Working Capital Management 营运资本管理
What Is Working Capital Management? 什么是营运资本管理?
Working capital management is a business strategy designed to ensure that a company operates efficiently by monitoring and using its current assets and liabilities to the best effect. The primary purpose of working capital management is to enable the company to maintain sufficient cash flow to meet its short-term operating costs and short-term debt obligations. 营运资本管理是一种商业策略，旨在确保公司通过监控和使用其流动资产和负债的最佳效果，有效地运作。营运资本管理的主要目的是使公司保持足够的现金流，以满足其短期经营成本和短期债务。
A company’s working capital is made up of its current assets minus its current liabilities. 公司的营运资本是由流动资产减去流动负债构成的。
Understanding Working Capital Management 了解营运资本管理
Current assets include anything that can be easily converted into cash within 12 months. These are the company’s highly liquid assets. Some current assets include cash, accounts receivable, inventory, and short-term investments. 流动资产包括任何可以在12个月内轻松转换成现金的资产。这些是公司的高流动性资产。一些流动资产包括现金、应收账款、存货和短期投资。
Current liabilities are any obligations due within the following 12 months. These include operating expenses and long-term debt payments. 流动负债是指在未来12个月内到期的任何债务。这些包括运营费用和长期债务支付。
Ratio Analysis 比率分析
Working capital management commonly involves monitoring cash flow, current assets, and current liabilities through ratio analysis of the key elements of operating expenses, including the working capital ratio, collection ratio, and inventory turnover ratio. 营运资本管理通常包括现金流量、流动资产和流动负债的监控，通过对营运费用的关键要素进行比率分析，包括营运资本比率、收款比率和存货周转率。
Working capital management helps maintain the smooth operation of the net operating cycle, also known as the cash conversion cycle (CCC)—the minimum amount of time required to convert net current assets and liabilities into cash. 营运资本管理有助于维持净经营周期的平稳运行，也被称为现金转换周期(CCC)——将净流动资产和负债转换为现金所需的最低时间。
Benefits of Working Capital Management 营运资本管理的好处
Working capital management can improve a company’s earnings and profitability through efficient use of its resources. Management of working capital includes inventory management as well as management of accounts receivables and accounts payables. 营运资本管理可以通过有效利用公司的资源来提高公司的收益和盈利能力。营运资本管理包括库存管理、应收账款管理和应付账款管理。
The objectives of working capital management, in addition to ensuring that the company has enough cash to cover its expenses and debt, are minimizing the cost of money spent on working capital, and maximizing the return on asset investments. 营运资本管理的目标，除了确保公司有足够的现金支付其费用和债务外，是将营运资本的成本降至最低，并使资产投资的回报最大化。
Types of Working Capital Management Ratios 营运资本管理比率的种类
There are three ratios that are important in working capital management: The working capital ratio or current ratio; the collection ratio, and the inventory turnover ratio. 在营运资本管理中有三种重要的比率：营运资本比率或流动比率；收款比率，库存周转率。
The working capital ratio or current ratio is calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities. It is a key indicator of a company’s financial health as it demonstrates its ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. 营运资本比率或流动比率的计算方法是流动资产除以流动负债。它是公司财务健康的一个关键指标，因为它表明了公司有能力履行短期财务义务。
Although numbers vary by industry, a working capital ratio below 1.0 generally indicates that a company is having trouble meeting its short-term obligations. That is, the company’s debts due in the upcoming year would not be covered by its liquid assets. In this case, the company may have to resort to selling off assets, securing long-term debt, or using other financing options to cover its short-term debt obligations. 尽管不同行业的数据有所不同，但低于1.0的营运资本比率通常表明一家公司在履行短期债务方面遇到了困难。也就是说，该公司明年到期的债务将不会被其流动资产所覆盖。在这种情况下，公司可能不得不通过出售资产、担保长期债务或使用其它融资选择来偿还短期债务。
Working capital ratios of 1.2 to 2.0 are considered desirable, but a ratio higher than 2.0 may suggest that the company is not effectively using its assets to increase revenues. A high ratio may indicate that the company is not securing financing appropriately or managing its working capital efficiently. 1.2到2.0的营运资本比率被认为是可取的，但高于2.0的比率可能意味着公司没有有效地利用其资产来增加收入。高比率可能表明公司没有适当地获得融资或没有有效地管理其营运资本。
The Collection Ratio 收款比率
The collection ratio is a measure of how efficiently a company manages its accounts receivables. The collection ratio is calculated as the product of the number of days in an accounting period multiplied by the average amount of outstanding accounts receivables divided by the total amount of net credit sales during the accounting period. 收款比率是衡量公司管理应收账款的效率的一个指标。收款比率的计算方法是：一个会计期间的天数乘以该会计期间应收账款的平均余额，再除以信用销售净额。
The collection ratio calculation provides the average number of days it takes a company to receive payment after a sales transaction on credit. If a company’s billing department is effective at collections attempts and customers pay their bills on time, the collection ratio will be lower. The lower a company’s collection ratio, the more efficient its cash flow. 收款比率计算提供了公司在赊账销售后收到付款的平均天数。如果公司的账单部门对催收有效，客户按时支付账单，收款比率将会降低。一个公司的收款比率越低，它的现金流就越有效率。
The Inventory Turnover Ratio 存货周转率
The final element of working capital management is inventory management. To operate with maximum efficiency and maintain a comfortably high level of working capital, a company must keep sufficient inventory on hand to meet customers’ needs while avoiding unnecessary inventory that ties up working capital. 营运资本管理的最后一个要素是库存管理。为了以最高的效率运作，并保持一个舒适的高水平的营运资本，公司必须保持足够的库存，以满足客户的需要，同时避免不必要的库存，占用营运资本。
Companies typically measure how efficiently that balance is maintained by monitoring the inventory turnover ratio. The inventory turnover ratio, calculated as revenues divided by inventory cost, reveals how rapidly a company’s inventory is being sold and replenished. A relatively low ratio compared to industry peers indicates inventory levels are excessively high, while a relatively high ratio may indicate inadequate inventory levels. 公司通常通过监控库存周转率来衡量维持这种平衡的效率。存货周转率的计算方法是收入除以存货成本，它反映了公司存货销售和补充的速度。与业内同行相比，相对较低的比率表明库存水平过高，而相对较高的比率则表明库存水平不足。
