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Goals perceived by business managers in practice may differ from those postulated in finance theory. Such a divergence between practice and theory is found in a perceptual survey of small-business managers. This paper reports on the financial goals perceived as important by small-business managers and discusses the implications of the findings. 1 1 The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial and administrative support provided by the Petroleum Marketing Education Foundation. Only the authors’ views are reported here, however,

Cash forecasting, investing, and controlling are three basic elements of a cash management program. Surveys of Fortune 500 firms reveal large firms having considerable sophistication in dealing with these cash management activities. Small-business practices probably differ from those of large firms due to time contraints, financial limitations, or lack of awareness. The following article reports on the cash management practices of 122 small businesses engaged in petroleum marketing. Although some deficiencies in cash forecasting and investing are noted, the small companies appear quite sophisticated in controlling their cash flows.

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