应收账款管理外文文献翻译.docx

应收账款管理外文文献翻译.docx

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应收账款管理外文文献翻译

文献出处：

KontušE.MANAGEMENTOFACCOUNTSRECEIVABLEINACOMPANY[J].Ekonomskamisaoipraksa,2013

（1）:

21-38.

原文

MANAGEMENTOFACCOUNTSRECEIVABLE

INACOMPANY

UDK/UDC:

657.422:

658.155

JELklasifikacija/JELclassification:

G32,D29,M41

Prethodnopriopćenje/Preliminarycommunication

Primljeno/Received:

8.listopada2012./October8,2012

Prihvaćenozatisak/Acceptedforpublishing:

10.lipnja2013./June10,2013

1.INTRODUCTION

Accountsreceivableisthemoneyowedtoacompanyasaresultofhavingsolditsproductstocustomersoncredit.Theprimarydeterminantsofthecompany'sinvestmentinaccountsreceivablearetheindustry,theleveloftotalsalesalongwiththecompany'screditandthecollectionpolicies.

Accountsreceivablemanagementincludesestablishingacreditandcollectionspolicy.

Creditpolicyconsistsoffourvariables:

creditperiod,discountsgivenforearlypayment,creditstandardsandcollectionpolicy.Thethreeprimaryissuesinaccountsreceivablemanagementaretowhomcreditshouldbeextended,thetermsofthecreditandtheprocedurethatshouldbeusedtocollectthemoney.

Themajordecisionregardingaccountsreceivableisthedeterminationoftheamountandtermsofcredittoextendtocustomers.Thetotalamountofaccountsreceivableoutstandingatanygiventimeisdeterminedbytwofactors:

thevolumeofcreditsalesandtheaveragelengthoftimebetweensalesandcollections.Thecredittermsofferedhaveadirectbearingontheassociatedcostsandrevenuetobegeneratedfromreceivables.Ifcredittermsaretight,therewillbelessofaninvestmentinaccountsreceivableandfewerbaddebtlosses,buttherewillalsobelowersalesandreducedprofits.

Wehypothesizethatbyapplyingscientifically-basedaccountsreceivablemanagementandbyestablishingacreditpolicythatresultsinthehighestnetearnings,companiescanearnasatisfactoryprofitaswellasareturnoninvestment.

Thepurposeofthisstudyistodeterminewaysoffindinganoptimalaccountsreceivablelevelalongwithmakingoptimumuseofdifferentcreditpoliciesinordertoachieveamaximumreturnatanacceptablelevelofrisk.Instrivingtofillinthegapsrelatingtonetsavingsfromchangesincreditpolicy,thestudymakesitsowncontributiontoresearchandtherebytomanagersbygivingthemgeneralrecommendation.Withtheaimofcompletingthesegaps,thestudywillinvestigateaccountsreceivables,theirmanagementandexplorecostsandbenefitsfromchangesincreditpolicyaswellasnetprofitability.

Whenacompanyisconsideringchangesinitscreditpolicyinordertoimproveitsincome,incrementalprofitabilitymustbecomparedwiththecostofdiscountandtheopportunitycostassociatedwithhigherinvestmentinaccountsreceivable.

Theoutcomerepresentsanewmathematicalmodelforcalculatingnetsavingsfromchangesincreditpolicyandwiththismodelacompanycanconsiderdifferentcreditpoliciesaswellaschangesincreditpolicyinordertoimproveitsincomeandprofitability.

2.LITERATUREREVIEW

2.1.Accountsreceivablemanagement

Accountsreceivablerepresentsasizablepercentageofmostfirms'assets.Investmentsinaccountsreceivable,particularlyformanufacturingcompanies,representasignificantpartofshort-termfinancialmanagement.Firmstypicallysellgoodsandservicesonbothcashandacreditbasis.Firmswouldrathersellforcashthanoncredit,butcompetitivepressuresforcemostfirmstooffercredit.Theextensionoftradecreditleadstotheestablishmentofaccountsreceivable.Receivablesrepresentcreditsalesthathavenotbeencollected.Asthecustomerspaytheseaccounts,thefirmreceivesthecashassociatedwiththeoriginalsale.Ifthecustomerdoesnotpayanaccount,abaddebtlossisincurred1.

Whenacreditsaleismade,thefollowingeventsoccur:

inventoriesarereducedbythecostofgoodssold,accountsreceivableareincreasedbythesalesprice,andthedifferenceisprofit,whichisaddedtoretainedearnings.Ifthesaleisforcash,thenthecashfromthesalehasactuallybeenreceivedbythefirm,butifthesaleisoncredit,thefirmwillnotreceivethecashfromthesaleunlessanduntiltheaccountiscollected.Carryingreceivablehasbothdirectandindirectcosts,butitalsohasanimportantbenefit-increasedsales.

AccordingtoChambersandLaceytherearethreeprimaryissuesinthemanagementofaccountsreceivable:

towhomtoextendcredit,whatthetermsofthecreditshouldbe,andwhatprocedureshouldbeusedtocollectthemoney.Extendingcreditshouldbebaseduponacomparisonofcostsandbenefits.Theanalysismustbuildinuncertaintybecauseweareuncertainoffuturepayment,andwewillhandlethisbycomputingtheexpectedcostsandexpectedbenefitsthroughpaymentprobabilities.Thepotentialcostofextendingcreditisthatthecustomerwillnotpay.Althoughthereisatemptationtocomputethiscostasthefullpriceoftheproduct,itisalmostalwaysmoreappropriatetousetheactualcostoftheproduct.Thepotentialbenefitofextendingcreditisnotjustthehopeforprofitontheonetransaction;rather,itisthepotentialvalueofthecustomerforalong-termrelationship.

Thedecisionofhowmuchcredittooffermustbemadewhenthecustomerinitiallyrequestscreditandwhenthecustomerrequestsadditionalcredit.Thefundamentalprinciplethatguidesfinancialdecisionscanbeused:

marginalbenefitversusmarginalcost.Themarginalcostistheadditionalpotentiallostcostsoftheproduct.Thecostsofpastuncollectedsalesaresunkcostsandshouldnotbeincludedasamarginalcosts.Themarginalbenefitsarethepotentialsalesandinterestrevenues–includingthepotentialtorecoverpastsalesthatremainuncollected.

Oncethedecisiontograntcredithasbeenmade,thefirmmustestablishthetermsofthecredit.Credittermsareoftenseparatedintotwoparts:

thecreditperiodandthecreditdiscount.

Collectionofaccountsreceivableisanimportantprocessforacorporationandrequiresawell-designedandwell-implementedpolicy.Onetechniqueisthefactoringofaccountsreceivables.Inatypicalfactoringarrangement,onefirmwillselltheiraccountsreceivableoutrighttoanotherfirmforanagreed-uponprice.Thereiausuallynorecourseinsuchtransactions,suchthatthebuyer（alsoknownasthefactor）takesthelossifthepurchaserofthegoodsdoesnotultimatelypayforthem.

Anothertechniquetoexpeditethereceiptofaccountsreceivableistoutilizelockboxes.Lockboxesarepaymentcollectionlocationsspreadgeographicallysoastoreducetheamountoftimerequiredforchecksmailedtothefirmtobedepositedandcleared.Thelockboxesaretypicallypostofficeboxaddressesfromwhichdepositsgodirectlytoabankonthedayofreceipt.Thereductionofmailingtimeandcheckclearingtimeforthebankscanproducesignificantsavingswhenlargesumsofmoneyareinvolved.

Paymentsofaccountsreceivableshouldbecloselymonitoredtodetectpotentialproblemssuchaswouldbeindicatedbyslowpayments.Followinguponslow-payingcustomersisanimportantfunctionofthecreditdepartment.Proceduresshouldbecarefullydevelopedandconsistentlyimplemented.

Themajordecisionregardingaccountsreceivableisthedeterminationoftheamountandtermsofcredittoextendtocustomers.Thetotalamountofaccountsreceivableisdeterminedbytwofactors:

thevolumeofcreditsalesandtheaveragelengthoftimebetweensalesandcollections.Thecredittermsofferedhaveadirectbearingontheassociatedcostsandrevenuetobegeneratedfromreceivables.

Inevaluatingapotentialcustomer’sabilitytopay,considerationshouldbegiventothefirm’sintegrity,financialsoundness,collateraltobepledged,andcurrenteconomicconditions.Acustomer’screditsoundnessmaybeevaluatedthroughquantitativetechniquessuchasregressionanalysis.Baddebtlossescanbeestimatedreliablywhenacompanysellstomanycustomersandwhenitscreditpolicieshavenotchangedforalongperiodoftime.Inmanagingaccountsreceivable,thefollowingproceduresarerecommended:

•establishacreditpolicy

•establishapolicyconcerningbilling

•establishapolicyconcerningcollection.

Theestablishmentofacreditpolicycanincludethefollowingactivities:

•Adetailedreviewofapotentialcustomer’ssoundnessshouldbemadepriortoextendingcredit.Proceduressuchasacarefulreviewofthecustomer’sfinancialstatementsandcreditrating,aswellasareviewoffinancialservicereportsarecommon.

•Ascustomerfinancialhealthchanges,creditlimitshouldberevised.

•Marketingfactorsmustbenotedsinceanexcessivelyrestrictedcreditpolicywillleadtolostsales.

•Thepolicyisfinanciallyappropriatewhenthereturnontheadditionalsalesplustheloweringininventorycostsisgreaterthantheincrementalcostassociatedwiththeadditionalinvestmentinaccountsreceivable.

Thefollowingproceduresarerecommendedinestablishingapolicyconcerningbilling:

•Customerstatementsshouldbesentwithin1daysubsequenttothecloseoftheperiod.

•Largesalesshouldbebilledimmediately.

•Customersshouldbeinvoicedforgoodswhentheorderisprocessedratherthanwhenitisshipped.

•Billingforservicesshouldbedoneonaninterimbasisorimmediatelypriortotheactualservices.Thebillingprocesswillbemoreuniformifcyclebillingisemployed.

•Theuseofseasonaldating’sshouldbeconsidered.

Inestablishingapolicyconcerningcollectionthefollowingproceduresshouldbeused:

•Accountsreceivableshouldbeagedinordertoidentifydelinquentandhigh-riskcustomers.Thea