Working capital days
Inventory, Receivable, and Payable Days
Working capital days are the three components of the cash conversion cycle: how long stock sits before it is sold, how long customers take to pay, and how long the company takes to pay its suppliers.
Formula
Inventory days
Inventory Days = Inventory ÷ Cost of Goods Sold × 365
Receivable days (DSO)
Receivable Days = Trade Receivables ÷ Sales × 365
Payable days (DPO)
Payable Days = Trade Payables ÷ Cost of Goods Sold × 365
Benchmark: Low inventory and receivable days, high payable days; watch the trend more than the level
Reading the number
The cash conversion cycle is a single number. These three ratios show which part of it is moving. Inventory days rising means stock is not selling or the company is over-producing. Receivable days rising means customers are paying later, or the company is pushing sales by offering credit, which is a classic way to book profit that never turns into cash. Payable days rising can be strength, suppliers extending terms to a valued customer, or weakness, a company delaying payment because it has no cash.
Read each against the company's own history and its closest peers. A sudden jump in receivable days alongside strong reported sales growth is one of the most reliable early warnings in financial analysis.
Indian example
Related ratios
Glossary terms
From the research
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