The average collection period is calculated by taking the ratio of the number of days in a year and the accounts receivable turnover ratio. The AR turnover is the ratio of a company’s net credit sales in a year and the average accounts receivables. Conversely, a long ACP indicates that the company should tighten its credit policy and improve the management of accounts receivable to be able to meet its short-term obligations. To calculate the average collection period formula, we simply divide accounts receivable by credit sales times 365 days. One example of average collection period is the time it takes for a company to collect payments from its customers on average. This is calculated by dividing the total amount of credit sales by the average daily credit sales.

Finally, you’ll take the number of days in the period you’re interested in calculating and divide this by your AR turnover ratio. If you discover shockingly high values when you calculate average collection period, you must work on ways to reduce them. Here are the ways to shorten the collection period without losing customers. Average collection period analysis is needed here to know where you stand. You can tune your collection periods accordingly and align accounts receivables in order.

Average Collection Period Formula

Annabel, the company’s accountant, wants to calculate the average period and determine if there should be any adjustments in the company’s credit policies. Now, you’ll divide your total net credit sales by your average AR balance for a given period. The quotient is what’s known as your accounts receivable turnover ratio. The average collection period is the number of days in a given period that it takes for a company to collect money from its customers. It is calculated by dividing the accounts receivable balance at the end of the period by the average daily sales for the period. You leave cash sales out of the formula because cash sales don’t affect your accounts receivables balance.

You can easily calculate the Average Collection Period using Formula in the template provided. In the first formula to calculate Average collection period, we need the Average Receivable Turnover and we can assume the Days in a year as 365. FREE INVESTMENT BANKING COURSELearn the foundation of Investment banking, financial modeling, valuations and more. If the company decides to do the Collection period calculation for the whole year for seasonal revenue, it wouldn’t be just.

Use Your Average Collection Period to Keep Your Company in the Green

To do this, you take the sum of your starting and ending receivables for the year and divide it by two. The goal for most companies is to aim for an average collection period that is lower than their credit policy. It’s important to note that companies that take the time to measure the average collection period will get more value out of measuring this figure over the long term. The average collection period for your company can also be used as a benchmark with competitors in the industry that generate similar financial metrics to assess overall financial performance.

Average collection period is a measure of how many days it takes a firm, on average, to collects its receivables. It indicates the efficiency of the collection process and the lower it is the shorter the cash cycle of the business is, which has a positive impact on its profitability. Return On Average Assets Return on Average Assets is a subset of the Return on Assets ratio. It is calculated as Net earnings divided by Average total assets by taking the average of the opening and closing asset balances for a period of time. In this example, first, we need to calculate the average accounts receivable. Upon dividing the receivables turnover ratio by 365, we arrive at the same implied collection periods for both 2020 and 2021 — confirming our prior calculations were correct. Days sales outstanding is a measure of the average number of days that it takes for a company to collect payment after a sale has been made.

Examples of Average Collection Period Formula

In some years, the company will have more time to collect on that debt, and in other years it might be less. This way, companies can use this formula to determine how many days they have until they need to start charging interest on unpaid debts. Because the amount of time a company has to collect on debt changes yearly, the average collection period is a crucial calculation to help you determine how long debt collection typically takes. The average collection period is primarily a measure of liquidity—it measures how quickly a business can turn sales into cash. If a business’s liquidity is decreasing, it may check the average collection period to see if that’s the reason behind the declining liquidity. If a business’s average collection period is improving, but its liquidity is getting worse, then that means the business is having issues in other aspects of its business.

• In specific terms, the average collection period denotes the days between when a customer buys the product and makes the full payment.
• ScaleFactor is on a mission to remove the barriers to financial clarity that every business owner faces.
• If you notice your average collection period jump from 22.8 days to 32.8 days, that could have big effects on your cash flow and you’ll want to take steps to keep that upward trend from continuing.
• Knowing the reasons for fluctuations can help the company maintain shorter times and correct longer averages.
• This is entirely an internal issue for which management is responsible, and so can be corrected through management action.

If the average A/R balances were used instead, we would require more historical data. This period indicates the effectiveness of a company’s AR management practices.

Accounts Receivable Turnover

Bro Repairs is a small business that offers maintenance of air conditioning units to commercial establishments, offices and households. They usually give their commercial clients at least 15 days of credit and these sales constitute at least 60% of their annual $2,340,000 in revenues. At the beginning of this average collection period year, Bro Repairs accounts receivables were $124,300 and by the end of the year the receivables were $121,213. Once we know the accounts receivable turnover ratio, we would be able to do the Average Collection period calculation. All we need to do is to divide 365 by the accounts receivable turnover ratio.

• The average collection period equation is determined by dividing the average credit sales by the net credit sales for that duration and then multiplying it by the fraction of days in that period.
• More specifically, the company’s credit sales should be used, but such specific information is not usually readily available.
• Average collection period refers to the amount of time it takes for a business to receive payments owed by its clients in terms of accounts receivable .
• An increase in the average collection period can be indicative of any of the conditions noted below, relating to looser credit policy, a worsening economy, and reduced collection efforts.
• If it is higher than the credit policy, it means the company is not bringing in money as expected.
• The car lot records $58,000 in cash sales and $120,000 in accounts receivable at the end of the year.

When assessing whether your average collection period is “good” or “bad” it’s important to take into account the number of days outlined in your credit terms. While at first glance a low average collection period may seem positive, it could also mean your credit terms are too strict.

How to Calculate Your Average Collection Period Ratio

The average collection period formula gives an average of past collections, but you can also use it as a gauge for future calculations of how long collections take. Lower ratios mean faster average collection periods, indicating efficient management. The average collection period is the average amount of time it takes a business to receive payment for accounts receivable. Businesses figure accounts receivable on a predictable schedule rather than waiting until a large payment comes, which can make these numbers a less accurate way of judging a company. The reverse is also true; if a large accounts receivable payment was made right before figuring the average collection period, it could appear to be in better shape than investors would prefer. Understand the definition of the average collection period in accounting, discover the formula for calculating the average collection period, and see some calculation examples. Next, you’ll need to calculate the average accounts receivable for the period.