Gli argomenti finanziari possono risultare ostici a chi di finanza sa poco o nulla, ma sebbene difficile, la finanza è utile e molto importante per avere una visione più completa di come stiano andando gli affari. Due tra le ratio finanziarie più utilizzate per monitorare l'efficienza operativa del business sono le cosiddette creditor days e debtor days. Per saperne di più leggi le definizioni direttamente in inglese!

There are some financial ratios we should pay attention to when monitoring the operating efficiency of our business. Two important ratios are the following ones:

Creditor days = (creditors/cost of goods sold) x 365 days. This ratio indicates how many days on average it takes us to pay our suppliers.

Debtor days = (debtors/cost of goods sold) x 365 days. This ratio indicates how many days on average it takes our customers to pay us.

Ideally our creditor days should be a bigger number than our debtor days. In fact, the highest level of efficiency is reached when the cash received from customers' payments comes in and is invested before it goes out again for paying suppliers. Another advantage is that we won't risk to annoy suppliers because of late payment.

Practically we should try to set payment terms which are favourable to us and our cash flow, in relation to both suppliers and customers, so as to preserve our liquidity.