1. Basic concepts Aa Aa During the wake of the financial crisis, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that "shortening the cash cycle and better use of working capital" are the most important factors as private-sector businesses struggle to overcome the current economic volatility and difficulty in accessing capital markets (IBM Global Business Services, "Managing Working Capital in the New Economic Environment,"http://www-935.ibm.com/services/uk/bcs/pdf/working_capital_paper.pdf) Considering how important working capital management is, Water and Power Co. decided to evaluate the amount of working capital being used in the firm and explore the prospects of how its working capital will be financed Water and Power Co. reported the following results for current assets and liabilities on its most recent balance sheets. Interestingly, the company's sales did not change-it reported sales of $27,750 for its most recent year as well as for last year The columns labeled "Ending ($)" show results at the end of the most recent year, and the columns labeled "Beginning ($)" show results at the end of the previous year: Beginning () Ending ($) Beginning ($) Ending ($) Current assets Current liabilities Cash Accounts receivable Inventory 6,500 12,500 9,750 12,500 10,000 8,500 Accounts payable Notes payable Accruals 12,000 8,000 12,250 9,000 Using the information given and a 365-day year, calculate days of working capital, net working capital, and net operating working capital for Water and Power Co. Use your calculations to complete the following statements