Cash Conversion Clock

The Cash Conversion Clock measures the elapsed time between work delivered and cash landed, not the date an invoice was issued. Agencies often track billing dates while ignoring the three clocks that actually govern liquidity: time-to-invoice (days from delivery to send), time-to-approval (client sign-off lag), and time-to-clear (payment gateway settlement). Each clock compounds the next. A 14-day approval lag on a $40,000 retainer pushes payroll coverage into the following month even when the invoice was sent on time. The framework forces operators to instrument each interval separately, because the fix differs: time-to-invoice responds to time-tracking-to-billing automation, approval lag responds to pre-agreed scope sign-off, and settlement lag responds to gateway choice. Harvest converts tracked hours into invoices, but the clock only shortens when the approval and settlement legs are measured too.