CIMA BA1 Syllabus D. The Financial Context Of Business - Short term finance - Notes 3 / 9
Short term finance
The following are short terms forms of finance
- in the exam always remember to think about these when asked about possible ways of raising finance
Overdraft
This is the riskiest type of finance as the bank can call it in at any time.
The bank has the right to be repaid overdrawn balances on demand, except where the overdraft terms require a period of notice.
The bank can use the customers’ money in any legally or morally acceptable way that it chooses
Short term Loan
Less risky than an overdraft but it will possibly need replacing and there’s a risk that it would be on worse terms - if the economy changes
Unlike an overdraft, a bank loan cannot be withdrawn by the bank after the loan has been granted (assuming the loan terms
have been met) so this is a more secure source of finance.Trade payables
Often seen as free finance - although you may actually be missing out on early settlement discounts.
Be careful also not to annoy your creditors by taking too long to pay
Debt Factoring
The sale of a business' invoices to a third party.
The business selling will pay a fee for this service
The third party is charged with processing the invoices, and the business lending the invoices is able to receive loans based on the expected payments on the invoices.
Short -Term Leases
Some assets (eg vehicles, printers) can be financed by short-term rental agreements which remove the risk of owning the asset (eg technological change, equipment failure) but are expensive.