Working capital is commonly understood as the fund needed to meet the day-to-day expenses of an enterprise. A finance manager finds that the funds for meeting these expenses get blocked in current assets. He, therefore, looks for liquidity support in net working capital (NWC), which is equivalent to the excess of current assets over current liabilities. A banker also looks at the size of NWC as the long-term stake of the business in funding the current assets. But for a production manager, liquidity is synonymous to uninterrupted supply of material inputs to the production lines. Similarly, for a marketing manager, if there is no production, his marketing outlets dry up despite demand in the market. While the finance manager discourages overstocking of inventory, the production manager and the marketing manager dread of being out of stock. In this conflict the goal of the organisation often takes a back seat. This book aims at resolving these conflicts by adopting a techno-financial approach to working capital management. In the previous edition a full chapter on Service Business: Risk Analysis and Working Capital Assessment was introduced to understand the nature of service business and the risks associated with it followed by developing a model for assessment of working capital requirement. Whereas, in the Fourth Edition, a new chapter on Technological Progress, Innovations and Startups-A New Financing Methodology has been introduced to fill a long-felt gap in financing of emerging industries. Besides, the book is revised and updated extensively by incorporating the current researches in the field; particular mention can be made of Cash pooling system, Bullwhip effect and newer approaches to inventory recording system. Throughout the book, every concept is presented with worked-out examples and case studies for easy comprehension of the subject. The book is primarily addressed to postgraduate students majoring in Finance and to those pursuing professional courses in Accounts (CA) and Cost Accounting (ICWA). The book will also be very useful for practising finance executives, risk managers and also purchase/materials managers. TARGET AUDIENCE o MBA (Finance) o CA and ICWA Aspirants Preface Preface to the Third Edition Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition Acknowledgements 1. Working Capital: A Techno-Financial Analysis 2. Service Business: Risk Analysis and Working Capital Assessment 3. Theories of Trade Credit 4. Management of Accounts Receivable 5. Inventory Strategies and Techniques 6. Liquidity and Cash Management 7. Management of Accounts Payable 8. Financing Working Capital Gap 9. Channel System, Logistics and Channel Financing 10. Technological Progress, Innovations and Startups-A New Financing Methodology Bibliography Author Index Subject Index About the Author HRISHIKES BHATTACHARYA, Ph.D., has been Professor of Finance and Control at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He has also been Director of United Bank of India and UNDP Fellow on International Financial Management at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bhattacharya has authored several books in the areas of economics and finance and published over 88 articles in reputed national and international journals. He is also a member of the Editorial Boards of two international journals. He continues to teach in reputed management institutes/universities in India and abroad.