Understanding Days Cash on Hand: Definition and Basics
Definition:
Days Cash on Hand (DCOH) is a liquidity metric that estimates the number of days a company can continue to pay its operating expenses using only its available cash and liquid assets, without needing to generate additional revenue or tap credit lines.
Formula:
Days Cash on Hand =
Cash and Cash Equivalents ÷
(Operating Expenses – Non-Cash Expenses) ÷ 365
Where:
Cash and cash equivalents include bank deposits and marketable securities.
Operating expenses are the total costs to run the organization, excluding capital expenditures.
Non-cash expenses typically refer to depreciation or amortization.
Purpose & Use:
Measures short-term financial resilience.
Commonly used in industries with variable revenue streams (e.g., healthcare, education).
Helps stakeholders assess whether the organization can survive a revenue shortfall or crisis.
May be used by creditors and investors as a sign of financial health.
Interpretation:
Higher DCOH: Greater liquidity cushion; suggests the organization can withstand periods of revenue disruption.
Lower DCOH: Potential cash flow risk; the organization may need to rely on borrowing or asset liquidation to stay solvent.
There is no universal benchmark for a “good” DCOH. It varies significantly by industry and organization size.
Limitations of Days Cash on Hand:
Days Cash on Hand is inherently a backward-looking metric, based on historical operating expenses. It doesn't incorporate upcoming changes in cost structure, revenue trends, or strategic cash flow plans. As such, it offers only a snapshot of past liquidity rather than a forward-looking view of financial resilience.
It also fails to account for seasonality in the business. Companies with cyclical revenue or expense patterns—such as retailers, event-driven businesses, or agriculture firms—might show artificially high or low DCOH depending on when it's calculated. Without considering timing effects, the metric can give a false sense of security or urgency.
Example:
If a company has $5 million in cash and annual operating expenses of $36.5 million (after adjusting for non-cash items), its DCOH would be:
Days Cash on Hand =
5,000,000 ÷ (36,500,000 ÷ 365)
= 50 days
This means the company could continue paying its daily expenses for 50 days without additional income.