Finance
DSO and DPO (Days Sales / Payables Outstanding)
DSO = average days customers take to pay you. DPO = average days you take to pay vendors. Together they reveal working-capital health.
DSO = (A/R ÷ Revenue) × days. A DSO of 45 means your average customer pays 45 days after invoice. Net-30 contracts with a 45-day DSO mean collection is slipping.
DPO = (A/P ÷ COGS) × days. A DPO of 30 means you pay vendors 30 days after their invoice. Stretching DPO beyond vendor terms erodes relationships.
Together with Days Inventory, they form the Cash Conversion Cycle — the master working-capital metric.
Common pitfalls
- Calculating DSO on revenue from a single month — misleading if collections lag or surge
- Treating disputed invoices as 'overdue' instead of carving them out — distorts DSO trend
- Stretching DPO past supplier terms to manage cash, then losing volume discounts and goodwill
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