Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

A company's operating cycle, or cash conversion cycle, shows the length of time it takes a company to buy inventory, convert it into sales and collect the "accounts receivable" revenue from the sales.

Any small business person is acutely aware of the importance of liquidity -- having enough cash available to pay the bills. That's why business owners and managers monitor the cash conversion cycle, ...