Why Healthy Corporate-Regulator Tussle is Good for Free Market Capitalist Economies
What the Resignation of Urjit Patel Means for the Corporate Regulator Tussle in India Recently, in India, the RBI or the Reserve Bank of India and its former governor, Urjit Patel, were in the news for their resistance to encroachment on their powers by the Government of India. Separately, the RBI and Patel were also […]
The War on Cash
Governments all over the world are fighting a war on cash. It is a known fact that the governments do not like cash. However, what is not clearly known is the reason behind it. What is it that makes governments all over the world unanimously abhor cash and pass legislation to control or even curb […]
Disadvantages of Strategic Financial Management
There is no philosophy in the management domain which has not been criticized. The strategic financial management philosophy is no exception. Although it has been proven that there are numerous benefits to implementing this framework of decision making, there are some associated costs as well. This is because of the various disadvantages that accompany the […]
Parties Involved in Infrastructure Debt Issuance
Bonds are commonly issued during infrastructure projects. The company holding the equity stake is generally the one issuing the bonds. This means that the company owning equity is the one actually borrowing money from the bondholders and, therefore, the one owing the money back. Even though the responsibility of repaying the loan lies with the […]
Role of Social Media In Start-Up Funding
In the past couple of decades, social media has literally dominated the world of business. It has touched almost every single aspect of business. The funding of start-up companies by venture capitalists as well as angel investors is no exception. Several studies have been conducted to ascertain the impact of social media presence on the […]
Liquidity can be defined as the ability of a firm to make good its short term obligations. Most businesses function on credit. Hence to run a business firms have to both extend credit as well as ensure that they receive credit as well.
Liquidity ratios measure the relationship between the amounts of short term capital that the firm has locked in its receivables versus the short term interest free debt it has acquired in the form of accounts payables.
Liquidity ratios can be defined as the ratios which help analysts predict the short term solvency of the firm. Short term here is meant to be considered the period until the next business cycle which is usually 12 months.
A firm seldom has all the resources it needs to run the business. It gets credit from its employees, suppliers, customers, the government and such other entities. Each of these entities extends credit to the firm on the assumption that it will make good its obligations when they are due. Such obligations are usually due in the short term.
Investors are therefore very cautious about ascertaining whether the firm does in fact have the capability to meet these obligations. Liquidity ratios help in ascertaining this. With secondary data that is available in the annual reports of the company, analysts often make projections about whether the company has enough resources to survive the short run without hampering its reputation or operations.
Amateur investors think liquidity is primarily short term. It does not matter whether or not the company can pay its immediate bills, if the long term prospects of the company look good, it is a good investment. This is the farthest from the truth as history has shown liquidity issues can have far reaching effects on the health of a firm sometimes even endangering the very survival of the firm. Here is how it happens:
As a result of all these, present profitability is compromised and so are the future growth plans of the company which now has to seek funds at extremely high costs.
The best example of how liquidity problems can wreak havoc and threaten the very survival of a firm is the recent Kingfisher Airlines fiasco where the firm had to shut down operations because it could not meet its short term obligations.
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