Search
Inventory DIO

Days Inventory Outstanding

The average number of days stock is held before it is sold.

DIO (also called Days Sales of Inventory) expresses inventory turnover as a number of days. It tells you, on average, how long capital sits in stock before being sold.

Lower is usually better for cash flow, but the ideal varies sharply by industry and product shelf life.

Formula

DIO = (Average inventory ÷ COGS) × 365

The inverse view of inventory turnover.