CIE IGCSE Topical Past Paper 1

5.2 Cash-flow forecasting and working capital

0450/13/M/J/2025

Jonathon is a sole trader. He owns a shop selling office equipment including printers. To encourage sales Jonathon allows customers 4 weeks to pay for the office equipment. Jonathon thinks his business is likely to remain small. He knows managing cash flow is important for his business and he has prepared a cash flow forecast. An extract is shown in Table 2.1.

Extract from Jonathon’s cash flow forecast July – September 2025 ($000)
	July	August	September
Cash inflow	60	80	Y
Cash outflow	90	95	70
Net cash flow	(30)	X	20
Opening balance	20	(10)	(25)
Closing balance	(10)	(25)	(5)

Table 2.1

(b) Calculate X and Y. [2]

(d) Explain two reasons why Jonathon’s business might have a cash flow problem.[6]
Reason 1:
Explanation:

Reason 2:
Explanation:

0450/11/M/J/2025

LFK is a coal-mining business. It has 135 employees who are all provided with training. After the dismissal of one of LFK’s employees there is a job vacancy for a new supervisor. External recruitment will be used. The Managing Director is preparing a cash flow forecast for LFK. An extract is shown in Table 3.1.

Extract from LFK’s cash flow forecast July – September 2025 $000
	July	August	September
Cash inflow	600	400	730
Cash outflow	720	X	590
Net cash flow	(120)	(100)	140
Opening balance	40	(80)	(180)
Closing balance	(80)	(180)	Y

Table 3.1

(c) Identify four reasons why a cash flow forecast might be useful to a business. [4]
Reason 1:
Reason 2:
Reason 3:
Reason 4:

0450/12/F/M/2025

SEP operates in the tertiary sector. As a social enterprise, SEP has many objectives. It collects old books from libraries and schools and sells them to customers at a low price. SEP provides training for its 10 part-time employees. SEP’s manager wants to know how the introduction of a legal minimum wage might affect a business.

(c) Outline two benefits to SEP of having part-time employees. [4]

(d) Explain two reasons why training is important to SEP. [6]
Reason 1:
Explanation:

Reason 1:
Explanation:

(e) Do you think the introduction of a legal minimum wage will always have a negative effect on a business? Justify your answer. [6]

0450/12/F/M/2025

TJK manufactures candles. Contributing to sustainable development is important to TJK. The business uses batch production in its factory in country X. The target market for TJK’s products is females between 20 and 50 years of age. The Managing Director is reviewing TJK’s financial data. An extract is shown in Table 3.1. He is also considering the benefits to a business of becoming multination company.

Extract from TJK’s financial data for 2024 $000

Working capital	900
Profit	400
Revenue	1000

Table 3.1

(a) Define ‘working capital’. [2]

045/12/M/J/2024

IDT manufactures clothes for the mass market. It is a multinational company with factories in 4 countries. IDT has short-term and long-term financial needs. The Finance Director is analysing IDT’s statement of financial position. An extract is shown in Table 3.1. He has been asked to calculate working capital and to explain how an increase in non-current liabilities might affect IDT.

Extract from IDT’s statement of financial position ($ million)
	2022	2023
Current assets	380	420
Current liabilities	250	280
Non-current liabilities	300	400

Table 3.1

(b) Calculate IDT’s working capital in 2023. [2]

0450/12/F/M/2024

FR is a multinational company. It has hotels in 18 countries. FR wants to expand into a new market and is planning to build another hotel. FR’s Marketing Director is considering how the market can be segmented. FR’s Financial Director is considering which source of finance to use to fund the expansion. He is also constructing a cash-flow forecast for the new hotel’s first year of trading.

(a) Identify one cash inflow and one cash outflow for a business. [2]
Cash inflow:
Cash outflow:

(e) Explain two ways a cash-flow forecast could be used by a business. Which is likely to be the most important way? Justify your answer. [6]

0450/13/M/J/2023

TDG is a bicycle retailer. It has 3 employees. TDG needs to maintain customer loyalty as the business sells in a mass market. Simon, the manager, knows managing cash flow is important. He is analysing TDG’s cash-flow forecast. An extract is shown in Table 1.1. Simon is considering ways for TDG to overcome its short-term cash-flow problem in September.

Extract from TDG’s cash-flow forecast 2023 ($000)
	July	August	September
Cash inflow	X	50	40
Cash outflow	50	50	(Y)
Net cash flow	10	0	(40)
Opening balance	20	30	30
Closing balance	30	30	(10)

Table 2.1

(b) Calculate X and Y. [2]

(c) Outline two reasons why managing cash flow might be important for TDG. [4]
Reason 1:
Reason 2:

(d) Explain two ways TDG could overcome its short-term cash-flow problem in September. [6]
Way 1:
Explanation:

Way 2:
Explanation: