Reference no: EM132533967

Lannister Company wishes to forecast its cash receipts and cash disbursements for the first quarter of 2020. The following data have been assembled:

a. Actual sales for November and December of 2019 and forecasted sales data for the first four months of 2020 are as follows:

November (actual) $450,000

December (actual) 750,000

January (estimate) 150,000

February (estimate) 75,000

March (estimate) 300,000

April (estimate) 500,000

b. Lannister pays for 20% of its inventory purchases in the month of the purchase. An additional 70% is paid for in the month following the purchase. The remaining 10% is paid for in the second month following the purchase. Inventory purchases in November and December were $330,000 and $110,000, respectively.

c. Cash collections of sales are made according to the following pattern:

10% of sales are collected in the month of sale

30% of sales are collected in the month following sale

55% of sales are collected in the second month following sale

5% of sales are never collected

d. On average, cost of goods sold is 75% of sales.

e. Lannister started implementing an ending inventory policy in 2020 that there should be enough inventory at the end of the month to meet the sales needs for the following month. On January 1, Lannister's inventory level is $100,000. Note: Inventory is reported at its COST, not its retail selling price.

Problem 1: Budgeted sales in March ($300,000) are higher than in January ($150,000) and February ($75,000). Calculate the budgeted net cash flows in January, February and March. Why is the budgeted net cash flow in March is much worse than in January or February?