{
  "id": "days-payable-outstanding",
  "version": "8aee8792693f",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) Calculator",
  "question": "What is my DPO?",
  "summary": "Works out days payable outstanding (DPO), the average number of days a business takes to pay its suppliers, from accounts payable, cost of goods sold and the days in the period, with the accounts payable turnover.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "business",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/dpo-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/dpo-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Average accounts payable = (start + end) ÷ 2, or the end balance alone. DPO = average accounts payable × days in the period ÷ cost of goods sold. Accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable, so DPO = days ÷ turnover.",
  "assumptions": [
    "Accounts payable and cost of goods sold cover the same period; the days are that period’s length.",
    "Cost of goods sold stands in for credit purchases from suppliers; type purchases instead if you have them.",
    "Every amount is at most $1 trillion, and cost of goods sold is at least $0.01."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "ap": {
        "title": "Accounts payable at the end",
        "description": "What the business owes its suppliers at the end of the period, from the balance sheet.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000000
      },
      "apstart": {
        "title": "Accounts payable at the start (optional)",
        "description": "Accounts payable at the start of the period. When given, the average of the start and end balances is used.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000000
      },
      "cogs": {
        "title": "Cost of goods sold",
        "description": "Cost of goods sold for the same period, from the income statement. Purchases can be used instead.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0.01,
        "maximum": 1000000000000
      },
      "days": {
        "title": "Days in the period",
        "description": "Days the cost of goods sold covers: 365 for a year, 90 or 91 for a quarter, 30 for a month.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 366
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "dpo": {
      "label": "Days payable outstanding",
      "description": "Average accounts payable × days in the period ÷ cost of goods sold.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "turnover": {
      "label": "Accounts payable turnover",
      "description": "Cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable: how many times the payables are paid off in the period.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "average": {
      "label": "Average accounts payable",
      "description": "(Start + end) ÷ 2, or the end balance when no start balance is given.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "perDay": {
      "label": "Cost of goods sold per day",
      "description": "Cost of goods sold ÷ days in the period.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "ap": 45000,
      "cogs": 400000,
      "days": 365
    },
    "outputs": {
      "dpo": 41.0625,
      "turnover": 8.88888888888889,
      "average": 45000,
      "perDay": 1095.890410958904
    },
    "text": "With $45,000.00 of average payables and $400,000.00 cost of goods sold over 365 days, DPO is 41.06 days."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "ap": 3300000,
        "cogs": 30000000,
        "days": 365
      },
      "expect": {
        "dpo": 40.15,
        "turnover": 9.090909090909092,
        "average": 3300000
      },
      "source": "OpenStax, Principles of Finance (Dahlquist and Knight, 2022), section 19.1: accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable; payables deferral period = 365 ÷ turnover, https://openstax.org/books/principles-finance/pages/19-1-what-is-working-capital (scenario 2: turnover 9.09, 40.15 days); hand calculation in content.mdx; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-128/xcheck.py"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "ap": 2800000,
        "cogs": 30000000,
        "days": 365
      },
      "expect": {
        "dpo": 34.06666666666667,
        "turnover": 10.714285714285714
      },
      "source": "OpenStax, Principles of Finance (Dahlquist and Knight, 2022), section 19.1: accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable; payables deferral period = 365 ÷ turnover, https://openstax.org/books/principles-finance/pages/19-1-what-is-working-capital (scenario 1: turnover 10.71, about 34 days); Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-128/xcheck.py"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "apstart": 40000,
        "ap": 50000,
        "cogs": 400000,
        "days": 365
      },
      "expect": {
        "average": 45000,
        "dpo": 41.0625,
        "turnover": 8.88888888888889,
        "perDay": 1095.890410958904
      },
      "source": "OpenStax, Principles of Finance (Dahlquist and Knight, 2022), section 19.1: accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable; payables deferral period = 365 ÷ turnover, https://openstax.org/books/principles-finance/pages/19-1-what-is-working-capital (average accounts payable = (beginning + ending) ÷ 2); hand calculation in content.mdx; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-128/xcheck.py"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "ap": 45000,
        "cogs": 100000,
        "days": 90
      },
      "expect": {
        "dpo": 40.5,
        "turnover": 2.2222222222222223,
        "perDay": 1111.111111111111
      },
      "source": "OpenStax, Principles of Finance (Dahlquist and Knight, 2022), section 19.1: accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable; payables deferral period = 365 ÷ turnover, https://openstax.org/books/principles-finance/pages/19-1-what-is-working-capital (the period's days in place of 365); hand calculation in content.mdx; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-128/xcheck.py"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "OpenStax, Principles of Finance, Julie Dahlquist and Rainford Knight (Rice University, 2022), section 19.1, What Is Working Capital?: accounts payable turnover = cost of goods sold ÷ average accounts payable; average accounts payable = (beginning + ending) ÷ 2; payables deferral period = 365 ÷ accounts payable turnover; cash cycle. https://openstax.org/books/principles-finance/pages/19-1-what-is-working-capital (retrieved 2026-10-18)",
    "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Beginners' Guide to Financial Statements (current liabilities include money owed to suppliers; cost of sales is what the company spent to produce the goods it sold in the period; the balance sheet is a snapshot, the income statement covers a period). https://www.sec.gov/about/reports-publications/beginners-guide-financial-statements (retrieved 2026-10-18)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "gross-profit",
    "cash-flow",
    "break-even",
    "profit"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}