The four general phases of the working capital cycle are the purchasing of resources that relates to the acquisition of supplies and labor, such as the amount of inventory that is necessary to maintain realistic production schedules and the staff required to ensure adequate provision of services. Production and sale are virtually the same in the healthcare industry; there is no inventory of product of services. Billing represents the interval between the release or discharge of a patient and the generation of a bill. Collection represents the interval between the generation of a bill and the actual collection of the cash from the patient or the patient’s third-party payer. Estimating those four general phases of working capital cycle is critical to cash budgeting and therefore to cash planning. The three primary sources of short-term funds are Single-Payment Loan, which is the simplest credit arrangement and is usually given for a specific purpose, such as the purchase of inventory. The note can be on either a discount or an add-on basis. The discount arrangement, the interest is computed and deducted from the face value of the original loan. The actual proceeds of the loan, then, would be in an amount less than the face of the note. In an add-on note, the interest is added to the final payment of the loan. In this particular arrangement, the borrower receives the full value of the loan when the loan is originated. Lastly, a revolving credit is pretty similar to a line of credit, except that the term of repayment is usually longer than 1 year. Revolving credit may be paid back in 2 to 3 years. The four areas that an organization’s short-term investment options for idle cash include, 1) Short-term working capital needs. The area of need that is most easily projected is usually short-term working capital transactions. 2) Capital investment needs,