1 June 2014 exam (4CW) SME Cash and Working Capital Instructions to students: 1. Time allowed is 3 hours and 10 minutes, which includes 10 minutes reading time. 2. This is a closed book examination. 3. Use of a silent, non-programmable calculator, which is NOT part of a mobile phone or any other device capable of communication, is allowed. 4. Put your student number on the top of each answer page. 5. Start each answer on a new page. 6. Include any workings. Answer all 3 questions Question 1: 20 marks available Question 2: 30 marks available Question 3: 50 marks available
2 Question 1 A recently established company is seeking finance to expand their business. They require funds to buy new machinery and to acquire a lease on a building. Required: (a) Discuss four factors that need to be considered by the business when deciding on the most suitable financing method for their proposed investments. (12 marks) (b) Explain the differences between debt and equity instruments and give an example of each instrument. (8 marks) (Total 20 marks)
3 Question 2 C1 is an engineering company that is involved in producing components for light aircraft. Recently C1 reviewed their inventory control system and discovered that their stockholding costs are higher than they should be for this type of business. The following information for the component has been provided: The purchased cost is $40 per unit. The company's monthly demand is 25,000 units. C1 is charged by their supplier $15 each time an order is placed. It costs C1 $5 to place an order The annual holding cost per unit is $3. Required: (a) Explain the term re-order level. (b) Explain the term economic order quantity (EOQ). (c) Calculate the EOQ for C1 (please see formula sheet at the end of the paper). (d) Calculate the number of orders that C1 should place each year. (e) Explain three ordering costs and three holding costs that C1 may incur on an annual basis. (6 marks) To help the company reduce their stockholding costs the directors have asked the production manager to prepare forecasts on a monthly basis for production output. (f) Discuss three internal and three external factors that the production director should take into account when preparing her forecasts. (12 marks) (Total 30 marks)
4 Question 3 6B make a single product, the Flow. The Flow is a mobile piece of gym equipment which speeds up weight loss through exercise. It is more successful at increasing weight loss than any of its competitor s products. The company sell the product direct to gyms, leisure centres and fitness stores, which then sells the Flow to individuals who are keen to lose weight. The production director is preparing their budgets for the next four quarters. The following information is available: Each Flow unit uses 0.75kg of steel. The supplier charges $64 per kg. Each Flow unit also requires 1.25 square metre of fabric, costing $22 per square metre. 6% of fabric is wasted during production. Each Flow takes half an hour to make. Staff are paid $13 per hour and they are guaranteed 35 hours work a week. Any hours worked above the guaranteed hours, are paid at double time. There are 12 weeks in a quarter and 58 members of staff are employed by the company. There are 1,520 units of opening stock at the beginning of quarter 1. Closing stock is fixed at 4% of the following period s sales. Sales for the period: Quarter one 38,000 units Quarter two 44,000 units Quarter three 58,000 units Quarter four 69,000 units Quarter five 52,000 units
5 Required: (a) Prepare the following budgets for quarters one to four. (i) Production budget (units). (ii) Material usage budgets. (iii) Materials purchases budget ($). (iv) Labour budget (hours and $). (7 marks) (7 marks) (4 marks) (8 marks) The finance director wants to reduce the overtime cost by making better use of staff in quiet times. (b) Revise the production budget (units) for the four quarters making optimum use of the staff available, by adjusting the closing stock levels. (Closing stock is fixed at 4% of the following period s sales). (8 marks) (c) Prepare revised labour budgets for the four quarters (hours and $). (10 marks) (d) Explain three differences in how setting budgets might differ between a service business as opposed to a manufacturing business like 6B. (6 marks) (50 marks)
6 Formula sheet for Question 2(c) The formula to use to calculate the economic order quantity is: 2 x CO x AD / CH CO = Cost of ordering AD= Annual demand CH= Annual holding cost per unit