67% of Indian SMBs that shut down cite cash flow as the primary reason — not lack of revenue. Find out exactly how much capital your unpaid invoices are holding hostage.
Real SMB profiles — anonymized, Q1–Q4 2024.
Business A — IT Services, Pune
Business B — Wholesale Trade, Surat
Business C — Manufacturing, Coimbatore
Source: invoicefollowups.com internal dataset, Q1–Q4 2024. Anonymized business profiles across IT services, wholesale trade, and manufacturing sectors.
Uses the Operating Cycle Method — the most accurate approach for invoice-based businesses.
Total amount invoiced per month
Salaries, rent, raw materials, overheads
How many days customers actually take to pay
How many days you take to pay your suppliers
Days inventory sits before sale (0 for pure services)
Formula: Receivables Float + Inventory Float + Expense Buffer − Payables Float
Fill in your numbers on the left and hit Calculate to see your working capital requirement.
Formula Used
WC = Receivables Float
+ Inventory Float
+ Expense Buffer (7d)
− Payables Float
CCC = Rec Days + Inv Days − Pay Days
Industry Benchmarks
Source: SIDBI MSME Pulse 2024 ↗
Why this matters
For a business billing ₹1,20,000/month with 52-day collections: cutting to 30 days frees up ₹88,000 in cash — without any new revenue or loans.
→ See your cash flow gapStep 2: Start collecting faster. Businesses using systematic invoice follow-ups cut their average payment delay from 47 days to 26 days within 60 days.
Cash Flow Gap Calculator
Find the exact gap between what you earn and when you collect.
GuideHow to Get Faster Payments from Buyers
Practical tactics used by Indian exporters and service firms.
GuideWorking Capital Options for MSMEs
From bank OD to invoice discounting — compared with real costs.
GuideWhat is Invoice Discounting?
Turn unpaid invoices into cash within 48 hours.
External ↗RBI MSME Finance Guidelines
Official working capital norms for MSMEs from Reserve Bank of India.
External ↗SIDBI MSME Pulse Q4 2024
Benchmark data on receivable days across Indian industries.
Methodology & Data Attribution
Data Sources: invoicefollowups.com internal dataset (3,200+ SMB cash flow profiles, 2023–2024), SIDBI MSME Pulse Q4 2024 ↗, RBI MSME Finance Norms 2023 ↗
Calculation Method: Operating Cycle Method — Receivables Float + Inventory Float + Expense Buffer − Payables Float. Expense buffer = 7 days of daily operating expenses.
Assumptions: 30-day month, no seasonal adjustment applied.
Data Collected by: invoicefollowups.com Research Team
Last Updated: April 2025
Case Study Profiles: Anonymized; sector and city labels are accurate, company names withheld for privacy.
Peer References: RBI.org.in ↗, SIDBI.in ↗, MSME.gov.in ↗