【企业财务收款付款管理]外文翻译应收账款张从改.docx

{财务管理收款付款}外文翻译应收账款张从改AccountsReceivableAuthor:M.ElizabethHaywood,Donald.IntroductionAccountsreceivableconsistsofmoniesduefromcustomersasaresultofanorganizationsnormalbusinessoperations.Themanagementofaccountsreceivableisanextremelyimportantfunctionsincethecollectionofoutstandingreceivablesrepresentsthesinglemostimportantsourceofcashforallorganizationssellinggoodsonopenaccount.Becauseoftheimpactthataccounts-receivablecollectionshaveoncashflow,itisimportantthatresponsibilityfortheday-to-daymanagementofcreditandcollectionsactivitiesbedelegatedtoasingleindividualwithintheorganization.AccountsReceivableasaCurrentAssetOnthebalancesheet,accountsreceivableisreportedasacurrentassetandisconsideredpartofanorganizationsworkingcapital.Asacurrentasset,accountsreceivableisexpectedtobeturnedintocashwithintheannualoperatingcycleofabusiness,whichformostbusinessesisgenerallyconsideredtobeoneyearandcorrespondstothetwelve-monthfiscalyearusedforfinancialreportingpurposes.This,however,doesnotimplythatitshouldtakeoneyeartocollectindividualreceivablebalances.Inthecaseofauniversitypress,accountsreceivablerepresentsamajorponentofcurrentassets,workingcapital,andcashflow.Theothermajorponentsofauniversitypresssworkingcapitalarecash,short-terminvestments,andinventory.Asaponentofworkingcapital,accountsreceivablemustbecarefullymanagedinordertobeturnedintocashasquicklyaspossibleandtoavoidbeinguncollectible.Althoughaccountsreceivableisreportedasacurrentasset,itmustbecarefullyvaluatedandreportedbecauseuntilthereceivableiscollected,itcannotreadilyassistwiththepayingofcurrentobligations.AccountsReceivableandCollectionsReportsBecauseofthesignificanceofaccountsreceivableitisimportantformanagementtoreceiveperiodicreportsthatbothmeasuretheeffectivenessofcollectionactivitiesandinformoralertmanagementofproblemaccounts.Ideally,reportsshouldbegeneratedonamonthlybasis,butdependingonthesizeofthereceivablebalanceandcollectionsstaff,theissuanceofsuchreportsmayrangefromweeklytoquarterly.Thisflowofinformationisnecessarysothatmanagementandcollectionsstaffcandeterminewhethercurrentcreditandcollectionspoliciesandproceduresareworking,orwhetheranyofthepoliciesandproceduresneedtobechangedtomoreeffectivelycollectoutstandingreceivables.Additionally,thecollectionsstaffneedsinformationsothatcollectionactivitiescanbeprioritized,problemaccountsisolated,andoutstandingbalancescollected.AnalysisofAccountsReceivableandCollectionsAnumberofmethodsareusedtomeasureaccounts-receivablebalancesandtheeffectivenessofcollectionpoliciesandprocedures.SomeofthemorefrequentlyusedmethodstoanalyzeaccountsreceivableandcollectionsincludeA/RatYearEndasaPercentageofTotalSales.Thisratioisputedbydividingthefiscalyear-endA/Rbalancebyfiscalyearnetsales.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesbetween21.6percentand23.0percentforfiscalyears1992through1995.Thisratiocanalsobeputedatanytimeduringtheyear;however,togetameaningfulratio,theA/Rbalancemustbedividedbynetsalesforthemostrecenttwelvemonths.AverageCollectionPeriod.Thisratioisanindicationoftheaveragenumberofdaysrequiredtoconvertreceivablesintocash.Ideally,theputationshoulduseamonthlyaverageofreceivablesandincludeonlycreditsales.Amonthlyaverageofreceivablesshouldbeusedinordertooffsetanyfluctuationsthatmayoccurduringtheyear.Additionally,onlycreditsalesshouldbeusedinthisputationsincecashsalesusuallydonotinvolveanycreditrisk.Theputationoftheaveragecollectionperiodisatwo-stepprocess.Firstdividetotalsales(preferablycreditsalesonly)forthefiscalyearby365.Thiscalculationyieldstheamountofcreditsalesperday.Thendividetheyear-endreceivablebalance(oraveragemonthlyreceivablebalance)bythecreditsalesperday.Theresultistheaveragecollectionperiodindays.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragecollectionperiodsof77to91daysforfiscalyear1995and80to95daysforfiscalyear1994.A/RAgingSchedule.Thisisaperiodicreportusedtodeterminetheprioritiesofcollectionactivities.Anagingschedulelistsallcustomeraccountswithoutstandingbalancesasofthedateoftheagingschedule,oneaccountperline.Acrosstheline,thetotalamountdueisbrokendown,oraged,byoverduecategories.Theoverduecategoriesgenerallyincludecurrent(notyetdue),1to30dayspastdue,30to60dayspastdue,60to90dayspastdue,andover90dayspastdue.Theagingcategoriesmayneedtobeadjustedtoproperlyreflectanorganizationstermsofsales.A/RAgingbyCustomerTypeorPaymentTerms.ThisisavariationoftheA/RAgingScheduleandcanbeusedtomoreeffectivelytargetaccountsthatrequiretheattentionofthecollectionsstaff.Amorefocusedschedulealsoallowsparisonstobedrawnbetweensimilaraccounts.BadDebtExpenseasPercentageofTotalSales.Thisratioisputedbydividingyear-endbaddebtexpensebynetsales.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesof0.4percentand0.5percentforfiscalyears1992through1995.BadDebtExpenseasPercentageofA/RBalance.Thisratioisputedbydividingyear-endbaddebtexpensebytheyear-end(oraverage)A/Rbalance.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesbetween1.8percentand2.0percentforthefiscalyears1992through1995.CreditDepartmentMonthlyReport.Thisisasummaryr。