Cash conversion cycle illustrator

How much cash is trapped in your business, and how much could you release without increasing sales?

Enter a handful of figures from your latest accounts. See how many days your cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers, then test practical changes to see what they would free up.

Your figures

Use annual figures for your last full year, excluding VAT. Balance sheet items are the year-end balances.

Example figures are loaded so you can see how it works. Replace them with your own.

Business type Used for the indicative benchmark ranges.

Annual revenue

Turnover from your profit and loss account, ex VAT.

Annual cost of sales

Direct costs of goods or delivery (COGS), ex VAT.

Trade debtors

Money customers owe you at the year end.

I don't hold stockSets stock days to zero, common for service businesses.

Stock (inventory)

Value of stock on the balance sheet at the year end.

I do work before I invoice itAdds unbilled work (work in progress) to the cycle.

Trade creditors

Money you owe suppliers at the year end.

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Your cash conversion cycle

0days

Cash tied up in day-to-day trading: £0
Could be released at typical levels: £0

Where the days go

Test practical improvements

Choose a starting point, then adjust the sliders. The cycle and the cash impact update straight away.

Reduce debtor days by10 days

Faster invoicing, clearer terms, tighter credit control.

Reduce stock days by5 days

Buy closer to demand, clear slow-moving lines.

Extend creditor days by10 days

Negotiate longer supplier terms. Stay within what suppliers agree.

Cycle after improvements

0 days

Estimated cash released

£0

A one-off release of working capital, not extra profit. Debtor and unbilled days are valued at average daily revenue. Stock and creditor days are valued at average daily cost of sales.

Next step

Find out why your cash is tied up, and what to do first

Book a free 30-minute working-capital review. We'll look at the main causes of cash being tied up in your business and agree a prioritised action plan.

Which of the three measures is costing you most
Practical changes that suit your customers and suppliers
A short, prioritised plan you can start on straight away

Book your free 30-minute review Visit frctnl.biz

Or email us at hello@frctnl.biz Open an email

How this is calculated, and where the benchmarks come from

Debtor days (DSO) = trade debtors ÷ annual revenue × 365.
Stock days (DIO) = stock ÷ annual cost of sales × 365.
Creditor days (DPO) = trade creditors ÷ annual cost of sales × 365.
Unbilled days (optional) = unbilled work ÷ annual revenue × 365.
Cash conversion cycle = stock days + unbilled days + debtor days − creditor days.

Cash tied up = trade debtors + stock + unbilled work − trade creditors. Potential release at typical levels adds up the cash you would free by moving each measure that is worse than the middle of the typical range for your business type to that middle point.

Year-end balances can differ from the average through the year, especially for seasonal businesses. Revenue is taken ex VAT, so debtor days may read a little lower than your credit control reports if those include VAT.

Debtor-day ranges are informed by payment-time data for UK sectors published by Novuna Business Cash Flow (published May 2025, updated March 2026). Stock-day, creditor-day and unbilled-day ranges are Frctnl Finance rules of thumb, not published statistics. Treat every range as a starting point for a conversation.

How much cash is trapped in your business, and how much could you release without increasing sales?

Enter your revenue and cost of sales

Where the days go

Test practical improvements

Find out why your cash is tied up, and what to do first