QUESTION 2 (40 MARKS)

Classique Household Furnishings & Appliances is a family-owned furniture store. You are the management accountant of the concern and have been given the task of preparing the cash budget for the business for the quarter ending September 30, 2018. Your data collection has yielded the following:

i) Extracts from the sales and purchases budgets are as follows:

Month	Cash Sales	Sales On Account	Purchases On Account
May	$50,000	$480,000	$390,000
June	$65,000	$600,000	$360,000
July	$43,400	$720,000	$450,000
August	$52,800	$640,000	$400,000
September	$56,750	$800,000	$500,000

ii) An analysis of the records shows that trade receivables (accounts receivable) for sales on account are settled according to the following credit pattern, in accordance with the credit terms 5/30, n90:

50% in the month of sale

35% in the first month following the sale

15% in the second month following the sale

iii) Accounts payable are settled as follows, in accordance with the credit terms 4/30, n60:

70% in the month in which the inventory is purchased

30% in the following month

iv) Monthly rental is received from a tenant for storage space rented to him by Classique Household Furnishings & Appliances. The rental is $840,000 per annum and is received quarterly in advance. Rental relating to the quarter under review becomes due on July 1.

v) Computer equipment, which is estimated to cost $350,000, will be acquired for cash in August. The manager has made arrangements with the seller to make a cash deposit of 50% of the amount upon signing of the agreement in August, with the balance to be settled in four equal monthly instalments, starting in September 2018.

vi) An investment instrument purchased by the company with a face value of $480,000 will mature on July 20, 2018 and will be liquidated on that date. At the same time, quarterly interest computed at a rate of 8 % per annum will also be collected.

vii) Fixed operating expenses, which accrue evenly throughout the year, are estimated to be $1,920,000 per annum [including depreciation on non-current assets of $42,000 per month] and are settled monthly.

viii) Wages and salaries are expected to be $2,304,000 per annum and will be paid monthly.

ix) Other operating expenses are expected to be $144,000 per quarter and are settled monthly.

x) In the month of August, furniture & fixtures, which cost $455,000, will be sold to an employee at a loss of $20,000. Accumulated depreciation on the furniture & fixtures at that time is expected to be $305,000. The employee will be allowed to pay a deposit equal to 60% of the selling price in August with the balance settled in two equal amounts in September & October.

xi) As part of its investing activities, the management of Classique Household Furnishings & Appliances is in the process of completing a major addition to the business property which is estimated to cost $1,200,000, and which is being funded by external borrowing. $460,000 of the principal, along with interest of $18,000 is due to be paid on July 15, 2018.

xii) The cash balance on September 30, 2018 is expected to be an overdraft of $264,000.

Required:

(a) The business needs to have a sense of its future cashflows and therefore requires the preparation of the following:

• A schedule of budgeted cash collections for trade receivables for each of the months July to September. (5 marks)
• A schedule of expected cash disbursements for accounts payable for each of the months July to September. (4 marks)

• A cash budget, with a total column, for the quarter ending September 30, 2018, showing the expected cash receipts and payments for each month and the ending cash balance for each of the months, given that no financing activity took place. (25 marks)

(b) Upon receipt of the budget the team manager has now informed you that all companies in the industry in which Classique Household Furnishings operates are required to maintain a minimum cash balance of $140,000 each month. Based on the budget prepared, will the business be meeting this requirement? The business is already heavily indebted, so management does not wish to borrow any additional funds from outside sources. Suggest four (4) internal strategies that the business may employ in order to improve the organizations monthly cash flow. Each strategy must be fully explained.