Working Capital Essay

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Working capital provides an important indication of a firm's short-term financial health. Calculated as the difference between current assets and current liabilities, working capital tells whether an organization is able to cover its short-term liabilities (Sagner, 2010). If current liabilities exceed current assets, then it means a firm may have difficulty meeting its financial obligations in the next 12 months. Firms avoid such a scenario by effectively managing cash flow, cash balances, inventory, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. In this paper, the working capital structures of two companies are compared: Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco) and Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft). The former is a retailer while the latter is a technology firm.



Working capital has three major components: accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable (Sagner, 2010). Accounts receivable are part of the company's current assets. They basically denote cash the company expects to receive in the short-term as a result of products or services delivered to a customer. Accounts payable on the other hand are part of the company's current liabilities. They refer to the money the company owes its suppliers. Accounts payable may also include money owed to lenders. Inventory denotes the goods a company holds at a given point in time.



For the two selected companies, this analysis focuses on the companies' latest annual reports (2016).
In the period in question, the two companies recorded the following figures as far as working capital is concerned.



Item



Costco



Microsoft



Accounts receivable ($ millions)



1,252



18,277



Inventory ($ millions)



8,969



2,251



Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments



4,729



113,240



Total current assets ($ millions)



15,218



139,660



Accounts payable ($ millions)



7,612



6,898



Short-term debt



1,100



12,904



Total current liabilities ($ millions)



15,575



59,357



Working capital (Total current assets -- Total current liabilities) ($ millions)



-357



80,303



Working capital ratio (Total current assets / Total current liabilities)



0.98



2.35



Sources: Costco (2016), Microsoft (2016)



The above table reveals significant differences between the.....

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References


Costco Wholesale Corporation. (2016). Annual Report 2016. Retrieved from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&p=irol-reportsannual

Microsoft Corporation. (2016). Annual Report 2016. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar16/index.html

Sagner, J. (2010). Essentials of working capital management. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
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