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Businessfinance

Days Sales Outstanding Calculator

Days sales outstanding, and the cash locked up by collecting late. Each day of DSO above terms is a day of revenue sitting in someone else's bank account.

Also called: days sales outstanding, receivables days.

$
$
Days sales outstanding
50

50 days to collect against terms of 30 days, so you are 20 days behind. Every day of DSO ties up $169,863.01.

Days beyond terms
20
Cash tied up per day of DSO
$169,863.01
Cash locked up beyond terms
$3,404,109.59
Receivables turnover
7.29
Method and background

How this is calculated

DSO is receivables divided by annual revenue, times 365. Comparing it to stated terms is what makes it actionable: thirty-day terms with a DSO of fifty means twenty days of revenue permanently financed by you. Multiplying that gap by daily revenue gives the cash a collections fix would release, which is usually a larger number than anyone expects and needs no external funding.

receivables as a share of annual revenue, expressed in days
AR
Accounts receivable

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • Revenue is on credit terms and spread evenly across the year.

What it deliberately does not model

  • A seasonal business needs the countback method rather than a flat annual average.
  • Cash sales should be excluded from the revenue figure or DSO reads low.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

What is a good DSO?
Close to your stated terms. The absolute number matters less than the gap: a DSO of forty-five on forty-five day terms is fine, and one of forty on thirty day terms is not.