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some tactics to increase net float

What is float and why can it be valuable?

The cash shown in the company ledger is not the same as the available balance in its bank account. When you write a check, it takes time before your bank balance is adjusted downward. This is payment float. During this time the available balance will be larger than the ledger balance. When you deposit a check, there is a delay before it gets credited to your bank account. In this case the available balance will be smaller than the ledger balance. This is availability float. The difference between payment float and availability float is the net float. If you can predict how long it will take checks to clear, you may be able to “play the float” and get by on a smaller cash balance. The interest you can thereby earn on the net

float is a source of value.

What are some tactics to increase net float?

You can manage the float by speeding up collections and slowing down payments. One way to speed collections is by concentration banking. Customers make payments to a regional office, which then pays the checks into a local bank account. Surplus funds are transferred from the local account to a concentration bank. A related technique is lock-box banking. In this case customers send their payments to a local post office box. A local bank empties the box at regular intervals and clears the checks. Concentration banking and lock-box banking reduce mailing time and the time required to clear checks. Finally, a zero-balance account is a regional bank account to which just enough funds are transferred each day to pay that day`s bills.

What are the costs and benefits of holding inventories?

The benefit of higher inventory levels is the reduction in order costs associated with restocking and the reduced chances of running out of material. The costs are the carrying costs, which include the cost of space, insurance, spoilage, and the opportunity cost of the capital tied up in inventory. The economic order quantity is the order size that minimizes the sum of order costs plus carrying costs.

What are the costs and benefits of holding cash?

Cash provides liquidity, but it doesn`t pay interest. Securities pay interest, but you can`t use them to buy things. As financial manager you want to hold cash up to the point where the incremental or marginal benefit of liquidity is equal to the cost of holding cash, that is, the interest that you could earn on securities.

Why is an understanding of inventory management useful for cash management?

Cash is simply a raw material like inventories of other goods that you need to do business. Capital that is tied up in large inventories of any raw material rather than earning interest is expensive. So why do you hold inventories at all? Why not order materials as and when you need them? The answer is that placing many small orders is also expensive. The principles of optimal inventory management and optimal cash management are similar.

Try to strike a balance between holding too large an inventory of cash (and losing interest on the money) and making too many small adjustments to your inventory (and incurring additional transaction or administrative costs). If interest rates are high, you want to hold relatively small inventories of cash. If your cash needs are variable and your transaction or administrative costs are high, you want to hold relatively large inventories.

Where do firms invest excess funds until they are needed to pay bills?

Firms can invest idle cash in the money market, the market for short-term financial assets. These assets tend to be short-term, low risk, and highly liquid, making them ideal instruments in which to invest funds for short periods of time before cash is needed.