Working capital is the amount a company is due for services/goods (accounts receivable) minus what it owes for services/goods (accounts payable). The ideal sit

Working capital is the amount a company is due for services/goods (accounts receivable) minus what it owes for services/goods (accounts payable). The ideal situation for a company is that if it receives payment for it services in advance (i.e. a consumer paying for a holiday) and has to pay its suppliers (i.e. hotels) much later. This can result in a situation called negative working capital where a company has received more cash from customers than it has paid to-date. This is effectively interest free financing. Companies getting into financial difficulty will try to accelerate payment of monies they are owned and delay payment to supplies...as we see here.