How to Improve Liquidity by Effective Cash Management?

Liquidity, in business, means the ability to pay when due. Liquidity and bankruptcy are on the same number line but on two opposite ends. Therefore, it is in the business’s best interest to keep the Liquidity-Bankruptcy indicator on the side of liquidity. We should strike a balance because low liquidity poses the risk of bankruptcy, and on the other hand, too high liquidity indicates inefficient cash management.

Liquidity is best measured by liquidity ratios such as current ratio, acid-test ratio, or quick ratio. Keeping these ratios optimized will automatically improve the company’s liquidity position. An appropriate liquidity ratio is one of the eligibility requirements for short-term loans etc. For more insight, please refer following Articles:

1.    Current Ratio

2.    Quick or Acid-Test Ratio

3.    How to analyze and improve the Current Ratio?

How to Improve Liquidity by Effective Cash Management?

There are various ways and means of improving liquidity. Some common ways and other innovative ways are as follows. All Finance Professional or Entrepreneur knows the common ways, but some creative ways may skip from their mind.

Common Ways of improving liquidity are as follows.

• Speed Up the conversion cycle of Debtors or Account Receivables.
• Delay in Purchases.
• Sell-off unproductive assets.
• Sweeping Bank Account.

Improve Sales of High Margin Products / Reduce or Eliminate Loss Making Products

For implementing this measure, one must analyze each of their products in terms of its margins and volumes. The loss-making or very low-margin products, we may either eliminate completely or hike their prices if the market permits. An appropriate and efficient product sales mix can generate higher margins and, therefore, a higher amount of cash is available for disposal.

Invoicing Discipline

Everybody knows that the sooner you raise the invoice, the sooner will be the realization. But still, most businesses are not disciplined in this respect. It is very important to raise invoices on time and with 100% accuracy to save the time and energy wasted in creating credit notes, resolving billing issues, etc.

Crystal Clear Terms of Credit

The credit terms should be crystal clear and should be documented, agreed and duly signed by the parties. It applies to both creditors (liquidity providers) and debtors (liquidity users) simply because both are relevant for liquidity considerations. This avoids a lot of nuisance related to legal suits, post-supply negotiations, rebates, discounts, time of payment, collecting interest on the delayed payments, etc.

Cash Flow Forecasting

Detailed cash inflow and outflow forecasting can work as a management information report. It can give appropriate time for managing the cash in the coming future and help decide levels of cash. This is an effective cash flow management tool and is practiced at big corporate houses.

Some things that may be missed and should be given special attention are sensitivity analysis of debtors obligations, consideration of rebates, discounts, etc. Keeping a regular check on the availability of funds from external sources is necessary because such funds available today may not be available in the future. Bad debts are normally provisioned at the end of the year, but forecasting is done weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. This should also be considered at the time of forecasting.

Minimize Cash Flow Risk by Availing Insurance or Protection

Payment obligations towards creditors are met out of the obligation of accounts receivable. In case a big customer becomes insolvent. Consequently, we come in a position to dishonor our payment obligations. This is a credit risk, and we should take insurance for Credit Insurance / Debt Protection. Since it also involves premium cost. The finance controller needs to analyze the debtors and may only avail such insurance for the high-risk debtors. This technique does not generate cash but puts more assurance on future cash inflows. It helps in making cash flow forecasting more reliable.

Current Assets Financed through Long Term Sources

When the current assets are financed by long-term sources of financing, the cost of financing is low, thereby saving the business’s interest costs. Cash required in paying the interest on short-term borrowing will be reduced, improving the short-term availability of cash for the business.

External Services for Improving Liquidity and its Management

All the above-discussed points can be exercised by the management internally, whereas some good external services are helping to improve the liquidity. Factoring is one such service whereby the debt of a business is collected by a bank or any other financial institution for a fee. Invoice Financing is a short-term loan available for urgent cash requirements.