S-curve characterisation of contractors' cash flow in Nigerian tertiary institutions TETFUND Projects

Abstract

It was empirically established that 82% of businesses fail due to poor management of cash flow; and that just over half of businesses prepare cash flow projections and compare them with actual figure. The paper established the characteristics of contractors' cash flow handling TETFUND projects in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions with a view to improving financial control in construction using the S-Curve as a tool. The research was exploratory in which cash flow characteristics of three selected projects were established. Project records comprising of project profiles and cash flows were used to generate data for the study. The characteristics of the S-Curves of two of the projects depicted rapid initial start-up indicating engagement of many activities at the beginning, while the third project depicted slow start-up due to unavailability of results of soil test. Subsequently, all the projects recorded average progressions and toward the end, progress of all the projects became slow. All the projects were largely executed under negative net cash flows with one at loss. It is therefore recommended that S-Curve be employed in financial planning and management in executing TETFUND projects in order to project ahead financial commitments and implications required in executing projects. The major limitation of the research was restricted case studies due to confidentiality on financial data.

Keywords: Cash Flows, Infrastructural Projects, S-Curve, Tertiary Institutions,
TETFUND