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
Part of m&a and private equity models, with the models, labs and guides around it.
Part of healthcare financial models, with the models, labs and guides around it.
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 (DSO), Days inventory outstanding (DIO), Days payables outstanding (DPO), 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
- Assumptions, rows 29–33: Research and development, % of revenue, Selling, general and administrative, % of revenue, Tax rate, Net working capital, % of revenue…
- Cash Flow, rows 9–10: Net working capital, 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
Three-Statement Linker
Walk any event through all three statements in the right order, with the right signs, and prove the balance sheet balances rather than asserting it.
Read · Guide · 13 min
How to Build a Three-Statement Model That Actually Balances
Read · Guide · 7 min
"Walk Me Through the Three Statements" — And Every Follow-Up
Vocabulary: Working Capital.