Count Back method for Debtor days calculation

[#1]

Hi Forum,

Has anybody implemented the 'count back' method for calculation of debtor days in BPC ? I would be interested to understand any experiences ?

Brian

[Former Member]

I've done a few of these, and my first recommendation is to build the calculation model in Excel, to ensure that your users are fully in agreement on how the calculation needs to work. Be sure to account for every dimension of your application in that Excel model.

In your case, is this for actual data, or plan data? The calculation is reversed depending on which data is the input (sales or A/R or the days assumption) and which is the output.

Also, in a planning application, you need to consider what category of data provides the prior-year values for the periods leading up to the first month of the time periods that are being planned. E.g., if we're planning 2010 budget right now, where do we get the sales number for December 2009? For an actuals-only system, maybe this isn't a concern.

Finally, determine at what level(s) of your entity dimension (and any other dimensions where you're tracking sales & working capital) you will calculate this for. If it's always base members, that makes the calculation easier. But that may not meet the business requirement.