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CPA FRM - Module 2: Management of liquidity, debt and equity | KnowledgEquity


At the end of this module, you should be able to:

  • explain and apply the concepts of cash flow and working capital management

  • discuss how capital structures are determined using a simplified structure of debt, equity and preference shares

  • calculate the cost of debt, ordinary shares (equity) and preference shares and explain the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)

  • calculate and use the before- and after-tax weighted average cost of capital (WACC).




Part A: Cash flow management


Which of the following is considered to be a cost associated with maintaining liquidity?

  1. Interest earned on invested surplus cash

  2. Finance facility costs for unused financing facilities

  3. Margin costs on borrowings due to poor credit rating


A.1. Liquidity risk


Not being able to:

  • meet obligations as and when they fall due

  • convert assets into cash quickly without material price reduction


How do you measure liquidity

  • current ratios = current assets / current liabilities (1.5 - 2)

  • quick ratio = current assets - inventory) / current liabilities (1 - 1.5)


A.2. Cash management


  • forecasting and planning

  • cash procedures

  • inter-company transactions

  • investing surplus funds

  • monitoring and measuring performance


A.3. Cash disbursement


  • timely and accurate payments

  • policies and infrastructure

  • authorization

  • segregation of duties

  • record-keeping

  • independent check


A.4. Free cash flow


underlying cash generated by their business:

  • operating cash flow

  • less capital invested

  • after-tax cash flows available to capital providers


[net income + depreciation and amortization - changes in net working capital - capital expenditure]

  • net income: accrual basis, after tax

  • depreciation and amortization: non-cash item, relates to prior period outflows

  • changes in net working capital: reflects the growth of the organization

  • capital expenditure: no longer available to external providers


Example A.4.1


net income + depreciation and amortization - changes in NWC - CapEx

50,000 + 20,000 - 25,000 - 20,000 = 25,000



A.5. Stress testing



Part B: Working capital management


B.1. Strategies to manage working capital

B.2. Measuring working capital requirements

B.3. Funding risk and credit risk assessment


  • need to consider the "cash effects"

  • assets

  • liabilities

  • tax effects (e.g. interest/ depreciation / amortization)


Example B


Delicious chocolate supplies boxes of chocolates to a supermarket:

  • purchases on credit, payable within 30 days from supplier invoice date

  • inventories sold after 50 days

  • sales are on credit, payable 60 days from invoice date


Days between outflow of cash and inflow of cash: 50 + 60 - 30 = 80 days


Working capital drivers

  • inventory cycle

  • receivable cycle

  • payable cycle


Cash cycle & Operating cycle



Pre-webinar activity



What is the 20X6 cash conversion cycle:


CCC = Days of Sales Outstanding (DSO) + Days of Inventory Outstanding (DIO) - Days of Payables Outstanding (DPO).


DSO = [(BegAR + EndAR) / 2] / (Revenue / 365)

= $25,000 / ($250,000 / 365) = 36.5 days


DIO = [(BegInv + EndInv / 2)] / (COGS / 365)

= $4,000 / ($100,000 / 365) = 14.6 days


Operating Cycle = DSO + DIO

= 36.5 + 14.6 = 51.1 days


DPO = [(BegAP+EndAP) / 2] / (COGS / 365)

= $8,000 / ($100,000 / 365) = 29.2 days

  • how many days the company takes to pay its suppliers. Unlike the other two numbers that make up the Operating Cycle, the company wants to stretch out how long it takes to pay for its inventory.


Cash conversion cycle = 51.1 - 29.2 = 21.9 days


What advice can you give?

  • ask suppliers to increase the terms of engagement or the credit days (to extend payable days)

  • ask or force customers to pay early (to reduce receivable days)

  • there's a risk that the organization could lose some customers or critical suppliers


Part C: Cost of capital and capital structure


e.g. Blendle

Pay-per-article journalism start up:

  • initial high investment in infrastructure and running costs

  • costs associated with ramping up agreements with publishers

  • low initial income, and hard to forecast income/growth


e.g. NAB

Listed multi-national financial institution:

  • Significant capital and IT infrastructure in place

  • Operating costs have a long history

  • Funding costs can fluctuate based on international markets

  • Income largely based on margins/spreads and fees (reliant on number of clients/transactions)


Capital structure



C.1.Qualitative factors


  • Underlying asset structure - generating 'predictable cash flows'

  • Earnings stability

  • Flexibility required (debt is more flexible)

  • Management control (equity)

  • Risk profile

  • Cost (deb cost is lower)

  • Imposed constraints (e.g. debt covenant)


Quantitative factors

  • Cost of debt

  • Cost of equity

  • Cost of preference shares

  • Weighted average cost of capital (sum of everything above)


Quiz C


Crafty Metal issues a one-year bond with a face value of $200,000 and a coupon rate of 7%.

The current market price for the bond is $198,148.

What is the cost of debt?


cost of debt = [(coupon payment + face value) / market price] - 1

[( 200,000 + 14,000) / 198,148] - 1

( 200,000 x 1.07 ) / 198,148] - 1 = 8%



Market price of debt security



coupon payments: the amount you'll be getting over the period of the bond, as interest on that bond

  • every bond will have a certain percentage so if it's a fixed interest security it might say 4% on the face value and you'll always get that


PV of the face value repayment: at the end of the term of the bond that amount has to be refunded back or paid back - to whoever has invested in the bond


  • P0: present value

  • C: coupon payment

  • kd: market yield

  • Fn: face value


A 3-year bond with a face value of $100,000 and market yield of 4% carries a coupon of 6% per annum paid annually

  • P0 of coupon payments = [($6,000/0/04)(1-1/(1+0.04)^3] = $16,650.55

  • P0 of face value repayments = [$100,000/(1+0.04)^3] = $88,899.64

P= $105,550.19


A 3-year bond with a face value of $100,000 and market yield of 4% carries a coupon of 6% per annum paid semi-annually

  • P0 of coupon payments = [($3,000/0/02)(1-1/(1+0.02)^6] = $16,804.29

  • P0 of face value repayments = [$100,000/(1+0.02)^6] = $88,797,14

P= $105,601.43


market price is how much you could be able to sell this bond



Cost of debt

coupon rates are not the cost of debt (although they can be the same in some situations)

if coupon rate < cost of debt, then market price < face value (vice versa)

E.g.

  • coupon rate: 4%

  • cost of debt: 6%

  • meaning, you are stuck with this 4% fixed history Interest security, whereas in a market you could have gotten 6%. Therefore, the market price of that bond will be less than its face value.


Cost of equity

= shareholders


unsystematic risk = very inherent to that company

assumed to be removed through diversification of a portfolio


Does the capital asset pricing model use systematic risk or unsystematic risk?


  • systematic risk, because the CAPM assumes that you have a well diversified portfolio

  • CAPM specifies the relationship between a security's systematic risk and its required return



  • Risk-free interest rate: equivalent to government Treasury bond - risk of default is really low

  • Expected return on market portfolio: you will tend to expect a higher return than a risk-free interest rate

  • Expected market risk premium: difference between the expected return and the risk-free rate

  • Beta: systemic risk that cannot be diversified away (inherent in the market)


Assume the cost of equity for ZYX is 16.5%

1. If the risk-free interest rate is 3% and the market risk premium is 9%, what is the beta for ZYX?

ke = rf + market risk premium x β

16.5% = 3% + [9%] x β

13.5%/ 9% = β

β = 1.5


2. What would be the cost of equity for ZYX if its beta was 2 and the relevant risk free interest rate increased to 4%?

ke = rf + [expected return - rf] x β

ke = 4% + [12-4%] x 2 = 20%


The current risk-free rate is 5% and the expected market risk premium is 7%. CBF Ltd has a beta of 1.1.


Using the CAPM, what is CBF's cost of equity?

ke = rf + [expected return - rf] x β

ke = 5% + [7%] x 1.1 =12.7%


Cost of preference shares

P = Dp / kp (for non-redeemable preference shares, the cash flows are a perpetuity)

kp = Dp /P (rearranged for kp)


If annual dividends are $2 and the current preference share price is $35.

kp = $2/ $35 = 5.72%


If annual dividends are 10% of the $8 preference share issue price, and the current preference share price is $20:

kp = (10% x $8)/ $20 = 4%



C.2. Weighted average cost of capital


weighted average cost of capital



FRM Week 3 - Pre webinar activity


  • ZYX Ltd is financed by debt, preference shares and equity.

  • The book values and market values of each, and their respective market coats, are provided below.

  • What is ZYX Ltd's weighted average cost of capital?


weighted cost

  • debt: (2.4/8.8) * 4.5% = 1.23%

  • preference shares: (1.2/8.8) * 7.5% = 1.02%

  • equity: (5.2/8.8) * 16.5% = 9.75%

WACC = 12%



C.3. Weighted average cost of capital with taxes


  • maintain consistency both over time and between investments

  • align with cash flows (pre-tax v post-tax)

  • cost of debt is generally provided before tax

  • cost of preference share is generally provided after tax

  • cost of equity is generally provided after tax


convert to before tax: divide by (1 - tax rate)

convert to after tax: multiply by (1 - tax rate)


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