Lock Box System In Working Capital Management

Most acquisitions of private companies include a working capital adjustment.

Lock box system in working capital management.

However it is possible to do away with it entirely by using the locked box mechanism. The scanned images are posted to a secure website where the company s accounting staff can access the images to apply payments to. For example a company with its headquarters in the midwest might have a bank account in new york for its east coast customers to mail in amounts owed. For the seller a locked box approach is difficult to apply without an anchored balance sheet and the seller can always lose out should the interest profit charge be set too low.

The locked box mechanism entails that the purchase price payable on the transaction s closing date closing is agreed and fixed at the date of. The bank opens the incoming mail deposits all received funds in the company s bank account and scans the payments and any remittance information. A lockbox is a bank operated mailing address to which a company directs its customers to send their payments. This is often a very sensitive part in the negotiation of a private m a deal.

The locked box working capital mechanism will also be discussed at the m a conference at wharton san francisco. A closing date balance sheet is not. Under this method the purchase price is determined based on a date that precedes the closing date. There are pros can cons when it comes to lockbox banking.

If there is too large a time lapse between the last audited accounts and proposed closing date the seller and buyer may agree on a more recent management accounts balance sheet to lock. The effective date balance sheet must accurately reflect the configuration and resulting working capital and debt of the business in the form in which it will be delivered to the purchaser. Usually involves a company s customers remitting amounts to a bank account close to the customers in order for the company to have collected funds sooner. If there is too large a time lapse between the last audited accounts and proposed closing date the seller and buyer may agree on a more recent management accounts balance sheet to lock.

The locked box date with key deal metrics working capital net debt etc being determined from independently verified financials. When a locked box mechanism is appropriate. Lockbox banking is a service provided by banks to companies for the receipt of payment from customers.