Working Capital & Liquidity
See your cash clearly, release what is trapped in the business and borrow only what you need.
Profitable businesses run out of cash more often than unprofitable ones do, because growth consumes working capital before it produces earnings. Receivables stretch, inventory builds, suppliers tighten, and the operating line becomes a permanent fixture rather than a seasonal tool.
Sapere Advisory helps management teams understand exactly where cash is going, forecast it with confidence and change the operating habits that tie it up. Often the cheapest capital available to a business is the cash already sitting in its own balance sheet, and releasing it strengthens every financing conversation that follows.
How we help
13-week cash flow forecasting
A rolling, receipts-and-disbursements forecast that shows the weeks that matter, built once and maintained as a management tool. Essential during growth, tight periods and lender discussions.
Working capital diagnostic
A review of days sales outstanding, days inventory on hand and days payable outstanding against your industry, with the cash impact of each improvement quantified.
Receivables and collections
Credit terms, invoicing discipline, collection cadence and customer concentration, with practical changes your team can hold to.
Inventory and purchasing
Stock levels, reorder practices, slow-moving inventory and supplier terms for distributors, retailers and manufacturers.
Payables and supplier terms
Paying on the right day, not the earliest day, and negotiating terms that reflect your volume and history.
Operating line sizing and borrowing base
Determining the facility size and margining structure that actually fits your cycle, and presenting it to the lender with the analysis to support it.
Liquidity planning for growth and seasonality
Modeling the cash needs of a new location, a large contract or a seasonal peak so the funding is arranged before it is urgent.
Cash reporting and dashboards
Weekly cash and working capital reporting for management, owners and lenders, delivered with Sapere Analytics where a dashboard adds value.
Our approach
Measure
We map the cash conversion cycle from purchase order to collected receivable, using your actual data.
Quantify
Each opportunity is expressed in dollars of cash released and days of cycle improvement, so priorities are obvious.
Implement
We work with your finance and operations staff on the process changes, and we stay involved until they stick.
Monitor
A weekly forecast and a monthly working capital scorecard keep the gains visible.
When to call us
The operating line is always near its limit
Even though sales and margins look healthy.
You cannot say with confidence what cash will look like in eight weeks
And the bank has started asking.
Growth is coming
A new contract, location or acquisition will need working capital you have not yet quantified.
Receivables are ageing
And the customer concentration that drives them is increasing.
You are preparing for a financing or a sale
And want the balance sheet to show its best, credible shape.
Common questions.
Quick answers about working capital & liquidity, based on current Canadian tax and accounting rules.
How much cash can a working capital review typically release?
Is a 13-week cash flow forecast only for businesses in trouble?
Can you build the forecast in our existing accounting system?
Know where your cash is going
Book a working capital diagnostic. We will show you the cash trapped in your cycle and what it would take to release it.
Related advisory services
Capital Advisory
Term loans, operating lines, equipment and real estate financing, CSBFL and BDC programs, acquisition and growth capital. We prepare the credit package, run a competitive lender process and negotiate the terms, acting only for the borrower.
CFO Advisory
Senior finance leadership on a fractional basis: monthly reporting, budgeting, lender reporting and board-level analysis without a full-time hire.
Restructuring & Turnaround
Cash stabilization, covenant relief, lender and creditor negotiation, and a credible recovery plan when cash or covenants have become the pressing issue.