Sales to Working Capital

An increasing Sales to Working Capital ratio is usually a positive sign, indicating the company is more able to use its working capital to generate sales. Although measuring the performance of a company for just one period reveals how well it is using its cash for that single period, this ratio is much more effectively used over a number of periods.

This ratio can help uncover questionable management decisions such as relaxing credit requirements to potential customers to increase sales, increasing inventory levels to reduce order fulfillment cycle times, and slowing payment to vendors and suppliers in an effort to hold on to its cash.