Free Tool

Q2C Cycle Simulator

See where your deals get stuck between close and cash - and what each delay is actually costing you. No signup required.

Business Type

Deal Parameters

$K

Your Current Q2C Lag

Days from deal close to invoice sent7 days
0 days20 days
Days past due before first reminder sent10 days
0 days21 days

Q2C Cycle Comparison

Your current cycle56 days
7d
30d
10d
9d
Close to Invoice: 7d
Payment Terms: 30d
Overdue Wait: 10d
Collection: 9d
vs.
With automation35 days
30d
Close to Invoice: 1d
Payment Terms: 30d
Auto Reminder: 1d
Collection: 3d
Days recovered
21 days
per deal cycle
Estimated DSO
56 days
vs. 35 days automated

Cash Flow Impact

Cash tied up in cycle
$460K
annual avg at current pace
Cash freed by automation
$173K
annual improvement
Based on $50K avg deal x 5 deals/month = $250K/month in revenue. Cutting 21 days from your Q2C cycle frees $173K in working capital per year.

Where to Focus First

⚡
Close-to-invoice lag (7 days) is your biggest quick win. Automated order-to-invoice workflows compress this to 1 day and eliminate the most common source of DSO inflation.
🔔
Reminder lag (10 days) is costing you. First reminders should fire within 24 hours of the due date. A 10-day wait signals to customers that late payment has no consequence.

Want a diagnosis specific to your actual numbers?

This simulator uses averages. A free revenue audit uses your real invoice data to find the exact handoffs where you are losing days and dollars.

Book a Free Revenue Audit

How the Q2C Cycle Adds Up

Your DSO is the sum of four distinct stages. Most companies only focus on the collection stage - but that is usually the smallest contributor.

1
Close to Invoice
Time from deal signed to invoice sent. Industry avg: 4-9 days. Best-in-class: same day.
2
Invoice to Due Date
Your contractual payment terms. Net 30 is the most common. This sets the floor for your DSO.
3
Due Date to Reminder
Time after due date before you send a reminder. Every day here is a day you are silently granting an extension.
4
Reminder to Payment
Time from first reminder to payment received. With automated follow-up, this averages 3-5 days. Manual: 8-14 days.

Understanding the Q2C cycle and DSO

What is DSO and how does the Q2C cycle affect it?

Days Sales Outstanding measures how long it takes to collect cash after a deal closes. DSO is not one number you can tune directly - it is the sum of four Q2C stages: close-to-invoice, invoice-to-due-date (your payment terms), due-date-to-reminder, and reminder-to-payment. Cutting days out of any stage lowers DSO by the same amount.

How is the working capital number calculated?

The simulator multiplies your daily revenue run rate by the number of days you could cut from your Q2C cycle, based on industry-average timelines for each of the four stages versus an automated, best-in-class timeline. That figure is the cash that would move from "owed to you" to "in your account" if you closed the gap.

Is this simulator accurate for my exact numbers?

It is directionally accurate, built on industry averages for each stage - useful for seeing where the biggest opportunity sits, not as an audited forecast. A free revenue audit uses your actual invoice-level data to find the exact handoffs losing days and dollars in your specific process.

What's the fastest lever to reduce my Q2C cycle time?

For most companies it is stage 3 (due date to reminder) and stage 4 (reminder to payment) - the two stages entirely inside your control today. Automated dunning alone typically cuts reminder-to-payment from 8-14 days down to 3-5 days without changing payment terms at all.

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