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Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) Screener: Find Fastest-Collecting Stocks
Stocks ranked by how fast they collect cash after a sale. DSO = (accounts receivable ÷ revenue) × 365. A low DSO means tight working-capital management and strong cash conversion. Pair it with the Receivables Turnover Screener and Cash Conversion Cycle Screener to see the full working-capital picture.
What DSO Reveals About a Business
Days Sales Outstanding is the stopwatch between a sale and a cash deposit. A business with a 10-day DSO collects its money almost immediately — its cash flow looks nearly identical to its revenue line. A business with a 90-day DSO has to wait three months to bank a dollar it already earned. That waiting period must be funded: either with working capital the company set aside, a revolving credit line, or by stretching its own supplier payments. None of those options are free.
The DSO figure is also a quality-of-earnings signal. When a company grows revenue but DSO rises faster — meaning receivables are growing faster than sales — it can indicate that the company is booking revenue before it is actually collectible, or that it is loosening credit terms to inflate near-term numbers. Investors should track DSO over multiple quarters, not just look at the snapshot. A steadily rising DSO against flat revenue is a yellow flag worth investigating.
Why Sector Context Matters
DSO benchmarks vary enormously by business model. Consumer-facing retailers have DSO near zero because customers pay at the register. B2B software and technology companies invoice on net-30 or net-60 terms, so DSO of 60–90 days is normal. Government and defense contractors often run even longer because the federal government pays slowly. This screener shows DSO tier ratings as rough guides — always filter to your target sector and compare peers against each other. A 40-day DSO is excellent for a tech company but high for a grocery chain.
DSO as Part of the Cash Conversion Cycle
DSO is one of three components of the cash conversion cycle (CCC = DIO + DSO − DPO). A company can have a low overall CCC even with a moderate DSO if it turns inventory fast (low DIO) or stretches supplier payments long (high DPO). The Cash Conversion Cycle Screener shows all three components together so you can see which lever a company is pulling. Use DSO to zero in specifically on the receivables-collection piece of the puzzle.
Frequently asked questions
How is DSO calculated?
DSO = (accounts receivable ÷ revenue) × 365. This screener pulls the latest balance-sheet net receivables and trailing twelve-month revenue from Yahoo Finance for each stock. The result is the average number of days between a sale being made and the cash landing in the company's account. Companies where receivables are zero (mostly cash-based retailers) appear at the top of the fastest-collectors list.
Can a very low DSO be a bad thing?
Rarely, but yes. A DSO near zero means the company collects cash before or immediately at the point of sale — almost always good. The exception is if the company is demanding very short payment terms that push away customers and limit growth. In practice, this is uncommon enough that a low DSO is almost always a positive signal. The more common problem is high or rising DSO, not low DSO.
Is DSO the same as days receivable outstanding?
Yes — Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), Days Receivable Outstanding (DRO), and Average Collection Period all refer to the same metric: (receivables ÷ revenue) × 365. Different sources use different names; the formula is identical. Some analysts use only the most recent quarter's revenue annualized rather than trailing twelve months, which can produce different numbers — especially for fast-growing companies.
How do I spot a DSO red flag?
The single most important signal is trend: is DSO rising, flat, or falling quarter over quarter? A sudden jump in DSO while revenue is flat or declining often means the company is stuffing the channel (booking revenue before customers commit to paying) or that a major customer is struggling to pay. Cross-check the change in gross receivables on the balance sheet against the change in revenue — if receivables are growing two or three times faster than sales, dig into the 10-Q notes.