Definition of Net working capital

Net working capital

Current assets minus current liabilities. Often simply referred to as working capital.

net working capital

Current assets minus current liabilities.

Assets requirements

A common element of a financial plan that describes projected capital spending and the
proposed uses of net working capital.

Cash cycle

In general, the time between cash disbursement and cash collection. In net working capital
management, it can be thought of as the operating cycle less the accounts payable payment period.

Working Capital

Funds invested in a company's cash, accounts receivable and inventory. net working capital is current assets minus current liabilities.

NPV (net present value of cash flows)

Same as PV, but usually includes a subtraction for an initial cash outlay.

Average cost of capital

A firm's required payout to the bondholders and to the stockholders expressed as a
percentage of capital contributed to the firm. Average cost of capital is computed by dividing the total
required cost of capital by the total amount of contributed capital.

Capital

Money invested in a firm.

Capital account

net result of public and private international investment and lending activities.

Capital allocation

decision Allocation of invested funds between risk-free assets versus the risky portfolio.

Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)

An economic theory that describes the relationship between risk and
expected return, and serves as a model for the pricing of risky securities. The CAPM asserts that the only risk
that is priced by rational investors is systematic risk, because that risk cannot be eliminated by diversification.
The CAPM says that the expected return of a security or a portfolio is equal to the rate on a risk-free security
plus a risk premium.

Capital budget

A firm's set of planned capital expenditures.

Capital budgeting

The process of choosing the firm's long-term capital assets.

Capital expenditures

Amount used during a particular period to acquire or improve long-term assets such as
property, plant or equipment.

Capital flight

The transfer of capital abroad in response to fears of political risk.

Capital gain

When a stock is sold for a profit, it's the difference between the net sales price of securities and
their net cost, or original basis. If a stock is sold below cost, the difference is a capital loss.

Capital gains yield

The price change portion of a stock's return.

Capital lease

A lease obligation that has to be capitalized on the balance sheet.

Capital loss

The difference between the net cost of a security and the net sale price, if that security is sold at a loss.

Capital market

The market for trading long-term debt instruments (those that mature in more than one year).

Capital market efficiency

Reflects the relative amount of wealth wasted in making transactions. An efficient
capital market allows the transfer of assets with little wealth loss. See: efficient market hypothesis.

Capital market imperfections view

The view that issuing debt is generally valuable but that the firm's
optimal choice of capital structure is a dynamic process that involves the other views of capital structure (net
corporate/personal tax, agency cost, bankruptcy cost, and pecking order), which result from considerations of
asymmetric information, asymmetric taxes, and transaction costs.

Capital market line (CML)

The line defined by every combination of the risk-free asset and the market portfolio.

Capital rationing

Placing one or more limits on the amount of new investment undertaken by a firm, either
by using a higher cost of capital, or by setting a maximum on parts of, and/or the entirety of, the capital
budget.

Capital structure

The makeup of the liabilities and stockholders' equity side of the balance sheet, especially
the ratio of debt to equity and the mixture of short and long maturities.

Capital surplus

Amounts of directly contributed equity capital in excess of the par value.

Capitalization

The debt and/or equity mix that fund a firm's assets.

Capitalization method

A method of constructing a replicating portfolio in which the manager purchases a
number of the largest-capitalized names in the index stock in proportion to their capitalization.

Capitalization ratios

Also called financial leverage ratios, these ratios compare debt to total capitalization
and thus reflect the extent to which a corporation is trading on its equity. capitalization ratios can be
interpreted only in the context of the stability of industry and company earnings and cash flow.

Capitalization table

A table showing the capitalization of a firm, which typically includes the amount of
capital obtained from each source - long-term debt and common equity - and the respective capitalization
ratios.

Capitalized

Recorded in asset accounts and then depreciated or amortized, as is appropriate for expenditures
for items with useful lives greater than one year.

Capitalized interest

Interest that is not immediately expensed, but rather is considered as an asset and is then
amortized through the income statement over time.

Complete capital market

A market in which there is a distinct marketable security for each and every
possible outcome.

Cost of capital

The required return for a capital budgeting project.

Cost of limited partner capital

The discount rate that equates the after-tax inflows with outflows for capital
raised from limited partners.

Dedicated capital

Total par value (number of shares issued, multiplied by the par value of each share). Also
called dedicated value.

Efficient capital market

A market in which new information is very quickly reflected accurately in share
prices.

European Monetary System (EMS)

An exchange arrangement formed in 1979 that involves the currencies
of European Union member countries.

Exposure netting

Offsetting exposures in one currency with exposures in the same or another currency,
where exchange rates are expected to move in such a way that losses or gains on the first exposed position
should be offset by gains or losses on the second currency exposure.

Firm's net value of debt

Total firm value minus total firm debt.

Hard capital rationing

capital rationing that under no circumstances can be violated.

Human capital

The unique capabilities and expertise of individuals.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

International Monetary Market (IMM)

A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial
futures. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Issued share capital

Total amount of shares that are in issue. Related: outstanding shares.

Legal capital

Value at which a company's shares are recorded in its books.

Long-term debt/capitalization

Indicator of financial leverage. Shows long-term debt as a proportion of the
capital available. Determined by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt, preferred stock and
common stockholder equity.

Market capitalization

The total dollar value of all outstanding shares. Computed as shares times current
market price. It is a measure of corporate size.

Market capitalization rate

Expected return on a security. The market-consensus estimate of the appropriate
discount rate for a firm's cash flows.

Monetary gold

Gold held by governmental authorities as a financial asset.

Monetary policy

Actions taken by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to influence the
money supply or interest rates.

Monetary / non-monetary method

Under this translation method, monetary items (e.g. cash, accounts
payable and receivable, and long-term debt) are translated at the current rate while non-monetary items (e.g.
inventory, fixed assets, and long-term investments) are translated at historical rates.

Net adjusted present value

The adjusted present value minus the initial cost of an investment.

Net advantage of refunding

The net present value of the savings from a refunding.

Net advantage to leasing

The net present value of entering into a lease financing arrangement rather than
borrowing the necessary funds and buying the asset.

Net advantage to merging

The difference in total post- and pre-merger market value minus the cost of the merger.

Net asset value (NAV)

The value of a fund's investments. For a mutual fund, the net asset value per share
usually represents the fund's market price, subject to a possible sales or redemption charge. For a closed end
fund, the market price may vary significantly from the net asset value.

Net assets

The difference between total assets on the one hand and current liabilities and noncapitalized longterm
liabilities on the other hand.

Net benefit to leverage factor

A linear approximation of a factor, T*, that enables one to operationalize the
total impact of leverage on firm value in the capital market imperfections view of capital structure.

Net book value

The current book value of an asset or liability; that is, its original book value net of any
accounting adjustments such as depreciation.

Net cash balance

Beginning cash balance plus cash receipts minus cash disbursements.

Net change

This is the difference between a day's last trade and the previous day's last trade.

Net errors and omissions

In balance of payments accounting, net errors and omissions record the statistical
discrepancies that arise in gathering balance of payments data.

Net financing cost

Also called the cost of carry or, simply, carry, the difference between the cost of financing
the purchase of an asset and the asset's cash yield. Positive carry means that the yield earned is greater than
the financing cost; negative carry means that the financing cost exceeds the yield earned.

Net float

Sum of disbursement float and collection float.

Net income

The company's total earnings, reflecting revenues adjusted for costs of doing business,
depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses.

Net investment

Gross, or total, investment minus depreciation.

Net lease

A lease arrangement under which the lessee is responsible for all property taxes, maintenance
expenses, insurance, and other costs associated with keeping the asset in good working condition.

Net operating losses

Losses that a firm can take advantage of to reduce taxes.

Net operating margin

The ratio of net operating income to net sales.

Net period

The period of time between the end of the discount period and the date payment is due.

Net present value (NPV)

The present value of the expected future cash flows minus the cost.

Net present value of growth opportunities

A model valuing a firm in which net present value of new
investment opportunities is explicitly examined.

Net present value of future investments

The present value of the total sum of NPVs expected to result from
all of the firm's future investments.

Net present value rule

An investment is worth making if it has a positive NPV. Projects with negative NPVs
should be rejected.

Net profit margin

net income divided by sales; the amount of each sales dollar left over after all expenses
have been paid.

Net salvage value

The after-tax net cash flow for terminating the project.

Net worth

Common stockholders' equity which consists of common stock, surplus, and retained earnings.

Netting

Reducing transfers of funds between subsidiaries or separate companies to a net amount.

Netting out

To get or bring in as a net; to clear as profit.

Nondiversifiability of human capital

The difficulty of diversifying one's human capital (the unique
capabilities and expertise of individuals) and employment effort.

Opportunity cost of capital

Expected return that is foregone by investing in a project rather than in
comparable financial securities.

Other capital

In the balance of payments, other capital is a residual category that groups all the capital
transactions that have not been included in direct investment, portfolio investment, and reserves categories. It
is divided into long-term capital and short-term capital and, because of its residual status, can differ from
country to country. Generally speaking, other long-term capital includes most non-negotiable instruments of a
year or more like bank loans and mortgages. Other short-term capital includes financial assets of less than a
year such as currency, deposits, and bills.

Outstanding share capital

Issued share capital less the par value of shares that are held in the company's treasury.

Payments netting

Reducing fund transfers between affiliates to only a netted amount. netting can be done on
a bilateral basis (between pairs of affiliates), or on a multi-lateral basis (taking all affiliates together).

Pecking-order view (of capital structure)

The argument that external financing transaction costs, especially
those associated with the problem of adverse selection, create a dynamic environment in which firms have a
preference, or pecking-order of preferred sources of financing, when all else is equal. Internally generated
funds are the most preferred, new debt is next, debt-equity hybrids are next, and new equity is the least
preferred source.

Perfect capital market

A market in which there are never any arbitrage opportunities.

Perfect market view (of capital structure)

Analysis of a firm's capital structure decision, which shows the
irrelevance of capital structure in a perfect capital market.

Personal tax view (of capital structure)

The argument that the difference in personal tax rates between
income from debt and income from equity eliminates the disadvantage from the double taxation (corporate
and personal) of income from equity.

Pie model of capital structure

A model of the debt/equity ratio of the firms, graphically depicted in slices of
a pie that represent the value of the firm in the capital markets.

Planned capital expenditure program

capital expenditure program as outlined in the corporate financial plan.

Pro forma capital structure analysis

A method of analyzing the impact of alternative capital structure
choices on a firm's credit statistics and reported financial results, especially to determine whether the firm will
be able to use projected tax shield benefits fully.

Real capital

Wealth that can be represented in financial terms, such as savings account balances, financial
securities, and real estate.

Safety-net return

The minimum available return that will trigger an immunization strategy in a contingent
immunization strategy.

SIMEX (Singapore International Monetary Exchange)

A leading futures and options exchange in Singapore.

"Soft" Capital Rationing

capital rationing that under certain circumstances can be violated or even viewed
as made up of targets rather than absolute constraints.

Static theory of capital structure

Theory that the firm's capital structure is determined by a trade-off of the
value of tax shields against the costs of bankruptcy.

Venture capital

An investment in a start-up business that is perceived to have excellent growth prospects but
does not have access to capital markets. Type of financing sought by early-stage companies seeking to grow rapidly.

Weighted average cost of capital

Expected return on a portfolio of all the firm's securities. Used as a hurdle
rate for capital investment.

Working capital

Defined as the difference in current assets and current liabilities (excluding short-term
debt). Current assets may or may not include cash and cash equivalents, depending on the company.

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