Working capital requirement (WCR)

Sources and assumptions

• legifrance.gouv.fr — LEGIARTI000038414392 — tax year 2026, verified on September 4, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « Sauf dispositions contraires figurant aux conditions de vente ou convenues entre les parties, le délai de règlement des sommes dues ne peut dépasser trente jours après la date de réception des marchandises ou d'exécution de la prestation demandée. »

• legifrance.gouv.fr — LEGIARTI000038414392 — tax year 2026, verified on September 4, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « Le délai convenu entre les parties pour régler les sommes dues ne peut dépasser soixante jours après la date d'émission de la facture. »

• legifrance.gouv.fr — LEGIARTI000038414392 — tax year 2026, verified on September 4, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « Par dérogation, un délai maximal de quarante-cinq jours fin de mois après la date d'émission de la facture peut être convenu entre les parties, sous réserve que ce délai soit expressément stipulé par contrat et qu'il ne constitue pas un abus manifeste à l'égard du créancier. »

• legifrance.gouv.fr — LEGIARTI000038414392 — tax year 2026, verified on September 4, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « En cas de facture périodique au sens du 3 du I de l'article 289 du code général des impôts, le délai convenu entre les parties ne peut dépasser quarante-cinq jours après la date d'émission de la facture. »

Calculation assumptions

• Only the OPERATING requirement is computed: inventory, trade receivables and trade payables. Non-operating items (tax and social security receivables and payables, amounts owed on fixed assets, shareholder current accounts) are not modelled, although they sometimes weigh heavily on the total financing need.
• The working capital requirement is a management concept, not a legal obligation: no statute defines it or sets its value. The only point of law applied here is the statutory ceiling on payment terms between businesses, against which the observed or entered periods are checked.
• All ratios use the 360-day commercial year, the usual management convention. Statutory payment ceilings, by contrast, are expressed in calendar days: a derived period that falls just above the ceiling should be recomputed on the actual contractual basis before any conclusion is drawn.
• Turnover and purchases are entered excluding VAT; receivables and payables appear on the balance sheet including VAT. Converting between the two uses a single VAT rate, the one you enter. A company applying several rates, or partly exempt, will get approximate average periods.
• The calculation is a snapshot at a given date, not a twelve-month profile. A seasonal business has a peak requirement far above its annual average: it is that peak, not the average, that must be financeable.
• The "end of month" convention is not modelled in detail. Depending on the counting method agreed in the contract, the time actually available from the invoice date may noticeably exceed the number of days displayed: the comparison with the ceiling therefore remains indicative for that contractual basis.
• Shorter statutory periods specific to certain sectors — perishable food products, live cattle and fresh meat, alcoholic drinks subject to excise duty, road haulage, agricultural equipment, toys — are not applied. They are often shorter than the general ceiling used here.
• No means of financing the requirement is taken into account: bill discounting, factoring, assignment of trade receivables, seasonal credit or authorised overdraft. The calculation says what must be financed, not how to finance it.