Program Objective:

Why WCM?

Where are our profits? This is a question manager in profit making companies often times ask, when confronted with liquidity crunch. This happens more frequently in organizations experiencing rapid growth in sales or when business conditions are challenging. A disproportionate focus on parameters like sales growth, profit growth and market share increase can lead to unintended consequences on the operations of the company. When increasing sales and profits lead to an increase in various assets except cash, future operating activities will get affected, with consequent impact on future sales and profits Understanding the interlinkage of sales, profits and cash and managing this link efficiently and effectively is what Working Capital Management (WCM) is about.

This 2-Dayprogram seeks to enable both finance and non-finance professionalsto gain a deeper grasp of the linkage between profit and cash flows and the different factors that influence working capital so that they manage the short term decisions pertaining to investment and financing to achieve a) adequate cash flow for operations and b) most productive use of resources the goals of WCM. The topics discussed will be backed by live illustrations and case studies from the practices of global companies.

Participants will be required to bring their laptops for the program. A significant portion of the program concepts will be demonstrated through data and illustrations using excel spreadsheets.

By the end of the program, participants will be able to:

• Deepen their knowledge of liquidity and its management.
• Gain a clear grasp of various facets of managing receivables.
• Learn the basics of and apply inventory management techniques.
• Use profitably supplier credit.
• Understand the implications of and use appropriately short term financing sources.

Who Should Attend?

• Middle level finance managers.
• Middle and senior level non-finance Managers looking after procurement, production, projects and credit functions.
• Owners and identified successors of family businesses.
• Accountants who have risen from entry level and looking for furthering their professional skills.

Program Outline

Module 1: Working Capital- Description and Management

Components of working capital and their importance.

• Metrics to evaluate working capital.
• Operating and cash conversion cycles.
• Internal and external factors that affect working capital needs.

Module 2: Liquidity Management

This module seeks to lay a strong foundation on what is liquidity and how to manage it effectively and efficiently and deals with the following topics.

• What is liquidity.
• Sources of liquidity.
• Drags on liquidity.
• Pulls on liquidity.
• Managing short-term financing and investing of cash/cash equivalent items.

Module (3, 4, & 5): Working Capital Optimization

Management of elements of balance sheet and P/L simultaneously and in an integrated manner by accelerating conversion of working capital components into cash and controlling expenses.

Module 3: Managing Accounts Receivable

This module firstly familiarizes the participants with the basics of receivables management and then builds on this platform a super structure of tools.

• Metrics for evaluating and managing Accounts Receivable. - Credit risk policies, optimizing customer terms, milestone management and timely billing.
• Credit evaluation techniques.
• Prioritized and proactive collection procedures.
• Dispute resolution and root cause identification.

Module 4:Inventory Management

Inventory is the cause and origin of impending challenges and concerns. This module delves into the basic aspects of inventory management and the importance of viewing inventory as a leading indicator.

• Necessity for Inventory management and impact of inventory mis-management on profitability and liquidity.
• Approaches to managing, forecasting levels of inventory (EOQ, JIT, MRP) and production planning.
• Differentiated inventory levels for different goods.

Module 5:Managing Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is a spontaneous source of financing working capital. Used prudently, this source will serve as an important source of managing liquidity.

• Supplier finance and optimized supplier terms.
• Early payment prevention and the economics of taking a cash discount.
• Evaluating accounts payable management.

Module 6:Cash Flow Forecasting

• Forecast cash flows after understanding the operating and working capital cycles.
• Predict cash deficit or surpluses.