Accessibility
Fiducia Together logoFiducia Together

Cash conversion

How much of your profit turns into actual cash.

Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.

What it means

Cash conversion is operating cash flow divided by operating profit, as a percentage.

Why it matters

A business converting 40% of its profit into cash has a problem in working capital, and the profit figure is flattering it.

What it looks like in practice

Persistently low conversion points at growing debtors, growing stock, or profit recognised ahead of cash. All three are fixable and none is visible on the profit and loss.

What to watch out for

Growth. A fast-growing business naturally has poor cash conversion because working capital is being consumed — see overtrading.

Where to get proper advice

Your accountant.

Where to read more

Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28

Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.

Accessibility toolkit

Done

Profiles


Text

Text size100%
Off
100%

Colour & contrast


Reading & focus

Saved to this browser for 6 months. Signed in to a Fiducia app? Set it up there instead and it follows you onto any device.

Cookies on this site

We use one cookie to remember your reading and accessibility settings, and one to remember this choice. Neither is used to track you. This site sets no advertising or analytics cookies of its own, and visits are counted on our own server, so nothing follows you off this page. Read our privacy policy.