ICAB CL Business & Finance case studies
ICAB CL Business & Finance · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Business & Finance is a Business Level paper in the ICAB Chartered Accountancy qualification, sitting between the Certificate Level foundations and the advanced Corporate/Professional Level subjects. It is written for candidates who already understand basic accounting mechanics and now need to see the organisation as a whole: how it is owned and governed, how it raises and manages money, how markets and the economy shape its choices, and how strategy, marketing, operations, people and controls fit together. The ICAB CL Business & Finance case studies are 5 cases and about 2,780 words.
1Harbourline Foods: Financing a Capacity Expansion
Harbourline Foods is a family-owned UK chilled-food manufacturer with annual revenue of £42m and EBITDA of £5.6m. It wants to build a second production line costing £14m to serve a new supermarket contract worth £9m of annual revenue at a 6% operating margin.
532 words, about 3 min2Northgate Components: Make-or-Buy Under Capacity Pressure
Northgate Components makes precision brackets for automotive customers. Its single plant runs at 88% of practical capacity of 120,000 units a year.
524 words, about 3 min3Clearwater Utilities: Investment Appraisal with Regulatory Constraints
Clearwater Utilities is a regulated water company evaluating a £60m smart-metering programme. Expected annual operating savings are £9m for 15 years, but the regulator will only allow the capex into the regulated asset base (RAB) after a three-year review, and will cap the allowed return at 4.5% real.
558 words, about 3 min4Meadowbank Retail: Working Capital and Supplier Terms
Meadowbank Retail is a UK fashion retailer with revenue of £80m and a gross margin of 38%. Its cash conversion cycle has lengthened: inventory days 95 (was 70), receivable days 12 (unchanged), payable days 45 (was 60).
562 words, about 3 min5Larkspur Analytics: Data, Risk and Governance
Larkspur Analytics is a 200-person UK data business serving financial-services clients. It holds personal data on 1.2 million consumers and runs its core platform on a single cloud region with no tested failover.
604 words, about 3 min