Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) Calculator

About this calculator

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) measures the average number of days a company takes to collect payment after a credit sale, calculated as (accounts receivable ÷ total credit sales) × number of days in the period. A DSO of 45 means it takes roughly 45 days on average to turn a sale into cash. Lower DSO generally means faster, more efficient collections and better cash flow; a rising DSO can signal looser credit policies or customers struggling to pay.

CFOs, controllers and credit managers track DSO to monitor working capital efficiency, benchmark against industry norms, and flag deteriorating receivables before they become bad debt. It's a standard component of cash conversion cycle analysis alongside days inventory outstanding and days payable outstanding, and lenders and investors watch it as an early indicator of a company's liquidity and collections discipline.