Working capital = Cash. A cash culture frees up funds for investment and growth, laying the groundwork for a more efficient organization and generating higher growth and improved profitability. Fastest-growing companies — those with revenue growth of 10% or more — have proven that managing working capital can yield significant cash for important needs. Regardless of its status, your organization can free up cash by adopting any of these working capital techniques.

1. Working capital
5 tips to create a cash culture
for investment and growth

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Working capital = Cash
Even modest improvements in performance
can free up significant money for strategic
investments in organizational priorities.

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A strong, pervasive working capital/cash culture
lays the groundwork for a more efficient organization
and generates higher growth and improved
profitability.

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From Mastering Talent Planning: A Framework for Success
The National Center for the Middle Market surveyed 400
C-suite middle-market executives about working capital
perceptions, practices, challenges and opportunities.

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Companies with revenue growth of 10%+
prioritize working capital management
FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES
Make capital management their top priority
37% of fastest-growing companies
20% of slowest-growing companies
Read more
Working capital: How to
find extra cash for growth

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Companies with revenue growth of 10%+
prioritize working capital management
FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES
Manage working capital well through KPIs
and a cash culture
Up to 4x better than below-average peers

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Companies with revenue growth of 10%+
prioritize working capital management
FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES
Benchmark success
65% of fastest-growing companies
45% of slowest-growing companies

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Companies with revenue growth of 10%+
prioritize working capital management
FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES
Strategize by discussing capital management
1x/week fastest-growing companies
1x/month slowest-growing companies
Get the full details
Working capital: How to
find extra cash for growth

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Clear KPIs improve working capital management, free
up cash and accelerate growth
46% Operating cash flow
Most-popular KPIs measured by fastest-growing companies
36% Liquidity/working capital ratios
34% Current ratio

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4 key areas where fastest-growing companies achieve
best-in-class working capital management
Payables 96% take advantage of vendors' early-pay discounts
Receivables 42% offer trade-term incentives
Inventory 56% use production or operations techniques
e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Kanban, ROI, value tracking
Digitization 62% use resource-planning software for inventory management

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Create a cash culture by taking 5 steps
COMMUNICATE
that
working capital =
cash
SHARE
INFORMATION
for buy-in
at all levels
ASSIGN
clear
responsibilities
by level
CREATE +
IMPLEMENT
policies based
on KPIs
PROVIDE
incentives
1 5432
More info at
Working Capital Management: How
Much Cash Is Your Business Tying Up?

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Free up working capital for investment and growth
Gather data +
calculate key indicators
Benchmark against
industry + competition
Review policies,
procedures + incentives
Define KPIs + set targets
Measure, monitor,
enhance, remediate
Define + implement
changes in incentives,
accountability + behaviors
Define + implement
changes in procedures

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Learn more about working capital management
READ
SEE
5 tips to create a cash culture ― summary of insights
Working capital: How to find extra cash for growth
Working Capital Management: How Much Cash Is Your Business Tying Up?
DOWNLOAD

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