Working capital schedule
Receivables, inventory and payables in days.
By Surojit Chakraverti, founder of L3VLUP and an investor running a long-short healthcare and technology equities strategy.
On this subject: working capital schedule.Updated 30 September 2026
What it does
Receivables follow revenue, inventory and payables follow cost of sales, each through a days assumption. The balances go to the balance sheet; the year-on-year change goes to the cash flow statement as a use or source of cash. In a DCF the same idea appears as net working capital as a share of revenue.
Where it lives
The same schedule in each model that carries it, with the rows to open. Open a model in the browser, go to the sheet, and click the lines.
- Assumptions, rows 23–26: Days sales outstanding (receivables), Days inventory outstanding, Days payables outstanding, Days in the year
- Working Capital, rows 6–10: Accounts receivable, Inventory, Accounts payable, Net working capital…
- Assumptions, rows 11–12: Net working capital, % of revenue, Net working capital, last reported year
- Forecast, rows 17–18: Net working capital balance, Less increase in net working capital
- Assumptions, row 39: Net working capital, % of revenue
- Operating Model, rows 23–24: Net working capital balance, Less increase in net working capital
What a reviewer looks for
- Building payables from revenue rather than cost of sales.
- Taking the change with the wrong sign, so growth generates cash.
- Days assumptions that jump from the last actual year with no reason given.
Learn it, then build it
Build · Lab · ~8 min
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Vocabulary: Working Capital.