Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable Calculation

Accounts Receivable is money owed to a business by customers and shown on its Balance Sheet as an asset.

Accounts Receivable Explanation

1. Accounts Receivable are created when a customer has received a product but has not yet paid for that product. Days Sales Outstanding measures of the average number of days that a company takes to collect revenue after a sale has been made. It is a financial ratio that illustrates how well a company's accounts receivables are being managed.

's Days Sales Outstanding for the quarter that ended in . 20 is calculated as:

2. In Ben Graham's calculation of Net-Net Working Capital (NNWC), 's accounts receivable are only considered to be worth 75% of book value:

's Net-Net Working Capital Per Share for the quarter that ended in . 20 is calculated as:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Be Aware

Net receivables tells us a great deal about the different competitors in the same industry. In competitive industries, some attempt to gain advantage by offering better credit terms, causing increase in sales and receivables.

If company consistently shows lower % Net receivables to gross sales than competitors, then it usually has some kind of competitive advantage which requires further digging.

Average Days Sales Outstanding is a good indicator for measuring a company's sales channel and customers. A company may book great revenue and earnings growth but never receive payment from their customers. This may force a write-off in the future and depress future earnings.

Accounts Receivable Related Terms

Accounts Receivable Headlines