Collection Effectiveness Index (CEI) Calculator
The collection effectiveness index is the share of collectible receivables you actually turned into cash in a period. Enter four numbers from your aging report to get your CEI and the past-due balance behind it.
Your collection effectiveness
88.0%
Most of what was collectible was collected
Collected in the period
$1,100,000
Collectible in the period
$1,250,000
Past due and still outstanding
$150,000
Every dollar here is cash the period should have produced and did not.
The 80% line is a common rule of thumb, not a standard — the right target depends on your terms, your customers, and your industry. Use the same period length each time so the trend is comparable.
CEI and DSO answer different questions. DSO moves when sales move, so a strong sales month can make collections look better than they are. CEI holds sales constant and asks only whether the cash that was due arrived — which is why it is the better read on the collections process itself. A higher CEI is better; 100% means nothing collectible was left uncollected.
Receivables are one leg of the cash conversion cycle, covered in Cash Conversion Cycle: Why It Matters and the cash and working capital guide. To see what slow collections do to your cash position, run the Cash Runway Calculator. When past-due receivables are the difference between making and missing a covenant, a turnaround CFO puts them into the 13-week cash flow and the plan to collect them. Book a working session.
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Book a working session.
A 20-minute call, a clear read on your numbers, and a straight answer on whether a fractional CFO is the right call right now.