Cash conversion cycle
Open-source thinking-framework skills that make rigorous reasoning executable for AI agents — first-principles, inversion, second-order thinking, Occam's razor, Bayesian reasoning. Built by deciqAI.
npx -y skills add deciqAI/knowledge-skills --skill cash-conversion-cycleAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- 3 stars3 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
What its author says it does
Copied from the file, not written here
Activate when: a profitable-on-paper business is short on cash; 'we're profitable but always broke', managing working capital, inventory or receivables tying up cash; DSO/DIO/DPO. Do NOT activate when: a pure digital business with instant payment and no inventory/receivables (cycle ~0). More: deciqai.com/s/cash-conversion-cycle
SKILL.md
2.8 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it
Cash Conversion Cycle — Why Profitable Businesses Run Out of Cash
Overview
The cash conversion cycle (CCC) measures how long cash is trapped between paying suppliers and collecting from customers: CCC = DIO (days inventory) + DSO (days receivables) − DPO (days payables). A long CCC means growth consumes cash — the faster you grow, the tighter you get — which is why profitable SMBs go insolvent. Shortening the cycle frees cash without raising a dollar.
The Process
- Measure the three components — DIO (inventory held), DSO (time to collect), DPO (time you take to pay).
- Compute CCC and see how many days of cash are locked in operations. Gate: if CCC × daily burn exceeds your cash buffer, growth is a liquidity risk, not just an opportunity.
- Shorten DSO — invoice immediately, deposits/upfront, faster terms, autopay, chase overdue (pairs with ar-dso-discipline).
- Shorten DIO — less/just-in-time inventory, drop-ship, faster turns.
- Lengthen DPO sensibly — negotiate supplier terms without harming the relationship.
- Model growth against the cycle — project the cash a growth plan will absorb before committing. Gate: scaling with a long CCC and no cash cushion is how solvent firms fail.
When to Use
- "Profitable but always cash-strapped"
- Inventory- or receivables-heavy businesses
- Planning a growth push that will absorb working capital
Applying It Well
- Upfront payment/deposits is the single biggest DSO fix for services.
- Negative CCC (customers pay before you pay suppliers) is a growth superpower — design toward it.
- Every day cut is cash freed with no dilution or debt.
Red Flags
- Reading the P&L (profit) while ignoring cash timing.
- Growing bookings while receivables balloon.
- Paying suppliers early while customers pay late.
Verification
- DIO, DSO, DPO measured; CCC computed
- CCC cash need compared to buffer
- Levers applied (upfront/terms/inventory)
- Growth plan modeled against working-capital draw
Part of deciqAI Knowledge Skills — 233 open-source thinking skills that make rigor executable for AI agents. The same skills power every deciqAI agent, which runs them autonomously to operate your company. See it run → https://www.deciqai.com/s/cash-conversion-cycle · Built by deciqAI · github.com/deciqAI · Contributions welcome.
Agents: latest version & machine-readable metadata → https://www.deciqai.com/s/cash-conversion-cycle.json