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What happens to accounts receivable when a business is sold?

Author

Daniel Santos

Updated on January 01, 2026

In an asset sale of your company, you keep the accounts receivables as well as the cash on hand and the accounts payable accounts. You can maintain the financial assets under a new corporation since you most likely will sell the name of your company as part of the deal.

Does sales include accounts receivable?

Does accounts receivable count as revenue? Accounts receivable is an asset account, not a revenue account. However, under accrual accounting, you record revenue at the same time that you record an account receivable. Under that system, a transaction doesn’t count as a sale until the money hits your bank account.

Which sales results in accounts receivable?

What is day sales in accounts receivable? In the formula, the accounts receivable is divided by the credit sales for a specified number of days, and then multiplied by that number of days. The result is the days sales average, which can give insight into how a business generates cash flow.

How are sales and accounts receivable interrelated?

Accounts Receivable – refers to sales that have occurred on credit, meaning that the company has not yet collected the cash proceeds from these sales. Sales – refers to all sales that the company has realized over the given accounting period, including sales on credit and cash sales.

What to do after you sell a business?

Minimize your taxes on the sale

  1. Structure the transaction beneficially.
  2. Seek capital gains treatment.
  3. Take a loss on other investments.
  4. Consider tax-free investments.
  5. Remember charitable donations.
  6. Consider gifts.
  7. Max out your IRA or other retirement plan contributions.
  8. Prepay your state and/or local taxes.

Is a high days sales in receivables good?

A high DSO number shows that a company is selling its product to customers on credit and waiting a long time to collect the money. This can lead to cash flow problems. A low DSO value means that it takes a company fewer days to collect its accounts receivable.

Is accounts receivable the same as credit sales?

Accounts Receivable (AR) represents the credit sales of a business, which have not yet been collected from its customers. Image: A product purchased by a customer on a credit card creates an Accounts Receivable balance for the company that sold it.

What percentage of sales should accounts receivable be?

For example, machinery and electrical equipment industries (which is a commoditized business) typically record average receivables at 20-30% of sales (80-90 days), compared to retailers at 1-5% (less than 20 days), as shown in Figure 5.

How much tax do I pay when I sell a business?

In the sale of a company, your tax obligations will depend on whether the sale is an asset sale or a share sale. For a share sale, you will only pay capital gains tax on the profits from the sale of the shares. For basic rate taxpayers the rate is 10%, while for higher-rate tax payers it is 20%.

How much do I pay in taxes if I sell my business?

If you sell an asset that you’ve held for more than 12 months, the proceeds will be treated as long-term capital gains. The maximum tax rate on capital gains for most taxpayers is 15%. Proceeds treated as ordinary income are taxed at the taxpayer’s individual rate.

How are you taxed when you sell a business?

You will be taxed on the profit you make from selling the business. Profit received from the sale of the business assets will most likely be taxed at capital gains rates, whereas amount you receive under a consulting agreement will be ordinary income.

What is a good number of days sales in receivables?

It varies by business, but a number below 45 is considered good. It’s best to track the number over time. If the number is climbing, there may be something wrong in the collections department. Or, the company may be selling to customers with less than optimal credit.