preview

Superior Living: Finance and Working Capital Report

Decent Essays

Working capital is defined as the current assets minus the current liabilities (Investopedia, 2012). As of the end of the 2003 fiscal year, Superior Living had $41,950 in working capital. This is a decrease of $150 from last year's working capital of $42,100. The working capital in FY 2001 was $39,500. The primary reason for the decline in the total amount of working capital appears to be that on the liabilities side, accounts payable increased 11.8%, and "other current liabilities" increased 19%. The increase in the current liabilities was greater than the increase in the current assets. Most current asset line items increased between 5-7% for the year.

The impact of the short-term notes that the company needs to pay off this year is actually not significant. The current portion of long-term debt sits at $1450, which is an increase of 11.5% over last year. But this increase is just over 3% of the increase in our current liabilities in total. If we are looking for a drag on our working capital, it is more likely to be found in the significant increases in the other two line items under current liabilities, the accounts payable and the "other". In order to assess our ability to pay these debts, we need to look at the company's current ratio, which is a measure of liquidity.

The current ratio is simply the current assets divided by the current liabilities, so is a different way of expressing the working capital. The current ratio today is 2.0, which is a comfortable

Get Access