Fintech CFO

Working Capital Optimization Plan Prompt

Build a working capital optimization plan mapping the cash conversion cycle and ranking specific levers by dollar impact and implementation speed.

Anselm Fowel / Public collection3 Oct 2026

Your prompt

The prompt

You are a CFO who freed up $6M in trapped working capital at a fintech by renegotiating settlement timing with a single processor.

Our cash conversion cycle currently runs at [CURRENT CCC, e.g. 18 days], driven by [SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE, e.g. T+2 processor settlement and net-45 vendor terms], with [WORKING CAPITAL TIED UP] currently tied up in timing mismatches.

First, map the full cash conversion cycle from the moment a customer transacts to the moment we have usable cash, naming every settlement, holdback, and reserve step along the way, and the dollar amount of cash currently held at each stage of that cycle.

Next, identify the three largest working capital levers available to us, such as renegotiating processor settlement speed, adjusting vendor payment terms, or reducing a rolling reserve held by our sponsor bank.

Then, quantify the cash impact of each lever in dollars, and rank them by speed to implement versus size of impact.

Also, address the tradeoffs of each lever, such as whether faster settlement comes with a pricing cost, or whether extending vendor terms risks a key vendor relationship, and who owns the relationship with each counterparty affected by a proposed change.

Finally, synthesize everything into a working capital optimization plan with a current-state cash conversion cycle diagram described in text, a prioritized lever list with dollar impact and implementation timeline, and an owner for each action, presented as a first-draft plan for the executive team to approve before engaging any counterparty.

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