Stride Rite Corporation manufactures and markets shoes under the brand names Stride Rite®, Keds®, and Sperry Top-Sider®. Three recent years produced a combination of declining sales revenue and net income culminating in a net loss of $8,430,000. Each year, however, Stride Rite was able to report positive cash flows from operations. Contributing to that positive cash flow was the change in accounts receivable.

The current and prior year balance sheets reported the following:

Required: 1. On the current year's cash flow statement (indirect method), how would the change in accounts receivable affect cash flow from operations? Explain why it would have this effect. 2. Explain how declining sales revenue often leads to

(a) declining accounts receivable and

(b) cash collections from customers being higher than sales revenue.

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(IN THOUSANDS) Current Previous Year Year Accounts and notes receivable, less allowances $48,066 $63,403