The DSO Benchmark Report
Days sales outstanding across nine industries. Why it is stuck where it is. What teams running relationship-first AR do differently.
Every day of DSO is cash sitting on a balance sheet
DSO is the easiest read on how fast a business turns revenue into cash. It has barely moved in a decade, even as everything else in finance automated.
DSO by industry, ranked
The same product, sold on the same terms, collects at very different speeds depending on the industry. Here is where each one lands and where teams on Monk land instead.
One industry, in detail
The full report runs this breakdown for all nine.
The margin is in the spread
Staffing finances payroll before it collects. Every extra week an invoice sits eats directly into the margin on the placement.
Change year over year
Resolves at the line item
Most staffing disputes are timesheet mismatches. Monk settles the exception with the hiring manager instead of escalating the whole invoice.
On Monk
Point it at your top debtors
A handful of MSP clients drive most of the AR. Start Monk there and DSO moves in weeks, not quarters.
Monk has transformed how we manage AR collections. Beyond the platform itself, Monk is a true partner.
Most finance leaders can recite revenue, but far fewer can say how long it takes that revenue to become cash
How we built the benchmark
What the numbers cover and what they do not. Full sourcing so you can check our work.
Monk’s own book
On-Monk figures come from the cohort of accounts actively managed by Monk agents.
Published benchmarks
Industry averages triangulated from Credit Research Foundation, Hackett / REL working-capital surveys, and Dun & Bradstreet.
Filed financials
Cross-checked against DSO disclosed in public 10-Ks for the largest players in each vertical.
Questions finance leaders ask
Is DSO even the right metric?
It is the clearest single read on cash conversion, but pair it with best-possible DSO and past-due percentage to see the full picture.
How is on-Monk DSO calculated?
On-Monk figures come from the cohort of accounts actively managed by Monk agents, measured the same way as the industry numbers: open receivables against billed revenue over the period. Industry benchmarks are triangulated from Credit Research Foundation, Hackett / REL working-capital surveys, and Dun & Bradstreet, cross-checked against DSO disclosed in public 10-Ks.
Does pushing DSO down hurt customer relationships?
Not when it is done through the relationship instead of around it. Most late payment is friction (a portal rejection, an unanswered question, an unresolved dispute), not intent. Removing the friction collects faster without squeezing customers; the lowest-DSO teams in this report run the most responsive AR.
Can we benchmark our own number?
Yes. The calculator on this page benchmarks your DSO against your industry's distribution from the same dataset. The full report breaks all nine industries down the same way.