The finance available to pay for day to day running costs, including payment for goods and services which have either already been used or will be shortly, for example, stocks of raw materials, labour costs, energy costs, repairs and maintenance, etc; current assets less current liabilities – shown as net current liabilities (or net current assets) assets on the balance sheet. In general, if current liabilities are greater than current assets, a firm may struggle to meet debts as they fall due. A business, therefore, needs to pay close attention to the effective management of each of its current asset items and current liabilities. The efficient management of working capital is something that is frequently overlooked in fast growing businesses because of the need to achieve sales and profit targets. Whereas profit leads to growth, working capital does not. It simply allows a business to achieve growth. Careless attention to working capital, in particular poor cash management, might well lead to liquidity problems and has often resulted in profitable companies going out of business.