Days Cash on Hand: The One Number Every Charter School Leader Should Know

A Simple Metric with Big Impact.

Running a charter school means wearing a lot of hats—but none of them matter much if you run out of cash. And while your school may have a solid budget, great enrollment, and clean audits, there’s one number that gives you a real-time gut check on your financial health: Days Cash on Hand.

If you're not tracking it yet, now’s the time to start.

This single measure tells your board, leadership team, and funders how long your school could keep operating if revenue stopped tomorrow. Sounds dramatic? Maybe. But in the current climate of charter school funding, this is exactly the kind of planning that sets thriving schools apart from struggling ones.

Days Cash on Hand (DCOH) tells you how many days your school could keep running if all income stopped tomorrow. It’s your financial cushion—the buffer that protects you during funding delays, enrollment dips, or unexpected expenses.

To calculate it, use this simple formula:

Days Cash on Hand = (Total Cash + Liquid Investments) ÷ Average Daily Operating Expenses

For example, if your school has $450,000 in available cash and your average daily expenses are $15,000, your DCOH is:

450,000 ÷ 15,000 = 30 days

That means you’d be able to operate for about a month without new income—a clear signal to plan carefully.

So what’s a good number to aim for?

While every school is different, here are some general benchmarks:

• 30–45 days: You’re covering the basics, but it’s tight. A delayed LEA payment could create real issues.

• 60–90 days: This is a healthy, stable range—where many financially sound schools strive to be.

• 120+ days: You’re in a strong position to take strategic risks and weather surprises with confidence.

Tip: Smaller schools or those with irregular grant disbursements may need to aim higher to handle cash flow swings.

Why This Matters in North Carolina

Charter schools rely on a mix of funding sources—state allotments, LEA pass-throughs, and federal grants. Payments can be delayed, adjusted, or unpredictable. If your school is only monitoring the budget, you might miss warning signs until it’s too late.

With DCOH, your team can:

• Spot problems before they become crises

• Time big purchases or hires more responsibly

• Speak a shared financial language with your board

• Answer tough questions from auditors, lenders, and authorizers confidently

4 Ways to Make Days Cash on Hand Work for You

1. Put it on your dashboard. Include DCOH in your monthly board report. It’s simple, visual, and meaningful. 

2. Stress-test your budget. What happens if your LEA payment is late or lower than expected? Run scenarios to see how your DCOH holds up.

3. Communicate proactively. Let your board know what your DCOH goal is and how you're working toward it. Build it into your reserve policy.

4. Make it part of leadership culture. Train your school leaders—academic, operational, and HR—to understand why this metric matters. Financial health isn't just the finance director’s job.

Want Help Calculating or Interpreting Your DCOH?

At Charter Success Partners, we help schools across North Carolina go beyond basic budget reports. Don’t have a defined way to track metrics like DCOH? The CSP Data Analytics department has built a dashboard for just that. We also have a Fractional CFO Department who can provide advanced financial analysis and projections. We can get your school set-up with a metric dashboard to track DCOH and more - all accessible 24/7 with only a few clicks.  Let’s make your cash flow predictable—and your planning stress-free.

Related episode on The Choice Factor podcast:

 “Charter School Health in a Single Number” featuring Cory Draughon

 Now streaming on Spotify and YouTube