The accounts receivable turnover ratio measures how many times per year a business can collect its A/R, whereas day sales outstanding (DSO) is a metric that represents how long it takes a business to collect an A/R from a customer after the sale. Both measures capture the same information but in a slightly different way. This is the formula for calculating DSO: (A/R / Credit sales) x Number of days The goal is to maintain a low DSO number because a low DSO reflects quicker cash collection.