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Glite Dictionary
working capital

working capital

5 4.4
Money and things a business can use to pay day-to-day costs
  • noun
  • /ˈwɜrkɪŋ ˈkæpɪtəl/
  • Specialized
: capital de trabajo
  • AmeriMerchant has over 10 years of experience providing working capital offerings to small businesses around the US and Canada.

But what you have but, but in buying a promissory note, you buy an interest in the working capital of the Perth Mint.

Examples

  • The availability of both start-up capital and working capital remains an important constraint limiting the expansion of salmon culture in Canada.

    Academic text (1990)

  • As soon as earnings decrease, the supply of funds dries up, hurting both working capital for current operations and long-term capital for growth.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Small businesses often need more working capital to scale than is available to them.

    Blog text (23)

  • Most businesses look for a return on working capital of at least 20% annually.

    Blog text (8)

  • Loans in the amount of $15,000 in working capital are available and can close in two weeks.

    Blog text (15)

  • As the business grows, it requires more and more working capital, which comes from profits taxed at the individual level.

    Blog text (20)

  • We continue to manage our working capital very strictly, and we continue to optimize our costs," said Phiri.

    Blog text (3)

  • The startup secured sufficient working capital to expand its operations and hire new staff.

  • After several months of careful budgeting, the business finally stabilized its working capital for daily expenses.

  • To sustain growth, the company needs to increase its working capital by reducing its outstanding liabilities.

Synonyms

operating capital
vsworking capital
  • Specialized
1 4.1

Money a business uses to pay its daily costs

is the precise net amount of current assets minus current liabilities

Antonyms

insolvency
  • Specialized
12 6.8

A situation when someone cannot pay money they owe

Surface Forms

working capital singular
working capitals plural

Morphology

working + capital

The compound is directly compositional: 'working' (operational, used now) modifies 'capital' (funds/assets), so the phrase literally denotes funds used for day-to-day operations. This is a common, cross-linguistic business noun formation, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the general meaning (even if they might not know the precise accounting formula).

Etymology

Working capital comes from two simple ideas: working means in use for daily work and capital means the money or things a business owns. Imagine a shopkeeper using cash in the till and goods on the shelves to pay bills and buy more stock — that money is 'working' to keep the shop open, so working capital means the funds a company uses for its 'short-term' costs.