For a freight forwarder, a defensible DSO is your average credit terms plus no more than 10–15 days. Selling on NET-30 and collecting at 42 is normal friction; collecting at 68 means you are financing five extra weeks of your customers’ business, interest-free, on 3–4% net margins. Global all-industry DSO is ~59 days; logistics typically runs 45–60.
The reference points
Allianz Trade puts global DSO at 59 days — after the largest annual jump since 2008 — with 42% of companies on terms beyond 60 days. Atradius finds over half of Indian and UAE B2B invoices overdue at due date, averaging 34 extra days to cash in India. The full table of country data is on our benchmarks page.
Judging your own number
- Terms-adjusted: DSO of 55 on NET-45 terms is tighter than DSO of 40 on NET-15.
- Trend over level: a stable 52 beats an improving-on-paper 48 that's drifting up every quarter.
- Distribution over average: a healthy average can hide a growing 90+ bucket — and ~80% of what crosses 180 days is never collected (Coface).
The habit that moves it
Compute DSO daily, per customer. Month-end DSO is a rear-view mirror; daily DSO is a windshield. A slipping account seen on day 4 is a conversation; seen on day 34 it's a negotiation.
From reading to seeing.
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