Use of the Indicator of the Period of Outstanding Current Liabilities when Diagnosing Crisis at Mining and Smelting Enterprises

The article substantiates methodical approaches to the use of the indicator of the period of outstanding current liabilities when diagnosing crisis at domestic mining and smelting enterprises. It reveals that these enterprises are the most vulnerable in the world financial and economic crisis, during the period of which production volumes dropped in physical terms, but increased together with sales in money terms, which was achieved by means of increase of prices and dollar rate. It states that one of the key tasks in solving the problems resulting from current company management is a necessity of permanent control over the level of current liabilities, the source of repayment of which, in majority of cases, is the proceeds from products sales. In this connection it offers to use, in addition to other indicators of diagnostics, the period of outstanding current liabilities, which is calculated using relation of current liabilities to the volume of sales of products in money terms, multiplied by 365 days. It offers to identify its lowest value, which would characterise the period during which an enterprise could suspend repayment of current liabilities without the risk of deteriorating the financial state down to the crisis level. It calculates and analyses factual values of the indicator at a number of mining and smelting enterprises of Ukraine for the period 2002 - 2011. It states that it is more expedient to use different values for different groups of enterprises as boundary values. It also offers to set the upper limit value of the period of outstanding current liabilities at the level of 1 year. It states that when this value is exceeded, the financial state of an enterprise is characterised as a critical situation.