Corporate Finance and Governance

Corporate Finance and Governance

Title: Corporate Finance and Governance. Merger refers to the legal act of combining of two preexisting corporations to form a new company. Acquisition is the absorption of one company by another through the purchase of its assets. Bankruptcy, on the other hand, refers to an entity’s legal status of being unable to service the debts it owes to creditors (Boone, 2002). It occurs when the debtor files a petition with the bankruptcy courts. The petition can be filed by an individual or a corporation.

The Birds Limited Company, it can adopt various approaches to avoid the scenarios above. The business can avoid merger by reducing costs by consolidating departments within the firm. Streamlining and departments and responsibilities can help cut costs and prevent a possible merger. The company can avoid a potential acquisition by using the staggered board of directors’ approach (Clayman, Fridson, & Troughton, 2011). A group of directors is elected at different times for multiyear terms which can delay a possible takeover. The business can negotiate with its creditors to delay filing for bankruptcy and come up with a plan to settle their debts.

Business failure is caused by a range of factors that emanate from either the macro or the microenvironment. Bankruptcy is one cause of business failure. The fact that a business is unable to service its debts leads to the insolvent liquidation. A company cannot access financial assistance from the banks if declared bankrupt. Bankruptcy can seriously derail a company’s credibility.

Poor management can lead to business failure. Enterprises that are poorly managed suffer from mismanagement of funds. Issuing credit services to such corporations is hard, and the businesses end up closing down. The banks refrain from issuing credit services to such companies, and this has a telling effect on the banking sector. Operating a business in an industry that is not profitable can lead to business failure. High-profit businesses benefit the banking sector as much as the companies benefit from the banks. Such companies can boost the banking sector since they make up part of the key stakeholders in the industry.

Unprofitable businesses cannot have the spending power or the ability to acquire massive loans from the banks. The inability to acquire and service loans stagnates the development of the banking sector.

Corporate Finance and Dividend Policy

The dividend policy contains a set of guidelines a company applies to decide on the amount to pay the shareholders. Clayman et al.  (2011) acknowledge that the business has to consider a range of factors before settling on the appropriate approach when formulating dividend and capital structure policies. Business risk is one of the fundamental risks that put a company’s operations in jeopardy. The optimum debt ratio is lower in firms with a greater risk level. For instance, the risk level in a retail apparel company is much higher than that of a utility company. Therefore, the retail apparel company would have a lower optimal debt, a strategy to make the business attractive to the investors.

The company’s tax exposure is a determining factor in the formulation of the dividend policy. Debt payments are taxable. If a company’s tax rate is high, financing projects using debts is attractive because the tax deductibility of the debt payments helps the business shield some of the income from taxes (Clayman et al., 2011). Market conditions also impact the company’s capital structure condition. In a struggling market, investors may limit the company’s access to capital due to market concerns. The interest rates may be higher, and it would be advisable to wait until the market conditions return to a more normal state.

Corporate Finance Dissertation Titles
Corporate Finance Dissertation Titles

Financial flexibility is the company’s ability to raise capital in bad times. When raising capital in good times, a company must remain prudent to keep the debt level low. The lower the company’s debt level is, the more the financial flexibility it has. The growth rate also determines the approach the business uses (James Sunday, 2014). Growing businesses finance that growth through debts, their revenues are unstable and unproven. High debt loads are usually not appropriate. Established companies need less debt to finance their growth, and their incomes are stable. The established companies generate cash flow that can fund projects whenever they arise.

The board of directors is critical to the corporate finance governance and leadership in organizations. The BOD is the highest governing authority in the management structure at all publicly traded companies (Anand, 2008). The board of directors directs the company’s business. Good corporate governance is primarily based on the board’s leadership structure, board size, composition, director ownership and the roles and responsibilities. The board oversees the governance and the management of the business and to monitor the senior management’s performance closely. The BOD evaluates and approves the suitable compensation for the company’s CEO and approves the attractiveness of the dividends.

Among other core responsibilities of the board, it selects individuals to board membership and assess the performance of the board, board committees and other directors. The board reviews and approves the corporate finance and governance actions. The board also reviews and approves financial statement and financial reporting of the company (Anand, 2008).

It monitors the corporate performance and evaluates the outcomes by comparing them with the strategic plans and other long-term goals. The BOD controls the implementation of the management’s strategic plans. The Board reviews and updates the corporate finance practices to cater for developments within the micro and the macro environment. The BOD ensures that the business complies with internationally recognized governance standards. This has the implication that the BOD must be committed to upholding the best practices in corporate governance.

References

Anand, S. (2008). Essentials of corporate finance governance. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.

Boone, A. (2002). Corporate finance policy. North Chelmsford, Mass.: CEO Press.

Clayman, M., Fridson, M., & Troughton, G. (2011). Corporate Finance. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

James Sunday, K. (2014). Capital Structure and Survival Dynamic of Business Organisation: The Dividend Approach. JFA2(2), 20.

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Capital Structure Financial Gearing Project

Negative Effects of Financial Gearing

Capital structure is one of the paramount elements which a firm should consider when undertaking its short term and long term projects. Well, the balanced capital structure enables the company to achieve strike off the balance of growth‚ Continuous improvement and growth‚ risk mitigation thus ensuring production goes on uninterrupted. For this matter the paper analysis the factors to consider when setting the capital structure‚ advantages of proper debt-equity management and lastly the risks of having improperly balanced capital structure when financing various operations. Finally‚ evaluation of best financial management techniques which can help to ensure organizational goals are achieved without compromising its operations.

Enterprises should maintain the proper balance of the capital structure which entails attaining the reasonable level of equity-debt level. Furthermore‚ it is recommendable that there should be the efficient matching of liability to asset level, this implies that only long-term projects should be. Financed by the long-term liabilities and vice versa for short-term projects which should be funded by use of the short-term sources of the funds. Lack of this aspect will compromise the value of the firm which can lead to financial distress in its advance levels‚ as debt capital is very much expensive source of fund (Ding, Wu, & Zhong, 2016‚p 328).

For instance use the short-term loans to build rentals with the anticipation they will raise some money which can be used to service the loan repayment can ditch the firm in financial problems especially when the building fails to get occupants. It should be noted that returns on some projects are probabilistic whereby there is no consistency of their returns as market forces of demand and supply are unpredictable. Thus market assessment and evaluation should be carried out to prevent such advance results which can jeopardize the firm’s operations.

Factor to Consider When Setting Appropriate Capital Structure

In recent past, there has been the development of various theories to expound on factors which should be considered when determining proper level debt-equity ratio to be maintained by the company (Öztekin, 2015 ‚p 302). Most of the theories suggest that before choosing the capital structure to use firms should consider various factors which include the following;-

Cost-benefit‚ the companies should come up with the capital structure which yields the highest return with the least risk involved. For instance, if the shareholders capital is capable of financing the operations of the firm or they have sponsors. Dong, Yanmin, Kaul, Charles ‚Yui, and Tsang, (2016‚p 200) noted that having these organization helps in achieving proper control and management of capital structure   The management should opt to maintain the high level of equity to debt ratio in its capital component. Furthermore‚ depending on the risk propensity and attitude of the management one can opt to go for debt capital due to tax shield benefit.

Financial flexibility‚ this involves ease at which the enterprise can interchange debt to equity without possible cases of financial distress. For instance, promptly the airline industry is capable of making significant returns‚ while at bad times it can consider raising working capital through debt capital.

Management style may be classified as either aggressive or conservative. Aggressive managers have the appetite for risk‚ hence taking the risk for them is not a big deal (Zawadzka, Szafraniec-Siluta, & Ardan, 2015‚p 358). For conservative managers, they are risk averse, so they will tend to avoid debts.

The growth phase of the firm -The companies in growth stage tend to finance their operations through debt capital while well-established firms prefer equity capital more than debt capital.

Market condition‚ if the company is raising funds to finance new plant having high market volatility. In such situation, there are high chances of the company to land in financial distress whereby the returns accrued from the plant are not sufficient to service the loans.

Illustration

Assuming that a company has borrowed £5,000,000 to be repaid for eight years at an interest rate of 12% pa to invest in both shares and real estate. The repayment will be systematically be amortized as follows:-

Year

Opening Balance Annual repayment Interest Principal

Closing balance

1 5,000,000 1,006,514 600,000 406,514 4,593,486
2 4,593,486 1,006,514 551,218 455,296 4,138,190
3 4,138,190 1,006,514 496,582 509,931 3,628,259
4 3,628,259 1,006,514 435,391 5,711,223 3,057,136
5 3,057,136 1,006,514 366,856 639,658 2,417,478
6 2,417,478 1,006,514 290,097 716,417 1,701,061
7 1,701,061 1,006,514 204,127 802,387 898,674
8 898,674 1,006,514 107,841 898,673

Amount to be repaid annually is 5,000,000=PMT (1-1/ (1+r)/r

£5,000,000=PMT (1-1/ (1+0.12)8)/0.12=£1006514.

Assuming after the company bought shares the value of returns on stocks deteriorated and stabilized at £50,000 at the interest rate of 10%. The present value can be computed by use of present annuity formula as follows

Amount=50,000 (1-1 / (1+0.10)8)/0.10=266746

From above illustration the due to unforeseen market condition during loan acquisition. The firm will be unable to meet the debt obligation as even cumulative returns for eight years cannot pay for the loan in the first year. As there is the deficit of 1,006,514-266,746=£749,768.

Advantages of Above Arrangement

Robust accessibility of capital‚ efficient utilization of the debt capital can help the firm achieve the significant level of growth especially when the management have ventured in the viable industry. For instance ‚ by venturing in real estate the company will be capable of recouping the money required to service the loan in a very short. After which it can invest back the capital accumulated. The net effect of this will be multiplier effect‚ which will help the firm achieve its goal for sustainable development.

Best for buyout and acquisition for strategic growth‚ due to the risky nature of the debt capital it is only effective when the firm has short term strategic needs which are geared towards achieving a particular short viable objective. For instance buying of shares in the profitable company.

Tax shield benefit- debt capital is tax deductible thus a high level of returns to shareholders.

Disadvantage of Above Arrangement

Costly‚ for instance in case the enterprise has secured the loan to invest the in the financially geared products such as high-yield bonds and leveraged loans. For this matter managers must monitor the interest effectively that it does not suppose the intended rate of return on investment (Homburg, 2014‚ p 414). For investors to be convinced to take such investment risk, they will need compensation regarding premium of which in case of the unfavorable market condition the firm may be unable to raise.

It is the risky source of finance‚ even though financial gearing is one of the effective methods of financing operations of the firm. Extreme levels increase the risk level of the company to land at the lead to financial distress which at the advanced level can lead the Company to be put into receivership. For this reason, managers must ensure proper maintenance of liabilities and assets trend off is maintained to prevent adverse results which can jeopardize the firm’s operations. Hence, leading to financial failure which signifies the failure of the enterprise.

The sophisticated analysis required before taking loans. Most financial institutions need proper business plan from borrowing individuals and companies. In such situation, the borrowing entity may be compelled to hire financial analyst consultant to do some market feasibility and come up with the business plan which is very expensive, and it does not guarantee the proposal will be accepted by the prospected lending institution.

Financial Gearing and Capital Structure
Financial Gearing and Capital Structure

Conclusion

Going by the above discussion, it is clear that although using debt capital to finance operations has advantages. Such as Powerful accessibility of capital due to tax shield benefit and is best for buyout and acquisition strategic growth. It has inherent risks and disadvantages which can lead to financial distress hence bankruptcy. Thus‚ management must ensure proper trend off of risk and returns of borrowed loans and anticipated projects to be financed by such debt.

References

Ding, X. (Wu, M., & Zhong, L. 2016. ‘The Effect of Access to Public Debt Market on Chinese Firms Leverage’. Chinese Economy, no 49(5), pp 327-342.

Dong, C., Yanmin, G., Kaul, M., Charles Ka Yui, L., & Tsang, D. 2016. ‘The Role of Sponsors and External Management on the Capital Structure of Asian-Pacific REITs’: The Case of Australia, Japan, and Singapore. International Real Estate Review, no 19(2), pp 197-221.

Homburg, S. 2014. ‘Overaccumulation, Public Debt and the Importance of Land. German Economic Review’, no 15(4), pp.411-435.

Öztekin, Ö. (2015). ‘Capital Structure Decisions around the World: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?’. Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, no 50(3), pp 301-323.

Zawadzka, D, Szafraniec-Siluta, E, & Ardan, R 2015, ‘Factors influencing the use of the debt capital on firm, Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu, no. 412, pp. 356-366.

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Corporate Accounting Dissertations

Corporate Accounting – Significance, Application and Standards

Corporate Accounting is one of the major parts in financial management procedures of an organization. Accounting practices are necessary for a company in order to show how an organization has been successfully operating over the course of the year and making future plans for budgets and expenditures (Das, 2011). However, it is studied that accounting is a broadest term which have several branches and areas for different business and for different purposes. In which some of them are financial accounting, cost accounting and corporate accounting (Malwitz, 2008). However, this paper is merely focusing on defining the corporate accounting by incorporating corporate accounting theories, significance, concepts, legislation, applications and standards.

Corporate accounting is a special branch of accounting which can be defined as the quantity, recording and interpretation of financial information and data of a limited company which can be either a public limited company or a joint stock company (Fyler, 2013; Ijiri, 1980). Moreover, it is found that corporate accounting is an accounting which is particularly for larger companies since smaller-scale companies, sole traders or partnerships business cannot implement corporate accounting to maintain their financial record or information.

It is because smaller-scale companies, sole traders or partnerships businesses have not much requirements and demands in order to fulfil the accounting standards and to meet with accounting principles (Ijiri, 1980). On the other hand, large scale organizations or limited companies have sufficient financial information and data that they have to show to the general public and regulatory bodies therefore they have to maintain proper financial records with the help of corporate accounting (Fyler, 2013; Ijiri, 1980; Das, 2011).

Furthermore, it is studied that corporate accounting also deals helps the limited companies or large scale organizations in term of preparing final accounts, maintaining cash flow statements, analysing and interpreting financial results of the respective company particular for any specific events such as amalgamation, absorption, and helps company in preparation of consolidated balance sheets (Paton & Littleton, 1986).

By reviewing several studies, it is identified that the corporate accounting has some basic principles and foundations on which the overall accounting practices are based. The key foundations of corporate accounting include Accounting Cycle, Double Entry Accounting, and financial statements (Bennett, 2013). In which Accounting Cycle involves the regular recording and reporting of financial data or information. The accounting cycle completed within a specific period of time as per the policies of companies. Usually, it completed in a month or year.

Corporate Accounting Cycle

The accounting cycle begins by recording all financial transactions such as cash exchanges or debits and credits by using a general ledger approach. General Ledger is a precise and clear summary of all accounts including payable and receivable (Bennett, 2013; Ijiri, 1980). The next stage of accounting cycle is the adjustment of general ledger which can be done by taking items or entries which are not the direct transactions, such as bad debt, taxes and accrued interest. Thus, it is a key area therefore accountants must ensure that revenues and expenditures are match up as per each accounting period. In case, of accountant failed to do this properly, it can lead to confusion over financial irregularities and at the end of the period it can create confusion in overall revenue and total profit for the period (Bennett, 2013; Ijiri, 1980).

The second key element of the corporate accounting is double entry accounting, which can be defined as the standard accounting concept used by limited companies or large scale organizations. The basic of double entry accounting is based on the notion that for all actions there is an equal and opposite reaction (Bennett, 2013; Ijiri, 1980). It means that when a financial gain takes place in any part of financial statement, it should be escorted by a loss somewhere else on the balance sheet.

Corporate Accounting Dissertations
Corporate Accounting Dissertations

Suppose that of if a limited purchases a product to sell, so it will show the decrease in cash in financial statement and in the same way it will show the increase in inventory of certain organization (Bennett, 2013; Ijiri, 1980). Finally, the financial statement is another key aspect of corporate accounting, which is refers to the financial reports prepared at the end of the company’s financial year.

This financial report basically includes the cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements for the previous 12 months. The financial reports of an organization show the summary and of all financial activity including overall profits or losses incurred by respective company (Bennett, 2013; Ijiri, 1980). Furthermore, it has been examined that the financial report helps accountant of a limited company in terms of preparing tax returns, while stockbrokers and investors use the same financial reports for the comparison between respective company and international business performance.

In addition to this, it is found that the financial reports also help the managers of certain company in terms of a assessing the performance of the company as well as in making proper plan and budget for company to successfully execute its operation in upcoming year. Following is the table that represents the different accounting terms used in UK and USA (Joos & Lang, 1994):

Table 1 – Accounting Terms as Per UK and USA Standards

United States of America United Kingdom
Balance sheet/Statement of financial position Balance sheet
Inventory Stock
Treasury Stock Own Shares
Receivables Debtor
Payables Creditors
Provisions Accounting for loss contingencies
Stocks Shares
Retained Earnings Profit and loss Reserves
Paid in surplus Shares premium account
Management’s premium of operations Operating review
Management’s discussion of financial resources and liquidity Financial Review
Fiscal year Financial year
Income statement/Statement of earning Profit and loss account
Revenue/sales Turnover
Affiliated company Associated company
Earnings per share Net income per share
Scrip dividend Stock dividend
Balance sheet Balance sheet/Statement of financial position
Tangible fixed assets Property, plant and equipments

In addition to the above, it is identified that in most of the limited companies particularly in UK (United Kingdom) and USA (United States of America), for the preparation of financial reports or execute corporate accounting practices specific accounting standards are used which are only set in common law (Joos & Lang, 1994). However, in different countries, it has been studied that the corporate accounting are different from each other therefore different countries uses different accounting regulations in order to maintain financial records and for the preparation of yearly financial reports.

Furthermore, it has been examined that throughout the world there are two types of accounting standards are used which includes the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Young & Wiley, 2011; Everingham, et al., 2007).In which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) provides rules for business affairs from the global perspective in which the accounts and financials of a company can be understood and compared across international boundaries (Young & Wiley, 2011; Everingham, et al., 2007). On the other hand, General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provides rules to collect and interpret financial data for multinational competitors with the help of financial statement (Young & Wiley, 2011; Everingham, et al., 2007).

International Financial Reporting Standards

It is further examined that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are mostly adopted by the companies operating throughout the European Union. Beside it, the organization in several countries like Australia, South Africa and Russia are also now widely followed IFRS accounting standards for the recording of financial information and analysing and interpreting financial data. In contrast, specifically in the United States limited companies are bound to utilize the GAAP accounting standards for all kinds of accounting practices (Young & Wiley, 2011; Everingham, et al., 2007).

Thus, it has been concluded that, the corporate accounting system allow companies to successfully maintain financial data as per their company policies, regulated accounting standards and accounting principles or laws determined by common law.

References

Bennett, R. (2013) Corporate Accounting Basics. Free Press.

Das, B. (2011) Is Corporate Accounting a science or an art? Accounting, pp. 1-1.

Everingham, G. K., Everingham, G., Kleynhans, K., Posthumus, L., Kleynhans, J. E., & Posthumus, L. C. (2007) Principles of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Juta and Company Ltd.

Fyler, T. (2013) What Is A Definition Of Corporate Accounting

Ijiri, Y. (1980) An Introduction to Corporate Accounting Standards: A Review. The Accounting Review, 620-628.

Joos, P., & Lang, M. (1994) The Effects of Accounting Diversity: Evidence from the European Union. Journal of Accounting Research, 32, 141-168.

Malwitz, M. (2008) Financial Consolidation and Reporting Solutions: Adding Value to Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Oracle Paper, pp. 1-21.

Paton, W. A., & Littleton, A. C. (1986) An Introduction to Corporate Accounting Standards. Amer Accounting Assn.

Young, E. &., & Wiley, J. (2011) International GAAP 2012 – Generally Accepted Accounting Practice Under International Financial Reporting Standards. John Wiley & Sons.

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