How can I improve my DSO performance?

5 Ways to Start Improving Your DSO and Cash Flow Right Away.

  1. Be Proactive about your Accounts Receivable Collection to Lower your DSO.
  2. Optimize Your Billing Processes to Improve Cash Flow.
  3. Establish A Payment Reminder Strategy.
  4. Review Your Payment Terms to Reduce DSO.
  5. See Beyond Your Days Sales Outstanding.

What makes a good DSO?

A good or bad DSO ratio may vary according to the type of business and industry that the company operates in. That said, a number under 45 is considered to be good for most businesses. 3 It suggests that the company’s cash is flowing in at a reasonably efficient rate, ready to be used to generate new business.

What causes days sales outstanding to decrease?

If DSO is increasing over time, this means that the company is taking longer to collect cash payments from credit sales. On the other hand, DSO decreasing means the company is becoming more efficient at cash collection and thus has more free cash flows (FCFs).

What is a good DSO rate?

What’s a “good” DSO number? There is not a single DSO number that represents excellent or poor accounts receivable management, since this number varies considerably by industry and by the underlying payment terms. On average, any number below 40 is typically considered a “good” number.

How do you reduce days sales in receivables?

How to Reduce Days Sales Outstanding in Accounts Receivable

  1. Gather data about current DSO status.
  2. Focus on customer credit.
  3. Define customer payment terms.
  4. 6 Steps to Reduce DSO.
  5. Look at invoicing processes.
  6. Manage accounts receivable carefully.
  7. Keep up the momentum.


What would cause DSO to increase?

A consistently increasing DSO indicates that your business is headed in the wrong direction with respect to your receivables. A higher DSO is a sign that your customers are taking longer to pay, which in turn means you have to wait for the much-needed funds to be invested in business operations.

Is DSO a good KPI?

It’s a very important A/R KPI as it indicates your liquidity. Tracking your DSO allows you to better manage your cash flow. A low DSO is ideal, whereas a high DSO can lead to cash flow problems. A DSO can be relatively high or low depending on your industry.

How can I improve my DSO and DPO?

The ideal DSO and DPO, is at any organization’s discretion.



The “secret sauce” for improving your DSO and DPO.

  1. Automating invoices, collections, payments and cash application to make it easy to be paid and pay others in a timely manner.
  2. Eliminating the costs of resources once needed for manual P2P and O2C processes.

Is it better to have a higher DPO?

Days payable outstanding (DPO) is the average number of days a company takes to pay invoices for goods and services obtained on credit. DPO is a key financial metric for tracking and managing cash flow. A high DPO is generally favorable because it means more cash is available to fund operations.

What is the industry average for DSO?

Days sales outstanding industry average



E-commerce and retail companies typically have low Days Sales Outstanding, often in the range of 7 to 30 days. In manufacturing industries, where customers are often given longer payment terms, the DSO value can be 60 days or even higher.

What is a high DSO?

Days sales outstanding (DSO) is an accounting metric that measures the average number of days it takes a business to receive payment for goods and services purchased on credit. The lower the DSO, the faster payments are collected. The higher the DSO, the longer it takes the company to see its money.

What does a high DSO mean?

If the result is a low DSO, it means that the business takes a few days to collect its receivables. On the other hand, a high DSO means it takes more days to collect receivables. A high DSO may lead to cash flow problems in the long run.

Is a shorter DSO better?

Days sales outstanding (DSO) is a working capital ratio which measures the number of days that a company takes, on average, to collect its accounts receivable. The shorter the DSO, the faster the company collects payment from its customers – and the sooner it is able to make use of its cash.