Calculating cash flow is one of the most important tasks of the business owner. Revenue and expenses are rarely constant in a business and cash requirements need to be planned for shortfalls, seasonal factors or one time large payments. At the end of the day, a company that cannot pay its bills is bankrupt.
Unfortunately, while many business owners concentrate solely on their revenues and expenses to manage their cash flow, it’s usually poor management of the cash conversion cycle that so often leads to a cash crunch in the business.
Understanding the cash conversion cycle
The cash conversion cycle is simply the duration of time it takes a firm to convert its activities requiring cash back into cash returns. The cycle is composed of the three main working capital components: Accounts Receivable outstanding in days (ARO), Accounts Payable outstanding in days (APO) and Inventory in days (IOD). The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is equal to the time is takes to sell inventory and collect receivables less the time it takes to pay your payables, or:
CCC = IOD + ARO – APO
This cycle is very important, because it represents the number of days a firm’s cash remains tied up within the operations of the business. It is also a powerful tool for assessing how well a company is managing its working capital. The lower the cash conversion cycle, the more healthy a company generally is. If you compare the results of the cycle over time and see a rising trend it is often a warning sign that the business may be facing a cash flow crunch.
Understanding the components of the cycle
When evaluating cash flow, those factors directly affecting profit, revenue and expenses, are easy to understand and their effect on cash is straight forward; decreases in costs or increases in profit margin results in less cash going out or more cash coming in, and increased profits.
However, the working capital components of the CCC are a little more complex. In simple terms, an increase in the amount of time accounts receivables are outstanding uses up cash, a decrease provides cash; an increase in the amount of inventory uses cash, a decrease provides cash; an increase in the amount of time it takes you to pay your payable provides cash, a decrease uses cash.
For example, a decision to buy more inventory will use up cash, or a decision to allow people to pay for goods or services over 60 days instead of 30 days will mean you have to wait longer for payment, and will have less cash on hand.
An ideal situation (if you able to accomplish this) is that if you can sell your inventory and collecting your receivables before you have to pay your payable. It is not an easy task, but it certainly can be accomplished.
So, as you can see, the management of the conversion cycle can have a large impact on the business’s cash flow and profitability. The management of your cash conversion cycle could determine whether you require a lending facility or not, or whether you can meet financial obligations.
