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Small manufacturer · 13 min

Cash for the first big order

You won the big order. Now you buy the materials, pay for the run and wait weeks to be paid. Here's how much cash one order swallows, and how to cover it.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How long is a maker's cash tied up?

Manufacturers buy materials, make things, ship them and wait to be paid. In the second quarter of 2026, US manufacturing corporations with under $50Mcensus.gov ·2026 in assets were holding stock (materials, half-made and finished goods). How many days of sales was that stock worth?

20 days
0 days180 days
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Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Quarterly Financial Report: U.S. Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries, Second Quarter 2026, released September 8, 2026 (the link serves the newest quarter; QFR financial data tables 1.0/1.1 all manufacturing, 3.0/3.1 food, 22.0/22.1 fabricated metal products, 32.0/32.1 furniture and related products; corporations with total assets under $50 million) · U.S. Census Bureau, 2026

Every number

  • $50Mcensus.gov ·2026 · The Quarterly Financial Report's size class for smaller corporations: total assets under fifty million dollars.
  • 53 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: inventories (materials, work in progress and finished goods) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 43 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade receivables (what customers owed) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 23 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade payables (what they owed suppliers) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 37 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade payables (what they owed suppliers) for manufacturing corporations of all sizes, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 74 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026, for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets: inventories plus trade receivables minus trade payables, divided by the quarter's sales, times the quarter's ninety-one days. Days of sales, rounded after adding up.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Industries›
  3. Small manufacturer
  • ·Before this: What it costs to make one more
  • ·Next: Selling to a big retailer
  • ·Free guide: How small manufacturers make money
Skip to the lesson
Back to the home page and map, from TryOwning · Small manufacturer · Lesson 2
Part 1 of 3Part 1 of 3, 0 done

Small manufacturer · 13 min

Cash for the first big order

You won the big order. Now you buy the materials, pay for the run and wait weeks to be paid. Here's how much cash one order swallows, and how to cover it.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How long is a maker's cash tied up?

Manufacturers buy materials, make things, ship them and wait to be paid. In the second quarter of 2026, US manufacturing corporations with under $50Mcensus.gov ·2026 in assets were holding stock (materials, half-made and finished goods). How many days of sales was that stock worth?

20 days
0 days180 days
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Quarterly Financial Report: U.S. Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries, Second Quarter 2026, released September 8, 2026 (the link serves the newest quarter; QFR financial data tables 1.0/1.1 all manufacturing, 3.0/3.1 food, 22.0/22.1 fabricated metal products, 32.0/32.1 furniture and related products; corporations with total assets under $50 million) · U.S. Census Bureau, 2026

Every number

  • $50Mcensus.gov ·2026 · The Quarterly Financial Report's size class for smaller corporations: total assets under fifty million dollars.
  • 53 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: inventories (materials, work in progress and finished goods) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 43 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade receivables (what customers owed) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 23 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade payables (what they owed suppliers) for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 37 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026: trade payables (what they owed suppliers) for manufacturing corporations of all sizes, divided by the quarter's sales and multiplied by the quarter's ninety-one days. Corporations, not seasonally adjusted. Counted in days of sales, because the report has no cost-of-goods line.
  • 74 dayscensus.gov ·2026 · Worked out from the Census Quarterly Financial Report, second quarter of 2026, for manufacturing corporations with under fifty million dollars in assets: inventories plus trade receivables minus trade payables, divided by the quarter's sales, times the quarter's ninety-one days. Days of sales, rounded after adding up.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Industries›
  3. Small manufacturer
  • ·Before this: What it costs to make one more
  • ·Next: Selling to a big retailer
  • ·Free guide: How small manufacturers make money