FREE TOOL · NO ACCOUNT NEEDED · LIVE TICKER DATA
Cash Conversion Cycle History Chart
Chart any stock's 10-year Cash Conversion Cycle — DSO + DIO minus DPO. See whether working capital efficiency is improving or deteriorating, and how the company compares to the ideal of a negative, supplier-financed cycle. Pair it with the DSO calculator and the inventory turnover history chart.
How to Read the Cash Conversion Cycle Trend
The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) measures the number of days between a company paying cash for inputs and receiving cash from customers. It is the sum of three components: Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) — how long it takes to collect receivables; Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) — how long inventory sits before it's sold; minus Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) — how long the company waits before paying suppliers. The formula is CCC = DSO + DIO − DPO.
A negative CCC is the gold standard. It means the company collects cash from customers before it has to pay suppliers — essentially financing its operations with other people's money. Amazon, Costco, and major retailers achieve this. A CCC ≤ 30 days is highly efficient. Between 31–60 days is moderate and typical for most manufacturers. Above 90 days is a red flag: the company is tying up significant capital in its operating cycle, which directly compresses free cash flow.
Watch the trend as much as the level. A CCC shrinking over several years signals management is improving collections (lower DSO), moving inventory faster (lower DIO), or negotiating better supplier terms (higher DPO). Each of those improvements releases cash without needing revenue growth. Pair this chart with the FCF History Chart to see whether working capital improvements are flowing through to cash generation.
Related Working Capital Tools
Complete the working capital picture with these related tools:
- CCC Calculator — calculate the current cash conversion cycle from live data or manual inputs
- DSO Calculator — how fast the company collects receivables after a sale
- DIO Calculator — how many days inventory sits on the shelf before it's sold
- DPO Calculator — how long the company delays paying suppliers
- Inventory Turnover History Chart — 10 years of annual inventory turns, color-coded by efficiency zone
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the cash conversion cycle history chart show?
It plots up to 10 fiscal years of a company's annual Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) in days — the number of days between paying for inventory and collecting cash from customers. The CCC equals DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) plus DIO (Days Inventory Outstanding) minus DPO (Days Payable Outstanding). A lower or negative CCC signals superior working capital management.
What do the bar colors mean?
Blue-gray bars mark years when CCC was negative — meaning the company collects cash from customers before it pays suppliers, a 'supplier-financed' model that is excellent for cash flow (common in retailers like Amazon). Green bars indicate ≤30 days (highly efficient). Yellow bars indicate 31–60 days (moderate). Orange bars flag 61–90 days (slow). Red bars indicate >90 days (extended — high working capital drag).
What is a good cash conversion cycle?
A negative CCC is the gold standard — companies like Amazon and Walmart achieve this. For most businesses, under 30 days is highly efficient. Between 31–60 days is moderate and typical for many manufacturers and distributors. Over 90 days is a red flag: the company is tying up significant capital in receivables and inventory while paying suppliers quickly. Improving CCC trend over time is often more important than the absolute level.
How does CCC relate to free cash flow?
CCC is a direct driver of working capital requirements. Every day the CCC increases by one, the company needs more cash tied up in its operating cycle — that cash comes out of free cash flow. Companies that shrink CCC over time free up capital without needing to grow revenue. Pair this chart with the FCF History Chart and the Inventory Turnover History Chart to see how operational improvements flow through to cash generation.
Why might DIO be zero for some companies?
Service businesses, software companies, financial institutions, and other asset-light models carry no physical inventory. For these companies, DIO is set to zero because the DIO formula (inventory / COGS × 365) has no meaningful numerator. Their CCC reduces to DSO minus DPO. This is not a data error — it simply means inventory is not part of their operating cycle.
FINISHED THE NUMBERS?
A chart gives you the trend. The report gives you the argument.
Assumptions, scenarios, and what breaks them — on any public company.
See a sample report →