What Is an Average Collection Period?

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 (AR). Companies use the average collection period to make sure they have enough cash on hand to meet their financial obligations. The average collection period is an indicator of the effectiveness of a firm’s AR management practices and is an important metric for companies that rely heavily on receivables for their cash flows.

How Average Collection Periods Work

Accounts receivable is a business term used to describe money that entities owe to a company when they purchase goods and/or services. Companies normally make these sales to their customers on credit. AR is listed on corporations’ balance sheets as current assets and measures their liquidity. As such, they indicate their ability to pay off their short-term debts without the need to rely on additional cash flows.

The average collection period is an accounting metric used to represent the average number of days between a credit sale date and the date when the purchaser remits payment. A company’s average collection period is indicative of the effectiveness of its AR management practices. Businesses must be able to manage their average collection period to operate smoothly.

A lower average collection period is generally more favorable than a higher one. A low average collection period indicates that the organization collects payments faster. However, this may mean that the company’s credit terms are too strict. Customers who don’t find their creditors’ terms very friendly may choose to seek suppliers or service providers with more lenient payment terms.

Formula for Average Collection Period

Average collection period is calculated by dividing a company’s average accounts receivable balance by its net credit sales for a specific period, then multiplying the quotient by 365 days.

Average Collection Period = 365 Days * (Average Accounts Receivables / Net Credit Sales)

Alternatively and more commonly, the average collection period is denoted as the number of days of a period divided by the receivables turnover ratio. The formula below is also used referred to as the days sales receivable ratio.

Average Collection Period = 365 Days / Receivables Turnover Ratio

The average receivables turnover is simply the average accounts receivable balance divided by net credit sales; the formula below is simply a more concise way of writing the formula.

Average Accounts Receivables

For the formulas above, average accounts receivable is calculated by taking the average of the beginning and ending balances of a given period. More sophisticated accounting reporting tools may be able to automate a company’s average accounts receivable over a given period by factoring in daily ending balances.

When analyzing average collection period, be mindful of the seasonality of the accounts receivable balances. For example, analyzing a peak month to a slow month by result in a very inconsistent average accounts receivable balance that may skew the calculated amount.

Net Credit Sales

Average collection period also relies on net credit sales for a period. This metric should exclude cash sales (as those are not made on credit and therefore do not have a collection period).

In addition to being limited to only credit sales, net credit sales exclude residual transactions that impact and often reduce sales amounts. This includes any discounts awarded to customers, product recalls or returns, or items re-issued under warranty.

Importance of Average Collection Period

Average collection period boils down to a single number; however, it has many different uses and communicates a variety of important information.

• It tells how efficiently debts are collected. This is important because a credit sale is not fully completed until the company has been paid. Until cash has been collected, a company is yet to reap the full benefit of the transaction.
• It tells how strict credit terms are. This is important as strict credit terms may scare clients away; on the other hand, credit terms that are too loose may attract customers looking to take advantage of lenient payment terms.
• It tells how competitors are performing. This is important because all figures needed to calculate the average collection period are available for public companies. This gives deeper insight into what other companies are doing and how a company’s operations compare.
• It tells early signals of bad allowances. This is important because as the average collection period increases, more clients are taking longer to pay. This metric can be used to signal to management to review its outstanding receivables at risk of being uncollected to ensure clients are being monitored and communicated with.
• It tells of a company’s short-term financial health. This is important because without cash collections, a company will go insolvent and lack the liquidity to pay its short-term bills.

How to Use Average Collection Period

The average collection period does not hold much value as a stand-alone figure. Instead, you can get more out of its value by using it as a comparative tool.

The best way that a company can benefit is by consistently calculating its average collection period and using it over time to search for trends within its own business. The average collection period may also be used to compare one company with its competitors, either individually or grouped together. Similar companies should produce similar financial metrics, so the average collection period can be used as a benchmark against another company’s performance.

Companies may also compare the average collection period with the credit terms extended to customers. For example, an average collection period of 25 days isn’t as concerning if invoices are issued with a net 30 due date. However, an ongoing evaluation of the outstanding collection period directly affects the organization’s cash flows.

Example of Average Collection Period

As noted above, the average collection period is calculated by dividing the average balance of AR by total net credit sales for the period, then multiplying the quotient by the number of days in the period.

Let’s say a company has an average AR balance for the year of $10,000. The total net sales that the company recorded during this period was $100,000. We would use the following average collection period formula to calculate the period:

($10,000 ÷ $100,000) × 365 = Average Collection Period

class=”ql-syntax”>

The average collection period, therefore, would be 36.5 days. This is not a bad figure, considering most companies collect within 30 days. Collecting its receivables in a relatively short and reasonable period of time gives the company time to pay off its obligations.

If this company’s average collection period was longer—say, more than 60 days— then it would need to adopt a more aggressive collection policy to shorten that time frame. Otherwise, it may find itself falling short when it comes to paying its own debts.

Accounts Receivable (AR) Turnover

The average collection period is closely related to the accounts turnover ratio, which is calculated by dividing total net sales by the average AR balance.

Using the previous example, the AR turnover is 10 ($100,000 ÷ $10,000). The average collection period can also be calculated by dividing the number of days in the period by the AR turnover. In this example, the average collection period is the same as before: 36.5 days.

365 days ÷ 10 = Average Collection Period

class=”ql-syntax”>

Collections by Industries

Not all businesses deal with credit and cash in the same way. Although cash on hand is important to every business, some rely more on their cash flow than others.

For example, the banking sector relies heavily on receivables because of the loans and mortgages that it offers to consumers. As it relies on income generated from these products, banks must have a short turnaround time for receivables. If they have lax collection procedures and policies in place, then income would drop, causing financial harm.

Real estate and construction companies also rely on steady cash flows to pay for labor, services, and supplies. These industries don’t necessarily generate income as readily as banks, so it’s important that those working in these industries bill at appropriate intervals, as sales and construction take time and may be subject to delays.

The Bottom Line

The average collection period is the average number of days it takes for a credit sale to be collected. During this period, the company is awarding its customer a very short-term “loan”; the sooner the client can collect the loan, the earlier it will have the capital to use to grow its company or pay its invoices. While a shorter average collection period is often better, too strict of credit terms may scare customers away.

What Is Average Cost Method?

Average cost method assigns a cost to inventory items based on the total cost of goods purchased or produced in a period divided by the total number of items purchased or produced. Average cost method is also known as weighted-average method.

Understanding the Average Cost Method

Businesses that sell products to customers have to deal with inventory, which is either bought from a separate manufacturer or produced by the company itself. Items previously in inventory that are sold off are recorded on a company’s income statement as cost of goods sold (COGS). COGS is an important figure for businesses, investors, and analysts as it is subtracted from sales revenue to determine gross margin on the income statement. To calculate the total cost of goods sold to consumers during a period, different companies use one of three inventory cost methods:

Average cost method uses a simple average of all similar items in inventory, regardless of purchase date, followed by a count of final inventory items at the end of an accounting period. Multiplying the average cost per item by the final inventory count gives the company a figure for the cost of goods available for sale at that point. The same average cost is also applied to the number of items sold in the previous accounting period to determine the COGS.

Example of Average Cost Method

For example, consider the following inventory ledger for Sam’s Electronics:

What is Asset Valuation?

Asset valuation is the process of determining the fair market or present value of assets, using book values, absolute valuation models like discounted cash flow analysis, option pricing models or comparables. Such assets include investments in marketable securities such as stocks, bonds and options; tangible assets like buildings and equipment; or intangible assets such as brands, patents and trademarks.

Understanding Asset Valuation

Asset valuation plays a key role in finance and often consists of both subjective and objective measurements. The value of a company’s fixed assets – which are also known as capital assets or property plant and equipment – are straightforward to value, based on their book values and replacement costs. However, there’s no number on the financial statements that tell investors exactly how much a company’s brand and intellectual property are worth. Companies can overvalue goodwill in an acquisition as the valuation of intangible assets is subjective and can be difficult to measure.

Net Asset Value

The net asset value – also known as net tangible assets – is the book value of tangible assets on the balance sheet (their historical cost minus the accumulated depreciation) less intangible assets and liabilities – or the money that would be left over if the company was liquidated. This is the minimum a company is worth and can provide a useful floor for a company’s asset value because it excludes intangible assets. A stock would be considered undervalued if its market value were below book value, which means the stock is trading at a deep discount to book value per share.

However, the market value for an asset is likely to differ significantly from book value – or shareholders’ equity – which is based on historical cost. And some companies’ greatest value is in their intangible assets, like the findings of a biomedical research company.

Absolute Valuation Methods

Absolute value models value assets based only on the characteristics of that asset. These models are known as discounted cash flow (DCF) models, and value assets like stocks, bonds and real estate, based on their future cash flows and the opportunity cost of capital. They include:

• Discounted dividend models, which value a stock’s price by discounting predicted dividends to the present value. If the value obtained from the DDM is higher than the current trading price of shares, then the stock is undervalued.
• Discounted free cash flow models calculate the present value of future free cash flow projections, discounted by the weighted average cost of capital.
• Residual income valuation models consider all the cash flows that accrue to the firm post the payment to suppliers and other outside parties. The value of the company is the sum of book value and the present value of expected future residual income. Residual income is calculated as net income less a charge for the cost of capital. The charge is known as the equity charge and is calculated as the value of equity capital multiplied by the cost of equity or the required rate of return on equity. Given the opportunity cost of equity, a company can have positive net income but negative residual income.
• Discounted asset models value a company by calculating the present market value of the assets it owns. As this method does not take into account any synergies, it’s only useful for valuing commodity businesses like mining companies.

Relative Valuation & Comparable Transactions

Relative valuation models determine the value based on the observation of market prices of similar assets. For example, one way of determining the value of a property is to compare it with similar properties in the same area. Likewise, investors use the price multiples comparable public companies trade at to get an idea of relative market valuations. Stocks are often valued based on comparable valuation metrics such as the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio), price-to-book ratio or the price-to-cash flow ratio.

This method is also used to value illiquid assets like private companies with no market price. Venture capitalists refer to valuing a company’s stock before it goes public as pre-money valuation. By looking at the amounts paid for similar companies in past transactions, investors get an indication of an unlisted company’s potential value. This is called precedent transaction analysis.

Real World Example of Asset Valuation

Let’s work out net asset value for Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), the parent company of search engine and advertising giant Google.

All figures are for the period ending Dec. 31, 2018.

• Total assets: $232.8 billion
• Total intangible assets: $2.2 billion
• Total liabilities: $55.2 billion

Total net asset value: $175.4 billion (total assets $232.8 billion – total intangible assets $2.2 billion – total liabilities $55.2 billion)

What Is an Annual Report?

An annual report is a document that public corporations must provide annually to shareholders that describes their operations and financial conditions. The front part of the report often contains an impressive combination of graphics, photos, and an accompanying narrative, all of which chronicle the company’s activities over the past year and may also make forecasts about the future of the company. The back part of the report contains detailed financial and operational information.

Understanding Annual Reports

Annual reports became a regulatory requirement for public companies following the stock market crash of 1929 when lawmakers mandated standardized corporate financial reporting. The intent of the required annual report is to provide public disclosure of a company’s operating and financial activities over the past year. The report is typically issued to shareholders and other stakeholders who use it to evaluate the firm’s financial performance and to make investment decisions.

Typically, an annual report will contain the following sections:

In the U.S., a more detailed version of the annual report is referred to as Form 10-K and is submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Companies may submit their annual reports electronically through the SEC’s EDGAR database. Reporting companies must send annual reports to their shareholders when they hold annual meetings to elect directors. Under the proxy rules, reporting companies are required to post their proxy materials, including their annual reports, on their company websites.

Special Considerations

The annual report contains key information on a company’s financial position that can be used to measure:

• A company’s ability to pay its debts as they come due
• Whether a company made a profit or loss in its previous fiscal year
• A company’s growth over a number of years
• How much of earnings are retained by a company to grow its operations
• The proportion of operational expenses to revenue generated

The annual report also determines whether the information conforms to the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). This confirmation will be highlighted as an “unqualified opinion” in the auditor’s report section.

Fundamental analysts also attempt to understand a company’s future direction by analyzing the details provided in its annual report.

Mutual Fund Annual Reports

In the case of mutual funds, the annual report is a required document that is made available to a fund’s shareholders on a fiscal year basis. It discloses certain aspects of a mutual fund’s operations and financial condition. In contrast to corporate annual reports, mutual fund annual reports are best described as “plain vanilla” in terms of their presentation.

A mutual fund annual report, along with a fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, is a source of multi-year fund data and performance, which is made available to fund shareholders as well as to prospective fund investors. Unfortunately, most of the information is quantitative rather than qualitative, which addresses the mandatory accounting disclosures required of mutual funds.

All mutual funds that are registered with the SEC are required to send a full report to all shareholders every year. The report shows how well the fund fared over the fiscal year. Information that can be found in the annual report includes:

• Table, chart, or graph of holdings by category (e.g., type of security, industry sector, geographic region, credit quality, or maturity)
• Audited financial statements, including a complete or summary (top 50) list of holdings
• Condensed financial statements
• Table showing the fund’s returns for 1-, 5- and 10-year periods
• Management’s discussion of fund performance
• Management information about directors and officers, such as name, age, and tenure
• Remuneration or compensation paid to directors, officers, and others

The Bottom Line

Public companies must produce annual reports to show their current financial conditions and operations. Annual reports can be used to examine a company’s financial position and, possibly, understand what direction it will move in the future. These reports function differently for mutual funds; in this case, they are made available each fiscal year and are typically simpler.