Canonical formula calculator
CASH CONVERSION CYCLE
How many days from spending a dollar to having it back in cash — the working capital test most operators have never run.
Average days customers take to pay you after you invoice them. (Accounts Receivable / Daily Revenue)
Average days inventory sits before being sold. (Inventory / Daily COGS). Enter 0 if you have no inventory.
Average days you take to pay suppliers after they invoice you. (Accounts Payable / Daily COGS)
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Optional — helps us match this calculation against relevant case studies (coming soon).
What this tells you
Cash Conversion Cycle measures how many days it takes for cash to flow back to you after you spend it. It combines three numbers: how long until customers pay you (DSO), how long inventory sits before selling (DIO), and how long you take to pay suppliers (DPO). A lower CCC is better. A negative CCC is exceptional — it means customers pay you before you pay your suppliers, which is how Amazon and similar businesses self-finance growth.
When to use it
Calculate CCC quarterly for inventory businesses, and any time you change payment terms with customers or suppliers. Watch the trend — CCC creeping up means working capital is tightening. Use it as a diagnostic when cash feels tight even though revenue is growing.
What it doesn’t tell you
CCC is an average. Some customers pay on time, some pay 90 days late, and that variance matters for cash planning. CCC also does not account for the total dollar amounts — a 30-day CCC on $10M in revenue is a very different cash impact than a 30-day CCC on $100K. Pair CCC with working capital trends for the full picture.
Coming soon
Cases, plays, and benchmarks for this metric will appear here as the Moonshot knowledge libraries grow. For now: log in to track your number over time and Moonshot will surface trend warnings when the substrate fills in.