36. Darren’s Hair Products, Inc. purchases supplies from a single supplier on terms of 1/10, net 20. Currently, Darren takes
the discount, but she believes she could extend the payment to 40 days without any adverse effects if she decided not to
take the discount. Darren needs an additional $50,000 to support an expansion of fixed assets. This amount could be
raised by making greater use of trade credit or by arranging a bank loan. The banker has offered to loan the money at 12
percent discount interest. Additionally, the bank requires an average compensating balance of 20 percent of the loan
amount. Darren already has a commercial checking account at this bank that could be counted toward the compensating
balance, but the required compensating balance amount is twice the amount that Darren would otherwise keep in the
account. Which of the following statements is most correct?
The cost of expanding trade credit using the approximation formula is less than the cost of the bank loan.
However, the true cost of the trade credit when compounding is considered is greater than the cost of the bank
loan.
The effective cost of the bank loan is decreased from 17.65 percent to 15.38 percent because Darren would
hold a cash balance of one-half the compensating balance amount even if the loan were not taken.