Question: In finance, “Working capital” Means the same thing as
Options:
Total assets
Fixed asset
Current asset*
Current assets and minus current liabilities
Working capital refers to the short-term resources readily available to a business for its day-to-day operations. It's a measure of a company's liquidity, indicating its ability to meet its current financial obligations.
Why Current Assets?
• Working capital focuses on current assets, which are those that can be converted into cash within a year. These assets include:
-Cash and cash equivalents
-Accounts receivable (money owed by customers for credit sales)
-Inventory (raw materials, work-in-progress, finished goods)
📌 Other Options Explained:
-a) Total Assets: This includes both current assets and fixed assets (long-term assets like property, equipment). Working capital only considers current assets.
-b) Fixed Assets: Fixed assets are not part of working capital. They are not readily convertible to cash in the short term.
-d) Current assets minus current liabilities: This concept is closer to working capital, but it's more precise to define working capital as the difference itself. Current liabilities are the short-term debts a company owes (e.g., accounts payable, accrued expenses).
🛑 Related Terminology:
-Net Working Capital: This is the difference between current assets and current liabilities. It's a more precise measure of working capital as it considers both the available resources and the short-term debts that need to be settled.
-Current Ratio: A liquidity ratio calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities. It indicates a company's ability to pay its current debts with its current assets.
Important Points
-Gross working capital is the sum of a company's Current assets (assets that are convertible to cash within a year or less).
-Gross working capital includes assets such as cash, accounts receivable, inventory, short-term investments, and marketable securities.
-Gross working capital less current liabilities is equal to net working capital, or simply working capital a more useful measure for balance sheet analysis.
🔑Key Points:
-Gross working capital is the total value of a company's Current assets.
-Accounts receivable, inventory, and marketable securities are all examples of gross working capital.
-On its own, gross working capital is not useful, as it does not give a full picture of a company's liquidity.
-Including current liabilities into the equation results in calculating working capital, which is a true picture of a company's liquidity and its ability to meet its short-term obligations.
Additional Information
• Fixed Assets :
-Fixed assets are long-term assets that a company has purchased and is using for the production of its goods and services.
-Fixed assets are noncurrent assets, meaning the assets have a useful life of more than one year. Fixed assets include property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) and are recorded on the balance sheet.
• Current Assets :
-Current assets are all the assets of a company that are expected to be sold or used as a result of standard business operations over the next year.
-Current assets include cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, stock inventory, marketable securities, pre-paid liabilities, and other liquid assets.