The report aims to analyse the significance of the departments like accounting and finance and discuss their functions. The report also provides the options available to Panini Limited as a source of financing its expansion goals. The second portion of the report discusses in detail the financial ratios of the company for the years 2018 and 2019. Each ratio has been discussed with its reason for the change and the recommendations to improve the same.
The accounting department is responsible for recording the financial transaction in a business in a systematic way. The duties of the accounting department are to record, summarise and present the financial information (Schroeder, Clark and Cathey 2019). The department is responsible for preparing the financial statements that include the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The functions of the accounting department are as follows:
The finance department is an integral department of any business organisation. The department is responsible for sourcing and utilising funds managing the requirement of finance in the business, and planning for the expenses. It also decides on the various investment opportunities to make the optimal use of the funds. Management of working capital is critical for a business to operate on a daily basis without hindrance. This department looks after the working capital required in the business to continue smoothly and arrange for the additional working capital required. The dividend is another important decision for a business. The decision regarding the payment and sum of dividend is decided by this department. The functions of the finance department are discussed below:
The sources of finance for small and medium enterprises are limited. For the provided company Panini Limited, which is a medium-sized company, the sources of finance to expand its business are as follows:
A gross profit margin is a ratio between the gross profit and the total sales for the period (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India 2022). It shows how much profit the company can generate after paying the direct cost required for the sales. The gross profit margin of the company has reduced from 35% to 28.29% in 2019, a fall of 6.61%. This implies that the company is making a lesser profit on sales in 2019 than in 2018. The main cause behind the fall is the increase in the cost of sales which has grown at a rate higher than the growth of sales. The ratio can be improved by controlling the cost of sales, and an increase in prices will also drive the gross profit margin higher.
An operating profit margin is a ratio that measures the profitability of the business just from its operations (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India 2022). It is the ratio between the operating profit before charging interest and tax expenses to the total sales. The operating profit margin of 27.65% and 20.04% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, indicates that the company is generating such percentage of sales as the profit from its operating activities. There is a negative change of 7.61% in 2019 as the operating profit fell in 2019 from 2018 levels. The reason for this change is the fall in the gross profit margin and the overall increase in operating expenses by £195 thousand and an increase of 30% in a year. The operating profit margin can be improved by proper management of operating costs through reduction of cost of sales and streamlining the operations.
The return on capital employed (ROCE) is a measure of the efficiency of the company in generating profits against the total capital employed in the business (Lisek, Luty and Zio?o 2020). This ratio takes into consideration both equity and borrowed capital invested in the business. In the year 2019, a ROCE of 22.57% means the company has returned such percentage on the total capital that is invested in the business. There is a fall of 9.01% in 2019 from 2018 levels as the company has been less profitable in the latter year. The reason for the fall is the decreased net profit due to the increase in cost and the increased rate of tax paid in 2019. The ROCE can be improved by increasing the net profit, which can be achieved by managing the cost items and reduction in the tax liability of the company.
The current ratio is a ratio that measures liquidity. It indicates the short-term capability of a company to pay off the immediate debt obligations (Madushanka and Jathurika 2018). It is a ratio of the working capital and provides insights on improving the liquidity of the company. The current ratio of the company is 4.12 times in 2019 which means it can pay off its current liabilities 4.12 times. The current ratio has increased from 1.21 times in 2018 to 4.12 times in 2019. The improvement results from increasing current assets and a simultaneous decrease in current liabilities. The 2019 level is significantly high, which indicates the company’s assets are locked in current assets. This can be improved by reducing the current assets and investing in more profitable assets.
The quick or acid-test ratio is an absolute measure of the liquidity of the company. It considers the current assets that can be immediately changed into cash. It indicates if a company can pay its short-term debts without selling its inventory (Madushanka and Jathurika 2018). The quick ratio in 2018 was extremely low at 0.85 times, and the company could not pay its current liabilities without selling its inventory. The ratio improved in 2019 to 2.80 times, which means the company has enough liquidity to pay its current liabilities.
The inventory turnover days are an indicator of the efficiency of the company in managing its inventory and in how many days the inventory is turned into sales. It is calculated by dividing the inventory by the cost of goods sold and multiplying with 365 days (Tissen and Sneidere 2019). Inventory turnover of 19.65 days in 2018 indicates that the company takes this many days on average to sell its inventory. The inventory turnover days increased to 29.87 days in 2019, a positive change of 10.22 days. The company is selling its inventory slower in 2019, which can be improved by properly managing inventory and increasing sales.
The debtor’s collection period is the number of days the company needs to receive payments from its credit customers. It is a measure of the efficiency of the company in managing its receivables and maintaining the required liquidity in the business (Saifudin and Sa’adah 2019). The debtor’s collection period of 27.74 days in 2018 means the company takes this many days to collect money from its credit customers. The period increased to 42.53 days in 2019, and the company is slower in collecting its money. The increase is due to the high amount of revenue stuck in receivables. This can be improved by providing cash discounts to customers on early payment and pro-actively following up for payments.
The creditor’s payment period is the measure of the days that the company takes to pay off its creditors. It is also a measure of the efficiency of the company in managing its working capital by maintaining a reasonable payment period for the business (Ilter 2020). The creditor’s payment period in 2018 indicates that the company pays off its creditors in 51.66 days on average. This was reduced to 21.94 days in 2019, which means the company is paying its creditors faster than in 2018. This shows the good financial condition and high liquidity in the company.
As per the observations in the ratio analysis of Panini Limited, the company performed well in 2018, but in 2019 its profitability decreased. It has huge capital locked in current assets, due to which the liquidity is high, but the returns have decreased. Thus, the potential investors should not invest in the company. In case the company continues in the same trend, the financial stability may be in danger due to decreasing profits and high current assets.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the accounts and finance departments have varied functions which are important for an organisation. Such functions are critical for the running of any business. In the following section, ratio analysis of Panini Limited, it can be observed that the company has deteriorating profit margins and the liquidity is high, losing out on investment opportunities in high return assets. Proper management of the costs and implementing strategies to recover money from customers faster will help in improving the overall performance of the company.
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