Academic literature on the topic 'Current assets management'

This article introduces the current scale and development of Chinese state-owned assets; the situation about separating government functions from State-Owned Enterprise management and state-owned capital in China; modern corporate system construction and improvement in SOEs, as well as the shortages in the process; comprehensive and deep mixed ownership reform and equity diversification reform at SOEs and for state-owned assets; enhancement of Chinese Communist Party construction in SOEs; SOEs’ great effort on innovation promotion; institutions and governments’ assets management; and the situation of state-owned assets’ concentration.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between a firm’s net trade cycle, its size and liquidity. Design/methodology/approach – The relation between the firm’s net trade cycle and its liquidity is examined using Generalized Method of Moment Dynamic Panel-Data System Estimation with Robust Standard Errors for a sample of 5,802 US non-financial firms listed in the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ Stock Market and Over the Counter Market for the period 1990-2004 (87,030 firm-year observations). The analysis is applied at the levels of the full sample and divisions of the sample by size. Findings – The results show negative and significant relationship between net trade cycle, as a comprehensive measure of efficiency in working capital management, and liquidity for small firms. Originality/value – Most of the existing literature focusses on the large firm’s experience of working capital management. Small firms generally face liquidity problems and have limited access to external capital, and studies on their efficiency in working capital management are scant. Thus the present study is useful in understanding the relation between the firm’s net trade cycle and liquidity of small firms.

The basic financial purpose of an enterprise is maximization of its value. Trade credit management should also contribute to the realization of this fundamental aim. Many of the current asset management models that are found in the financial management literature assume book profit maximization as the basic financial purpose. These book profit-based models could be lacking in what relates to another aim (i.e., maximization of the enterprise value). The enterprise value maximization strategy is executed with a focus on risk and uncertainty. This article presents the consequences that can result from operating risk that is related to purchasers using payment postponement for goods and/or services. The present article offers a method that uses the portfolio management theory to determine the level of accounts receivable in a firm. An increase in the level of accounts receivables in a firm increases both net working capital and the costs of holding and managing accounts receivables. Both of these decrease the value of the firm, but a liberal policy in accounts receivable coupled with the portfolio management approach could increase the value. Efforts to assign ways to manage these risks were also undertaken; among them, a special attention was paid to adapting the assumptions from the portfolio theory as well as gauging the potential effect on the firm value.

Net current assets consist primarily of cash, marketable securities, receivables and inventory. The balances in these accounts can be highly volatile as they respond quickly to changes in the firm’s operating environment. Medium-term planning and immediate reactions to changes in forecasts and conditions are required for effective management of the net current assets. Net current assets management is the functional area of finance that covers all the current accounts of the firm. It is concerned with the adequacy of current assets as well as the level of risk posed by current liabilities. We can say that net current assets management is a discipline that seeks proper policies for managing current assets and liabilities and practical techniques for maximizing the benefits.

The article analyzes the improvement of the mechanism of current asset management in enterprises as a condition for their effective functioning. Current asset management is a purposeful activity of an enterprise related to determining the amount of current assets, the risk of losses received as a result of a shortage of certain components of current assets, as well as related to control over their formation, use and creation of appropriate organizational prerequisites. The process of improving the mechanism of current asset management of enterprises should include the following stages: analysis of the total volume, composition, structure and efficiency of using current assets in the previous period, selection of the type of current asset formation policy, justification of the quantitative characteristics of the formulated goals, ensuring the optimal volume of all types of current assets, ensuring the optimal ratio of constant and variable parts of current assets, ensuring the necessary level of liquidity and speed of turnover of current assets, ensuring the necessary level of profitability and acceptable level of risk of current assets, selecting forms and sources of financing current assets, monitoring and controlling the current state of current assets and making appropriate corrective decisions. Improving the current asset management mechanism of the enterprise will allow managers to use it to ensure stable functioning and predict the development of the enterprise in the future. If the financial and economic mechanism of current asset management is improved, it will be possible to achieve long-term goals, as well as increase the level of competitiveness of the enterprise in the market.

The article is devoted to the generalization of theoretical aspects and practical recommendations for improving the asset management system in modern conditions. To build an effective system, the object of management — assets — is studied in detail. The approaches to understanding the essence of assets, namely value, financial and property, are singled out. The ratio of such concepts as “current assets”, “working capital” and “working capital” is studied, their common and different characteristics are determined. The current assets are grouped according to different classification features and their significance in the production process is determined. It is substantiated that the grouping of current assets is primarily of practical importance, allowing to build a clear system of accounting and analysis of the availability and movement of current assets and to form an effective system of their management by individual types. A thorough analysis of the interpretations of the concept of “asset management” available in the scientific literature has been made, and several approaches to its understanding have been identified. The conducted research made it possible to form an author's definition of the current assets management system. It is determined that the current assets management system should be based on an integrated approach, the components of which are objects and subjects of management, purpose, basic principles and functions, methods and tools of influence, formalized quantitative and qualitative criteria for achieving goals, and factors forming the operating environment of the object. The characteristic of each element of the system is given, in particular the subjects and objects of management are concretized, their interaction is considered, the purposes and tasks are outlined. It is determined that the functions of the management system are controlling, stabilizing and analytical, and the principles on which it is based — timeliness, unity, continuity, optimality and rationality. The implementation of the current assets management system involves the implementation of a number of successive measures in the form of certain stages, which are considered in the work. The proposed system of current assets management will predict the choice of management strategy of the entity in the long run and increase the overall efficiency of its operation.

At the present stage, management of working assets at the level of trading enterprises is one of the topical issues. This is due to the peculiarities of the functioning of trade enterprises in modern economic conditions and the importance of working assets for them as a resource, investment object, part of working capital. Much of the factors that determine the state of the enterprises of trade lie beyond the scope of their management. However, an important role in determining their position is the improvement of financial management and, above all, management of working assets.
 Of particular importance for trading companies is the management of the financing of current assets, because they are the main component of their commercial potential. All this determines the relevance and practical significance of research work, the goals of which are defined as the establishment of methodological foundations for managing the financing of current assets of trading enterprises in modern conditions, and the proposed materials are a continuation of research in this area.
 The article describes the author's view on the structure and sequence of the formation of the policy of financing current assets in trading enterprises in modern conditions. The relationship of the system of achievement of the goals related to different levels of the hierarchy and tools of realization of the policy of financing working assets is given. It is substantiated that the tools of the realization of the phases of forming the policy of financing the current assets of the trading enterprise should be the common approaches to the processing and formation of information management.