Clearly, it is crucial for a company to receive payment for goods or services rendered in a timely manner. It enables the company to maintain a level of liquidity, which allows it to pay for immediate expenses and to get a general idea of when it may be capable of making larger purchases. For example, the banking sector relies heavily on receivables because of the loans and mortgages that it offers to consumers. As it relies on income generated from these products, banks must have a short turnaround time for receivables. If they have lax collection procedures and policies in place, then income would drop, causing financial harm.

According to a PYMNTS report, 88% of businesses automating their AR processes see a significant reduction in their DSO. Automation can also help reduce manual intervention in collection processes, enabling proactive communication with customers and helping in the establishment of appropriate credit limits. A high collection period often signals that a company is experiencing delays in receiving payments. However, it’s important not to draw immediate conclusions from this metric alone.

1. For instance, with Versapay you can automatically send invoices once they’re generated in your ERP, getting them in your customers’ hands sooner and reducing the likelihood of invoice errors.
2. The average collection period measures a company’s efficiency at converting its outstanding accounts receivable (A/R) into cash on hand.
3. If the average collection period, for example, is 45 days, but the firm’s credit policy is to collect its receivables in 30 days, that’s a problem.

When analyzing average collection period, be mindful of the seasonality of the accounts receivable balances. For example, analyzing a peak month to a slow month by result in a very inconsistent average accounts receivable balance that may skew the calculated amount. As discussed, it represents the average number of days it takes for a company to receive payment for its sales. For example, say you want to find Light Up Electric’s average collection period ratio for January. At the beginning of the month, your beginning balance of accounts receivable was $42,000, and your ending accounts receivable balance was $51,000. Average collection period can inform you of how effective—or ineffective—your accounts receivable management practices are.

Accounts receivable is a current asset that appears on a company’s balance sheet. It reflects the company’s liquidity and ability to pay short-term debts without depending on additional cash flows. The average collection period is a measure of how efficiently a company manages its accounts receivable.

Average collection period analysis

In order to calculate the average collection period, the company’s accounts receivable (A/R) carrying values from its balance sheet are needed along with its revenue in the corresponding period. The average collection period measures a company’s efficiency at converting its outstanding accounts receivable (A/R) into cash on hand. If this company’s average collection period was longer—say, more than 60 days— then it would need to adopt a more aggressive collection policy to shorten that time frame. Otherwise, it may find itself falling short when it comes to paying its own debts. Collecting its receivables in a relatively short and reasonable period of time gives the company time to pay off its obligations.

As such, they indicate their ability to pay off their short-term debts without the need to rely on additional cash flows. You have to divide a company’s average accounts receivable balance by the net credit sales and then multiply the quotient into 365 days. In conclusion, the average collection period is an important indicator for companies to track. It offers information about a business’s financial stability, credit practices, and cash flow management. Companies can decide how to run their business more effectively by examining the average collection period.

Example of Calculating Your Average Collection Period

Instead of carrying out your collections processes manually, you can take advantage of accounts receivable automation software. Even better, when you opt for an AR automation solution that prioritizes customer collaboration, you can improve collection times even further by streamlining the way you handle disputes and queries. It currently has an average account receivable of $250,000 and net credit sales of $600,000 over 365 days. The average collection period is the average number of days between 1) the dates that credit sales were made, and 2) the dates that the money was received/collected from the customers.

If your goal is to collect within 30 days, then an average collection period of 27.38 would signal efficiency. If your average collection period was significantly longer than your target collection terms, that’s indicative of a need to improve your collections efforts. There are many ways you can improve your processes, ranging from simple—such as using collections email templates—to more transformative—like investing in accounts receivable automation software.

The average receivables turnover is simply the average accounts receivable balance divided by net credit sales; the formula below is simply a more concise way of writing the formula. The receivables turnover can use the total accounts receivable at the end of a period or the average throughout the period. Investors and analysts may not have access to the average receivables so they would need to use the ending balance or an average of four quarters for a full year. Also, this metric is an average across a specified number of days, so it is not an exact measure and will be more broadly skewed with the number of days involved. If your average collection period calculator result is showing a very low rate, this is generally a positive thing.

Since it directly affects the company’s cash flows, it is imperative to monitor the outstanding collection period. A company’s average collection period is a key indicator, offering a clear window into its AR health, credit terms, and cash flow. By forecasting cash flow from accounts receivable, businesses can proactively plan expenses, strategically navigating the dynamic landscape of credit sales.

Detailed reporting and customer management

Because it represents an average, customers who pay very early or extremely late can skew your results. While the collection period formula is useful for measuring how efficiently you collect receivables, it has its limitations. Monitoring your average collection period regularly can help you spot problem accounts before they become uncollectible. Liquidity is your business’s ability to convert assets into cash to pay your short-term liabilities or debts. If you have a high average collection period, your corporation will have to deal with a smaller amount of problems.

Generally, you want to keep your average collection period or DSO under 45 days; however, this number can vary by industry. These issues have pushed businesses to further streamline their accounts receivable process by implementing several key metrics and procedures to maintain liquidity. Without this, predicting future cash flows, demand, and liquidity of the business will be tough; therefore, planning expenses and investments will be a relatively complex task. Lastly, the average collection period is a metric to evaluate the current credit arrangements and whether changes should be made to improve the working capital cycle. Management may have decided to increase the staffing and technology support of the collections department, which should result in a reduction in the amount of overdue accounts receivable. It is cost-effective to continue adding staff to the collections department, as long as each incremental dollar for more staffing causes a correspondingly greater reduction in the amount of bad debt incurred.

An increase in the https://www.wave-accounting.net/ can be indicative of any of the conditions noted below, relating to looser credit policy, a worsening economy, and reduced collection efforts. Thus, the average collection period signals the effectiveness of a company’s current credit policies and A/R collection practices. A fast collection period may not always be beneficial as it simply could mean that the company has strict payment rules in place.

Alternatively and more commonly, the average collection period is denoted as the number of days of a period divided by the receivables turnover ratio. The formula below is also used referred to as the days sales receivable ratio. When you extend credit terms to clients, the amount they owe you becomes part of your accounts receivable balance. Performing an average collection period calculation tells you how long it takes, on average, to turn your receivables into cash.

If you were to simply use your ending AR balance, your results might be skewed by a particularly large or small year-end balance. While you may state on the invoice itself that you expect them to be paid in a certain timeframe – say, three weeks – the reality might be vastly different, for better or worse. Check out this on-demand webinar write off bad debt featuring Versapay’s CFO for insights on the crtical metrics you should be focusing on today. By benchmarking against the industry standard, a company can gauge easily whether the number is acceptable or if there is potential for improvement. While ACP holds significance, it doesn’t provide a complete standalone assessment.

Average collection period is calculated by dividing a company’s average accounts receivable balance by its net credit sales for a specific period, then multiplying the quotient by 365 days. Most modern businesses use accrual accounting, offering their customers the option to buy now and pay later. This process is typically done through invoicing which requires a company to set collection period parameters and deploy specific receivables procedures. While a “buy now, pay later” model theoretically seeks to increase sales, the downside is it delays and creates some uncertainty for cash flow payments.

It stands as an essential financial metric that grants businesses insight into the speed at which they can convert credit sales into actual cash. In today’s business landscape, it’s common for most organizations to offer credit to their customers. Upon dividing the receivables turnover ratio by 365, we arrive at the same implied collection periods for both 2020 and 2021 — confirming our prior calculations were correct. From 2020 to 2021, the average number of days needed by our hypothetical company to collect cash from credit sales declined from 26 days to 24 days, reflecting an improvement year-over-year (YoY). The best way that a company can benefit is by consistently calculating its average collection period and using it over time to search for trends within its own business. The average collection period may also be used to compare one company with its competitors, either individually or grouped together.