Empresas de tecnologia e problemas tradicionais de gestão financeira: estudo de caso na gestão do capital de giro em uma empresa de tecnologia da informação

Abstract

One of the main challenges faced by small and medium size companies relate to the working capital management. Except for large corporations or companies that count with foreign sources of capital, to whom high levels of corporate governance are usually required, a high percentage of domestic companies are managed using empirical methods or simplistic processes due to lack of training, skills or technical knowledge, notably in the field of finance. Based on the analysis of a Brazilian medium-sized technology (IT) company active since 2010 in the city of São Paulo, characterized by the frequent use of bank loans to resolve mismatches in its cash flows, we could note the absence of indicators regarding the billing process, default rate out of control and lack of basic payment flow procedures. Even though being a technology company, its internal processes were built based on the knowledge acquired in daily life through experiences and people's common sense. The company then established, jointly with its shareholders, a policy of concentrateting the volume of invoicing in 80% of the total, concentrated in the first ten days of each month and a continuous action plan for collecting and monitoring of receivables. Additionally, it was standardized a company's payment term of thirty days after the date of the suppliers' invoice issuance. A better control of receipts and the longest payment period for third parties enabled more efficient cash planning on a daily basis. The main results of the intervention were the reduction of 15% in the need for working capital and consequently, a reduction in the need to borrow funds from financial institutions, as well as the optimization of the treasury balance, thus offering a better financial position to the company.