I was wondering why do we use the receivables figure to determine the cost of financing receivables when really the cost element of those sales is its purchase. When a business buys a product for 100 euro then sells on credit for 130, If that sale puts us into overdraft Would we not in real life be borrowing from the bank a 100 euro not 130. Therefore if the cost of capital is 10 percent would we not use the 100 to calculate our finance cost?
If we received the cash from the receivables immediately then the overdraft would reduce immediately by 130. If we allow credit then there is a delay before the overdraft is reduced and therefore we are paying interest on an extra 130 over the period.