable |
|
High |
Accounts Receivable |
|
Medium |
Inventory Management |
|
Low |
Driven by the targets to increase cash flow and increasing pressure from stakeholders, companies undertake various actions as follows:
Key Actions |
Working Capital Component |
Procurement Involvement |
Savings |
Extending Payment Terms |
AP |
High |
High |
Flexibility in Calculating Payment Due Dates |
AP |
High |
Medium |
Setting a Beneficial Payment Cycle |
AP |
Medium |
Medium |
Enabling Implementation of Supply Chain Finance |
AP |
Medium |
High |
Swift Billing |
AR |
Low |
Medium |
Collection Calling and Dunning |
AR |
Low |
Medium |
Reducing Credit Term |
AR |
High |
High |
Factoring |
AR |
Low |
Medium |
Inventory Optimisation |
Inventory |
Low |
High |
Of all the options listed above, let us examine how best to extend the payment terms without stressing the supply chain.
Large organizations usually have a standardized payment term, which is favorable for their cash flow position, and all deviations would require high level authorization.
Segmenting Vendor Groups: Companies should segregate group vendors and then choose those groups, who provide the best opportunities for altering the payment terms.
Setting up a Help Desk: Secondly, a help desk should be set for better handling of supplier queries.
Optimize Discounts for Early Payments: Where buyers are willing to pay early, companies should optimize the dynamic discounts with the suppliers.
Benefits: This will lengthen the DPO profile, helping release large amounts of cash. Extension of payment terms can account for 5-20 percent uplift in the value of accounts payable balance.
Risks: Any short term progress will be eroded over time without the right organisation and tracking mechanisms. Visibility of performance will prevent this occurrence.
Develop a possible Reverse factoring program with local Banks/Fintech service providers who can provide attractive discount rates.
With the advent of Reverse Factoring programs, Best-in-Class organizations started partnering with a single bank. However, they later moved on to a multi-bank approach while deploying the program in more regions, or expanding the program to smaller suppliers, owing to the fact that different banks are leaders in different regions.
Currently, organizations are moving towards Fintech companies as Reverse factoring partners. Fintech companies have simpler onboarding process, hence easier to on-board smaller suppliers. Moreover, Fintech companies help in on-boarding more suppliers on the platform who do not have a system such as e-invoicing functionality.
Even though traditional banks are tied down by various regulations, they still offer a secure and risk free option when it comes to cash availability.
With time and expanding supplier base in different regions, best-in-class organizations have moved to a multi-bank approach. Instances have also been seen where a bank partners with multiple banks in order to expand its scale of operations.
Single Bank | Multi-Bank | |
Software/Platform | Properietary platform develop by the bank is used to deploy SCF programs. | Supply Chain Finance (SCF) platform developed by SCF platform providers is used by multiple banks to offer SCF program on a single platform. |
Scope | Limited Scope as the funding bank can fund only some countires/region. | Participation of multiple banks enables buyer organizations to increase the scope. |
Price | The participating bank syndicate the pricing. Suppliers/Buyer have less options to negotiate on pricing. | The lead platform bank manages the pricing band of the buyer. |
Control | Buyer organization has more control over the SCF program. | Buyer organizations tends to loose control on the SCF program. An effective SCF program provider or Lead platform bank (depending on the engagement) ensures more control over the programs. |
Intensifying competition in the field of Supply Chain Finance (SCF) has created many options to optimize payment terms. If planned well, a firm’s supply chain can act as a source of inexpensive capital without having to ruffle the buyer-supplier relationship.
E
Ella Svetlov
Great information
reply
COVID-19: Assess impact on your suppliers and ensure business continuity with Beroe’s WIRE
(World Instant Risk Exposure)