Where does the quickest cash come from?

Usually receivables — invoicing errors, unresolved disputes and inconsistent collections. It requires process discipline rather than capital, so it is the fastest to release.

Should we just extend supplier payment terms?

Only carefully. Unilateral extension damages supply relationships and can cost more than the cash gained. We look at process improvement first.

How does a working capital management engagement start?

With a short discovery conversation and a written view of scope, risk and the decisions to be made. That view is useful to you whether or not the work continues.

How is a working capital management engagement priced?

Scope and, where relevant, rules of engagement are agreed in writing before any work begins, and the engagement is a fixed fee for that scope or phased with a cost envelope per phase — so you know the cost and the boundaries up front. Larger pieces of work are broken into phases with findings delivered early rather than a single invoice at the end.

Finance Consulting · Govern

Working Capital Management

We reduce working capital by fixing the processes behind it: invoicing accuracy, dispute resolution, collections discipline, inventory policy and payment terms. The cash conversion cycle is measured by business unit and customer first, so effort goes where cash is genuinely trapped rather than where it is assumed to be. The quickest releases usually come from receivables, which respond to process discipline rather than to capital. It matters because a profitable business can still be starved of cash, and because improvements that are not built into process quietly reverse within a quarter.

In short

Working capital management releases cash tied up in receivables, inventory and payables through process change rather than through one-off pushes. Cash released this way stays released, because the process that trapped it has been fixed.

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What we do

The work inside working capital management.

Cash conversion cycle analysis

We measure the cash conversion cycle by business unit and customer to locate precisely where cash is trapped. A single blended figure for the whole business hides the units and accounts that are actually driving it. Breaking it down is what directs the effort to where the cash genuinely is.

Receivables and collections

We fix invoicing accuracy, dispute handling and collections discipline, which is where cash is most quickly released. A large share of overdue debt is tied up in invoices that were wrong or in disputes nobody is resolving. Addressing these requires process rather than capital, which is why it works fast.

Inventory policy

We set stocking policy on demand variability and lead time rather than on habit or caution. Inventory that grows faster than sales is cash sitting on a shelf against a risk that was never quantified. A policy grounded in the actual demand pattern releases cash without threatening service levels.

Payables and terms

We align payment terms and processes to improve the cash position without damaging the supplier relationships the business depends on. Unilaterally stretching payment terms can cost more in strained supply and lost goodwill than the cash it frees. We look to process and term alignment before reaching for extension.

What you receive

Deliverables, in writing.

Documented output your teams keep and can act on without us in the room.

Cash conversion cycle analysis by unit
Receivables and collections improvement plan
Inventory policy recommendations
Payables and terms review with tracked improvement

When this work helps

You may be facing this.

Profit is reported but cash is tight
Receivable days have drifted upward
Inventory grows faster than sales

How an engagement runs

Discover, assess, design, deliver.

01
Discover
Understand the decision, the financial context, and how finance currently operates. We establish exactly what question the engagement must answer, so a business-case review and a process redesign are not confused with one another.
02
Assess
Review the case, processes, controls, and reporting against what the organisation needs to rely on. We report where the numbers and processes are dependable and where they rest on assumptions that will not hold under pressure.
03
Design
Set out the financial approach, process design, control set, and reporting model. Definitions, ownership, and controls are documented so the improvement does not depend on us remaining involved.
04
Deliver
Support implementation, then track cost and benefit against what was approved. We measure realised value against the criteria agreed at the outset, so the decision is held to account rather than forgotten.

Where we work

Delhi, India — and wherever the work is.

Fidova provides finance consulting from Delhi, India, and works with organisations internationally, including group structures with entities, currencies, and reporting obligations in more than one country.

Engagements run in English, are scheduled around your time zone, and can be delivered remotely end to end, with on-site time planned where a phase genuinely benefits from being in the room.

Related services

Often needed alongside this.

Cash Flow Management

Cash flow management establishes visibility and control over cash inflows, outflows and short-term liquidity. A forecast whose accuracy is never checked is a guess that nobody can safely act on.

Treasury Advisory

Treasury advisory covers cash and banking structure, liquidity, currency and interest rate exposure, and the controls around payments. Exposure that has not been quantified cannot be sensibly hedged, and payments that are not controlled are where fraud enters.

Risk Management

Financial risk management identifies and controls exposures to credit, liquidity, market and operational loss. It complements enterprise risk work rather than replacing it, with the emphasis on quantified limits.

All finance consulting services

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