FM
FM
Financial Management - The finance manager plays a vital role in the company’s success.
As cash flows into the company, the finance manager thinks of how it will be used daily and
how it will help the firm sustain its operations in the future. If finance is in the heart of
everything that goes on in the company, managing it is difficult because the person
handling it must be involved in every activity that the firm may perform. The financial
manager has to be in touch with the operations, marketing, and overall strategy of the
company.
In the past, a finance manager was only involved in simple bookkeeping tasks such as
company’s bills. As time went by, the task of the finance manager evolved, going deeply
into the major aspects of the firm’s activities. This role critically developed to what is now
Financial management is more concerned with raising, allocating, and controlling the firm’s
funds. In times of financial trouble, the finance manager must find ways to get its
financial position in order. The kind of questions that one has to answer when dealing
• Should they issue additional shares of stocks and would these be preferred or common?
If the firm has enough money, the finance manager again has to know how to allocate the
operational dynamics of an economy-states that human wants or needs are unlimited but
resources are finite. To satisfy their unlimited wants, people would seek to maximize the
usefulness. However, maximizing utility is only possible if the people concerned could
produce savings out of their earnings and do whatever they want to do with it.
People always have the option to choose what to do with their earnings. They can
spend, save, or invest it. Spending could satisfy wants immediately but not maximize utility
because it makes one lose the opportunity to have more earnings if saved. On the other
hand, people who choose to save their money defer the enjoyment of their resources in
the hope of earning more so that they can better enjoy it in the future. People who save
their money in order to invest it could have a better chance of satisfying their wants and
The primary objective of the firm's finance manager is to maximize the return that
it could offer to the people who trust the company. People who invest in the stock of a
conclusion, the generally accepted goal of the firm is to maximize the wealth of its
attain a 20% increase in the succeeding year. In doing so, The firm decides to change its
In wealth maximization, before offering an increase in credit term, the cost and benefit
should first be measured. The firm should try to answer the following:
• Will the relaxation of credit terms bring more benefits than the cost of investing in
accounts receivable?
• Is the benefit more than the cost of capital invested in accounts receivable? If the
answers to the preceding questions are yes, then the firm may change its credit policy.
2. It fails to determine the timing of benefits. - In profit maximization, the firm does
not care if the cash flow is higher or lower in the early years of the project. Higher
cash inflow in the early years would mean better benefits to the firm because of the
possibility of generating order potential income, however this is only true if the
alternatives under consideration would give the same cash benefit over the same number
of years.
are mere estimates of how much net income is generated for a particular period of time.
The real accounting profits are only measured at the end of the life of the company. It is
only by that time that the company may determine if its entire operation is successful or
not. It is for this the same reason why financial management is more concerned with the
cash inflow rather than the accounting profits. The profit itself does not generate cash if
sales connected are on credit. The finance manager measures the cash inflows which are
The roles of financial managers - The financial manager of the firm plays a crucial role in
the company's goals, policies, and success. The responsibilities of the financial manager
activities of the firm. He or she must know where to outsource its funds.
3. Dividend policy decision - It is usually important to know what sound dividend policy
is a good financial signal to the market that continually assesses the company.
Financial decisions and risk-return trade off - It is significant to note that an increase
whatever financial decision is made will immediately favor the firm. The finance manager’s
obligation is to ascertain that such risk present is tolerable. It could be created, financial,
political, interest and social. The firm must recognize the risk and include this in whatever
financial decisions it will make. The aphorism “the higher the return, the higher the
Forms of business organization - The basics of financial management are the same for all
businesses, large or small, regardless of how they are organized. Still, a firm’s legal
individual. Going into business as a sole proprietor is easy-a person begins business
● Proprietors have unlimited personal liability for the business debts, so they can lose
● The life of the business is limited to the life of the individual who created it; and
to bring in new equity, investors require a change in the structure of the business.
● Proprietorships have difficulty obtaining large sums of capital hence,
they can be established relatively easily and inexpensively. Moreover, the firm’s
income is allocated on a pro rata basis to the partners and is taxed on an individual
basis. This allows the firm to avoid the corporate income tax. Generally subject to
A basic requirement for the registration of partnership with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) is the filing of the Articles of Co-partnership. The SEC is a government
body that supervises the affairs of the partnership and corporate forms of business.
● Manner of liquidating the partnership with the rights and duties of the partners
● Arbitration of disputes
and distinct from its owners and managers. Corporations also have unlimited lives,
● Limited liability reduces the risks borne by investors; and other things held
constant, the lower the firm’s risk, the higher its value.
● A firm’s value is dependent on its growth opportunities, which are dependent on its
ability to attract capital. Because corporations can attract capital more easily than
other types of businesses, they are better able to take advantage of growth
opportunities.
● The value of an asset also depends on its liability, which means the time and effort
it takes to sell the asset for cash at a fair market value. Because the stock of a
AGENCY THEORY
The agency theory poses a potential conflict between the stockholders and the managers.
This theory exists due to the creation of an agency relationship. This relationship is borne
as soon as an individual or group of people called the principals, hire the service of an
equities in the balance sheet and its revenue and expenses in the income statement. Its
objective is to provide information about the financial position, result of operations, and
cash flows of an enterprise that is useful for decision-making to a wide range of users.
Financial managers use these statements in financing, investing, and formulating dividend
policy decisions. They are concerned primarily with the standing of the company and its
statements as their first-hand information about the company’s performance in the past
Balance Sheet - A statement showing the financial position of the company at a particular
time. It is composed of the company’s assets and liabilities and stockholder’s equity.
Income Statement - It is a formal statement that shows the result of the operations for
a certain period of time. It presents the revenues generated during the operating period,
1. cost of goods sold - which is a direct cost attributable to manufacturing the product
salaries, advertising, and other operating costs that are not directly attributable to
production;
a required basic statement that shows the movements in the components of the equity.
a. Issuance of stocks - These are the common or preferred stocks issued during the year.
b. Retained earnings - Accumulated income or loss of the company for the past years of
operations.
d. Distribution of stock dividends - It discloses the stock dividend rate and the amount of
e. Purchase and sale of treasury stock - Firm’s stocks originally issued but were bought
back and were not retired. Shown as addition to stockholders’ equity while the purchase is
shown as deduction.
g. Correction of errors - It lists errors in the past but corrected in the coming year.
Cash Flow Statement - It is the financial statement that shows the firm’s cash receipts
and payments during a specified period of time. While the income statement and balance
sheet are based on accrual methods, the statement of cash flow recognizes only
a. The cash from operating activities is compared with the company’s net income - If
the cash from operating activities is consistently greater than the net income, the
company’s net income or earnings are said to be of “high quality,”. If cash from operating
activities is less than net income, a red flag is raised as to why the reported net income is
b. The cash flow statement identifies the cash that is coming in and going out of the
company - If a company is consistently generating more cash than it is using, the company
will be able to increase its dividend, buy back some of its stock, reduce debt, or acquire
another company. All of these are perceived to be good for stockholder value.
c. Some financial decisions such as capital budgeting decisions are based on cash flow
Net income - as reported on the income statement in not cash; and in finance, “cash is
king.” Management goals are to maximize the price of the firm’s stock and the value of any
asset, including a share of stock, is based on the cash flows the asset is expected to
produce.
Statement of cash flows shows how much cash the firm is generating. The statement is
divided into four sections as follows: Statement of cash flows shows how much cash the
Operating activities – deals with items that occur and part of normal ongoing operations.
a. Net income – the first operating activity is the net income, which is the first source of
cash. If all sales were for cash, if all costs required immediate cash payments, and if the
firm were in a static situation, net income would equal cash from operations.
b. Depreciation and amortization – the first adjustment relate to the depreciation and
calculated net income. Therefore, depreciation must be added back to net income when
c. Increase in inventories – to make or buy inventory items, the firm must use cash. It
may receive some of this cash as loans from its suppliers and workers (payables and
a sale, it will not immediately get the cash that it would have received had it not extended
payable.
g. Net cash provided by operating activities - all of the previous items are part of the
normal operations-they arise as a result of doing business. When we sum them, we obtain
Long-Term Investing Activities – all activities involving long-term assets are covered in
during the current year, this is an outflow but if a company sold some of its fixed assets,
Financing Activities
a. Increase in notes payable – if a company borrowed from the bank for this purpose its
cash inflow, if the company repays the loan, this will be an outflow.
investors, issuing bonds in exchange for cash, this is an inflow. When bonds are repaid by
negative amounts.
Summary -this section summarizes the change in cash and cash equivalents over the year.
a. Net decrease in cash (I,II,III) – net sum of the operating activities, investing
the preparation of the financial statements. Detailed information not appearing in the
financial statements is also located in this part for clarification, for instance, the method
declining method), valuation of inventory (FIFO, LIFO, average), and issuance of capital
stocks)
There are variations in the application of accounting principles - There are general
because of the different methods and procedures used. For instance, in the computation
of depreciation expenses, the firm may use the straight-line method, the sum-of-the
Financial statements are interim in nature - The financial position and results of the
operation of the company prepared at every interval, normally one year, are mere
estimates of the performance of that firm in that particular period. Thus, the true
Financial statements do not reflect changes in the purchasing power of the peso -
Financial statements are prepared based on the historical cost and do not reflect the
Financial statements do not contain all the significant facts about the business -
Investors do not rely only on quantitative factors presented in the financial statement.
They also depend heavily on other pieces of information about the company such as the
stockholders, composition of the board of directors, projects undertaken, and the overall
and current performance of the firm and its forecast in the future. It allows comparison
of one company with another. Financial statement analysis involves calculations. Firms
compute by combining accounts coming from an income statement to the balance sheet or
vice-versa or by simply relating an account within the statement. These calculations help
the management assess the deficiencies and take necessary actions to improve
performance.
1. Horizontal Analysis - This is used to evaluate the trend in the accounts over the years.
2. Vertical Analysis - It uses a significant item on the financial statement as a base value.
All other financial items on the statements are compared with it.
dividing them into a common base account (total assets, liabilities and equity, sales or net
sales).
b. Financial ratios- classified into five groups:
company with poor liquidity may have a poor credit risk, perhaps because it is unable to
• Activity or asset utilization ratio – is used to determine how quickly various accounts
• Leverage ratio (solvency)- is the company’s ability to meet its long-term obligations as
highlights the firm’s effectiveness in handling its operations. Investors will be reluctant to
1. Industry Comparison - Financial ratios are computed and compared with the industry
average. Through industry comparison, the company may be able to compare their
performance against their competitors' and how they fare with them.
2. Trend Analysis - The firm's financial ratios are computed and compared with their past
performance. By the trends, the company will know if their financial performance is
improving or not over the years. It is a very powerful tool in deciding the actions that a
Liquidity Ratios - The firm's liquidity also affects its capacity to borrow. A low liquidity
position of a firm will make loan applications difficult due to poor credit risk.
Working capital - Working capital or net working capital is the difference between the
Current ratio - is computed by dividing current assets by the current liabilities. This ratio
is probably the most frequently used measure of liquidity. It assesses the ability of the
That is the quick ratio or acid test ratio. Quick ratio, like current ratio, reflects the firms’
ability to pay its short-term obligations. Thus, the higher the quick ratio, the more liquid
Cash Position Ratio – the cash position ratio is a step closer to pure liquidity by
Activity ratio or asset management ratios - measure the firm's efficiency in managing
its assets. These activity ratios are used to determine how rapid various accounts are
Accounts receivable turnover – estimates how fast the accounts receivable is converted
into cash during the year. If there is no net credit sales information, net sales can be
used.
Average Collection Period – the average collection period measures the efficiency of the
firm's collection policy by computing the number of days to collect the receivables.
Inventory turnover – the inventory turnover shows the efficiency of the firm in handling
its inventory. It measures how fast the inventory is turned into sales. A low inventory
turnover rate may point to overstocking, obsolescence, or deficiencies in the product line
or marketing effort. As a result, there will be a high carrying cost for storing the goods as
Operating cycle – the operating cycle measures the time it takes to convert the
Fixed-asset Turnover – fixed-asset turnover ratio measures how well the firm uses every
peso of fixed asset invested to generate sales. Thus, it becomes a good indicator of
Total asset turnover – the total asset turnover ratio measures the firm's ability to
generate sales successfully. A low asset turnover ratio may be due to many factors, and it
Risk and Return Trade-off Between Liquidity and Activity Ratios - A trade-off exists
between liquidity risk and return. Holding a high amount of current assets
Leverage ratios - indicate up to what extent the firm has financed its investments by
borrowing. Firms that use debt financing rather than equity financing increase the risk of
the firm. The more debt they incur, the higher their leverage ratio is and the higher the
Debt Ratios – This ratio shows the portion of the total assets financed by the creditors.
The provider of funds other than the stockholders prefers to see a low debt ratio because
there is a greater chance for creditors to collect their receivables when the firm goes
bankrupt. Firms with high debt ratio are more likely to encounter difficulty in securing
additional funds.
Debt-to-equity ratio – the debt-to-equity ratio measures the proportion of the total
liabilities to the invested capital. A high debt-to-equity ratio means that the firm financed
the assets mostly by debt. A low debt-to-equity ratio means that the firm paid for the
Times interest earned ratio – reflects the number of times the earnings before tax and
interest expense cover the interest expense. It measures how capable the firm is in paying
its interest obligations. This ratio is the equivalent of a person taking the combined
interest expense from his or her mortgage, credit cards, auto and education loans, and
calculating the number of times he or she can pay it with his or her annual pre-tax income.
efficiency during the production process. It tells the percentage of sales left after
Return on investment (ROI) measures the income generated for every peso investment
made in the firm. The higher the income generated per peso investment, the better. The
commonly used return on investment ratios are the return on total assets (ROA) and the
in return on total assets. It is another way of computing the return on assets by getting
the product of the profit margin and the total asset turnover.
The return on common stock equity - measures the rate of return earned on common
stock equity.
Equity multiplier - is a measure of financial leverage that allows the investor to examine
Firms with a huge amount of debt will have high equity multipliers. To compute for ROE
The market value ratio - is a measure of the firm's performance as perceived by the
general market. Investors value the firm through its stock price traded in the stock
exchange. The higher the stock price, the better the performance as perceived by the
market.
a. Earnings per share – this measures the income generated per common stock held.
b. Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio – P/E ratio is a useful indicator of the investor's perception
about the firm's future prospects. A firm's P/E ratio depends primarily on two factors:
the future growth in earnings and the risk directly associated with expected earnings.
Book value per share - is the value of the firm on the perspective of accounting while
Market-to-book value ratio – it is the value of the firm's security as perceived by the
market in relation to the value of the firm. A high market-to-book value ratio means that
investors are more optimistic about the market value of the firm's resources,
Dividend ratios - ratios measuring the percentage of dividends declared by the board of
a. Dividend yield – this ratio reflects the relationship between the dividends earned per
share and the market price of the stock. It shows the rate of return on the stockholders
b. Dividend payout ratio – this measures how much of the earnings per share was declared
as dividend.
1. Variation in the practices and methods in the application of accounting from one firm to
2. Although the financial ratio has a predictive value, ratios are still static and a mere
3. Transactions are recorded based on acquisition costs and do not consider the effects of
inflation.
4. Financial ratio analysis is essential in comparing firms belonging to the same industry.
Firms whose activities are well diversified are too difficult to be classified in an industry.
5. Although industry averages are published, at times, it is difficult to use them because
6. A ratio does not show its major components; thus, it is incorrect and misleading to
1. It provides relevant information about the cash receipts and cash payments of the
3. It presents information on the structural health, liquidity, and profitability of the firm.
5. It determines the capability of the firm to produce cash and cash equivalents.
1. Cash flows from operating activities - These are the cash flows derived from
revenue-producing activities of the enterprise. They are the results of transactions and
INFLOWS
• Cash receipts from sales of goods or services, including receipts from collections or
sale of accounts and both short – and long-term notes receivable from customers
• Cash receipts from returns on loans, other debt instruments of other entities, and equity
• All other cash receipts that do not stem from transactions defined as investing or
financing activities, such as refunds from supplies, amounts received to settle lawsuits,
and proceeds of insurance settlements (except for those that are directly related to
OUTFLOWS
• Cash payments to acquire materials including principal payments on accounts and both
• Cash payments to other supplies and employees for other goods or services
• Cash payments to governments for taxes, duties, fines, and other fees for penalties
Cash flows from investing activities - This section reflects how much money the company
INFLOWS
• Receipts from sales of equity instruments of other enterprises and from returns of
• Receipts from sales of property, plant and equipment, and other productive assets
OUTFLOWS
• Disbursements for the purchase of debt instruments of other entities (other than cash
• Payments at the time of purchase or soon before or after purchase to acquire property,
3. Cash flow from financing activities - This section of the cash flow statement presents
the inflow of cash coming from financing institutions or issuance of shares of stocks,
outflow of cash when the firm pays its long-term loan, or when the board of directors
declared dividends.
INFLOWS
OUTFLOWS
• Other applications are the purchase of treasury stock and the redemption of preferred