Profitable on paper.
Broke in the bank?

Tell us how your business is built. We'll show you where every rupee of your profit or burn is going — and which three levers will recover the most cash. Calibrated for Indian businesses across services, SaaS, manufacturing, consumer, and fintech.

Your business
Inputs
01 · Identity
02 · Top line
₹ Cr
% YoY
%
Average 30%You 35%Best 60%
03 · Fixed costs
₹ Cr
Best 65%You 12%Average 60%
₹ Cr
₹ Cr
₹ Cr
04 · Working capital
days
Best 25dYou 65dAverage 90d
days
Average 40dYou 40dBest 75d
05 · Below the line
₹ Cr
Best 1%You 3%Average 7%
₹ Cr
₹ Cr
%
06 · Cash position & trapped balances
₹ Cr
₹ Cr
07 · Growth metricsoptional
count
The headline number
Your P&L says you made:
₹ 7.90 Cr
EBITDA from your inputs · 15.8% margin.
Cash actually generated by operations:
₹ 2.13 Cr
Only 27% of EBITDA converts to cash. The rest is going into working capital growth, capex, tax, and trapped balances.
02 · The bridge
From P&L to bank
RevenueTop line
₹ 50.00CR
COGSDirect cost
−₹ 32.50CR
Gross profit@35%
₹ 17.50CR
SalariesFixed
−₹ 6.00CR
RentFixed
−₹ 0.60CR
Marketing & salesGrowth invest.
−₹ 2.00CR
Other overheadFixed
−₹ 1.00CR
EBITDA15.8% margin
₹ 7.90CR
DepreciationNon-cash
−₹ 0.60CR
EBITProfit before int.
₹ 7.30CR
InterestOn debt
−₹ 1.00CR
Tax@25% on PBT
−₹ 1.58CR
Add: D&ANon-cash add-back
₹ 0.60CR
Working capital ΔFrom 30% growth
−₹ 1.23CR
Cash from opsCFO
₹ 4.09CR
CapexCash invested
−₹ 1.50CR
Trapped balances ΔLoans / advances
−₹ 0.46CR
Free cash flowWhat's left
₹ 2.13CR
03 · Where to look first

Your top 3 cash levers,
ranked.

Of the diagnoses below, these three move the most rupees. If you fix nothing else, fix these.

01
Lever 1

Compress cash cycle
cash conversion cycle

Tackle DSO and DIO together — one releases AR, other releases inventory. Both compound.

Cash unlocked if you fix this
₹ 3.42 Cr/ year
02
Lever 2

Renegotiate vendor terms
payables

Renegotiate top-10 vendor terms to 60d. Pay strategic vendors faster for discount; stretch transactional vendors.

Cash unlocked if you fix this
₹ 1.78 Cr/ year
03
Lever 3

Recover trapped balances
trapped balances

List every advance & deposit. Chase vendor advances against POs not delivered. Pursue GST refunds. Document director loans.

Cash unlocked if you fix this
₹ 0.80 Cr/ year
04 · Every leak, line by line

Where the cash gets stuck.

Each row below is one of the common ways a business runs out of cash. Your number vs. sector good, average, and world-class — with the rupee impact of closing the gap.

ReceivablesAR — DSO
₹ 8.90 Cr is sitting with your customers at 65 days. Sector good: 60d. World-class: 25d. Tightening to 60d releases ₹ 0.68 Cr; going to world-class releases ₹ 5.48 Cr.
₹ 8.90 CrTIED IN AR
Good 60d · Avg 90dWorld-class 25dWatch
PayablesAP — DPO
Paying vendors in 40 days — sector good is 60; world-class 75. Stretching to 60d frees up ₹ 1.78 Cr; world-class adds ₹ 3.12 Cr more. Without breaking supplier relationships.
₹ 3.56 CrAP FLOAT
Good 60d · Avg 40dWorld-class 75dWatch
Salary loadHeadcount cost
Salaries at 12.0% of revenue — within healthy range for Services at Series A/B stage.
₹ 6.00 Cr₹ Cr / YEAR
Lean <36% · Avg 60%World-class <78%On track
Cash conversion cycleCCC
CCC is 25 days — cash leaves 25 days before it comes back. Every 10 days of CCC ≈ ₹ 1.37 Cr locked. Sector good: 0d; world-class: -50d.
25DAYS
Good 0dWorld-class -50dReview
Capex intensityReinvestment
Capex at 3.0% of revenue — within healthy range. Disciplined.
₹ 1.50 Cr₹ Cr / YEAR
Good 3.9% · Avg 5%World-class 1%On track
Interest coverageEBITDA / Interest
Coverage 7.9x EBITDA — debt service comfortable. World-class operators run >10x or are debt-free.
₹ 1.00 Cr₹ Cr / YEAR
>5x healthy · 2-5x watch · <2x strainWorld-class: >10x or debt-freeOn track
Trapped balancesLoans & advances
₹ 2.00 Cr locked outside operations (4.0% of revenue). Recoverable: vendor advances, GST refunds. Structurally stuck: director loans, sister-entity exposure. Most under-managed area of WC in Indian businesses.
₹ 2.00 Cr₹ Cr LOCKED
<2% normal · >5% reviewWorld-class: <1%Watch
05 · How your business is built

The metrics
your sector actually cares about.

Cash flow is one lens. For your sector, here are the operating metrics that determine whether the cash flow gets better next year — calculated from your inputs, benchmarked against what world-class operators achieve.

Revenue per employee
₹125 L
Productivity proxy
40 billable headcount on ₹ 50.00 Cr revenue. Strong utilisation.
<₹30L thin · ₹30-50L typical · ₹50L+ strongOn track
Gross profit / employee
₹44 L
Realisation proxy
₹ 43.8 L of gross profit per head — the budget available for fixed costs and profit. Comfortable.
<₹10L tight · ₹10-20L mid · ₹20L+ strongOn track
EBITDA margin
15.8%
Operating efficiency
₹ 7.90 Cr of EBITDA on ₹ 50.00 Cr revenue. Adequate margin — scale improves it.
Negative = burn · <10% thin · 10-20% mid · >20% strongWatch
FCF margin
4.3%
Cash return
₹ 2.13 Cr of free cash on ₹ 50.00 Cr revenue. This is what compounds.
Negative = burn · 5-15% mid · 15%+ compounderWatch
!

Indicative.
And honest about what it can't see.

This is a directional model. Real cash flow involves monthly seasonality, working capital lumpiness, capex timing, deferred tax, ESOP exercise cash, inter-company netting, GST input credit cycles, regulatory refunds, MAT and concessional tax regimes (115BAA / 115BAB / LLP), cohort-level unit economics, and a dozen other line items no static tool can capture.

Sector metrics are approximations from your inputs. Real Rule of 40 uses GAAP EBITDA margin; real CAC uses cohort-level S&M attribution; real asset turnover uses average gross block. The tool's outputs are directional — useful for the conversation, not the audit.

If you're building for hyperscale, the right cash flow conversation isn't about optimising DSO — it's about designing capital deployment for the next 3 years. That's a different conversation. Either way, the answer to the gap isn't in a tool — it's in a conversation.

Errors or missing inputs: connect@dissent.one.

06 · Fix the gap

The gap isn't going
to fix itself.

Whether the answer is working capital discipline, capital structuring, or designing how this business deploys cash over the next three years — that's the conversation. That's what we do, every day, for clients building real ambition.

Brief Dissent Books →
  • Cash strategy for the next roundWhat to fix before fundraising — so the data room reads clean and the valuation holds.
  • Capital structuringDebt / equity mix, working capital facility design, supply chain finance — designed against your cash profile.
  • Working capital diagnosticsReceivables ageing, vendor terms, inventory turn — the operational levers, done right.
  • Decision-ready MISMonthly close discipline so the gap is visible every month, not once a year.
  • 13-week cash flow forecastingWhat's coming, not what already happened.
  • Trapped balance recoveryRelated-party balances, vendor advances, regulatory refunds — chased and closed.

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