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What is Net Working Capital?Simply put, Net Working Capital (NWC) is the difference between a company’s current assets and current liabilities on its balance sheet. It is a measure of a company’s liquidity and its ability to meet short-term obligations, as well as fund operations of the business. The ideal position is to have more current assets than current liabilities and thus have a positive net working capital balance. NWC is most commonly calculated by excluding cash and debt (current portion only). Image: CFI’s Financial Analysis Fundamentals Course. Key Highlights
Net Working Capital FormulaThere are a few different methods for calculating net working capital, depending on what an analyst wants to include or exclude from the value. Formula: Net Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities or, Formula: Net Working Capital = Current Assets (less cash) – Current Liabilities (less debt) or, NWC = Accounts Receivable + Inventory – Accounts Payable The first formula above is the broadest (as it includes all accounts), the second formula is more narrow, and the last formula is the most narrow (as it only includes three accounts). Learn more in CFI’s Financial Analyst Training Program. Download the Free TemplateEnter your name and email in the form below and download the free template now! Setting up a Net Working Capital ScheduleBelow are the steps an analyst would take to forecast NWC using a schedule in Excel. Step 1 At the very top of the working capital schedule, reference sales and cost of goods sold from the income statement for all relevant periods. These will be used later to calculate drivers to forecast the working capital accounts. Step 2 Under sales and cost of goods sold, lay out the relevant balance sheet accounts. Separate current assets and current liabilities into two sections. Remember to exclude cash under current assets and to exclude any current portions of debt from current liabilities. For clarity and consistency, lay out the accounts in the order they appear in the balance sheet. Step 3 Create subtotals for total non-cash current assets and total non-debt current liabilities. Subtract the latter from the former to create a final total for net working capital. If the following will be valuable, create another line to calculate the increase or decrease of net working capital in the current period from the previous period. Step 4 Populate the schedule with historical data, either by referencing the corresponding data in the balance sheet or by inputting hardcoded data into the net working capital schedule. If a balance sheet has been prepared with future forecasted periods already available, populate the schedule with forecast data as well by referencing the balance sheet. Step 5 If future periods for the current accounts are not available, create a section to outline the drivers and assumptions for the main assets. Use the historical data to calculate drivers and assumptions for future periods. See the information below for common drivers used in calculating specific line items. Finally, use the prepared drivers and assumptions to calculate future values for the line items. Video Explanation of Net Working CapitalBelow is a short video explaining how the operating activities of a business impact the working capital accounts, which are then used to determine a company’s NWC. Common Drivers Used for Net Working Capital AccountsBelow is a list of assumptions that are used in a financial model to forecast NWC:
Accounts receivable days, inventory days, and accounts payable days all rely on sales or cost of goods sold to calculate. If either sales or COGS is unavailable, the “days” metrics cannot be calculated. When this happens, it may be easier to calculate accounts receivables, inventory, and accounts payables by analyzing the past trend and estimating a future value. Use of Net Working Capital in Financial ModelingChanges in net working capital impact cash flow in financial modeling. Look closely at the image of the model below, and you will see a line labeled “Less Changes in Working Capital” – this is where the impact of increases/decreases in accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable impact the unlevered free cash flow of a firm. Understanding the impact of changes in net working capital is extremely important in financial modeling and corporate valuation. To learn more, check out CFI’s financial modeling courses now! Additional ResourcesThis has been CFI’s guide to Net Working Capital. To advance your career as an analyst, read more about the other elements that populate financial statements:
Which of the following will cause an increase in net working capital?When merchandise is sold at a profit, but on credit sales, it translates into an increase in accounts receivable. This blocks cash while translating into an increase in current assets. Therefore, with net working capital given as current assets minus current liabilities, the net working capital increases.
Which of the following will increase working capital?Some of the ways that working capital can be increased include: Earning additional profits. Issuing common stock or preferred stock for cash. Borrowing money on a long-term basis.
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