Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant & Author
Guide 13 of 34 · The Balance Sheet
Is Accounts Receivable an Asset? (Apple Example)
An asset you own. Money you do not have yet.
Accounts receivable is money customers owe for things they already received. It counts as an asset. It does not count as cash until someone pays. Apple’s receivables climbed to $73.0 billion, and a growing slice of its sales now waits to be collected.
Last Updated: 10/27/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Short Answer
Is Accounts Receivable an Asset?
Textbook Definition
Accounts receivable is the amount customers owe a company for goods or services already delivered on credit. It is reported as a current asset because it is expected to be collected within a year.
In Plain English
Yes. The company did the work or shipped the product and is waiting to get paid. That promise to pay has value, so it is an asset. Until the cash arrives, though, it cannot pay a single bill.
Receivables as % of Sales
Accounts Receivable ÷ Revenue
Apple, fiscal 2025: 17.5%
Receivables sit with cash and inventory in the current assets section of the balance sheet. How fast they turn into cash is measured by days sales outstanding.
One Real Company
Apple’s Accounts Receivable, 2021 to 2025
Read the percentage row. Sales grew. Receivables grew faster.
| Line | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 416,161 | 391,035 | 383,285 | 394,328 | 365,817 |
| Accounts receivable | 72,957 | 66,243 | 60,985 | 60,932 | 51,506 |
| Receivables, % of sales | 17.5% | 16.9% | 15.9% | 15.5% | 14.1% |
| Receivables turnover | 5.98 | 6.15 | 6.29 | 7.01 | n/a |
| Days sales outstanding | 61.0 | 59.4 | 58.1 | 52.0 | n/a |
Source: Apple Form 10-K filings as analyzed in the book. $ millions. The book combines accounts receivable and vendor non-trade receivables. Turnover and DSO use a two-year average, so 2021 is not available.
The Method
How to Read Accounts Receivable in 4 Steps
Find the line, and its cousin.
Apple’s 10-K lists accounts receivable and, right below it, vendor non-trade receivables. The book adds the two together.
Divide by sales.
Raw dollars grow with the company. The percentage shows whether collections are keeping up. Apple’s rose every year.
Check turnover and days.
Turnover fell from 7.0 to 6.0 times a year. Days to collect rose from 52 to 61. Same story, two angles.
Ask why it moved.
Looser credit terms, slower customers, or a new kind of sale. For a company growing services and financing offers, some rise is expected.
The Dinner Check
Picture a restaurant. You get your meal, and a few minutes later you pay the check. For those few minutes, the restaurant has a receivable. Apple’s version is bigger and slower: it ships to retailers and carriers and waits weeks to get paid. The longer the wait, the less cash it has to run the business.
Compare It
Apple vs. Microsoft: Who Collects Faster?
| Latest fiscal year | Apple | Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| Receivables turnover | about 6 times a year | about 4 times a year |
Microsoft’s fiscal year ends in June, Apple’s in September.
Apple actually collects faster than Microsoft. Microsoft signs large enterprise contracts with longer payment terms. Much of Apple’s business is paid quickly. So Apple’s rising receivables are worth watching against its own history, not a sign it is worse than its rival.
Why It Matters
Why Do Rising Receivables Matter?
A sale on credit is profit the day it is booked. The cash comes later. When receivables grow faster than sales for years, more and more of the profit on the income statement is still sitting with customers.
That is not automatically bad. A company may offer longer terms on purpose to win bigger customers. But it can also be an early sign of looser collection practices. Either way, it pulls the income statement and the cash flow statement further apart. The gap shows up in operating cash flow, where a rise in receivables is subtracted from net income.
One more detail trips up beginners on Apple specifically. Its 10-K shows two receivable lines. Accounts receivable is what customers and retailers owe. Vendor non-trade receivables is money Apple’s own suppliers owe it, mostly for parts it sold to them to build its products. Some analysts, Dr. Paul included, add the two together when measuring how much Apple is owed. That is why the receivables figure in the book is larger than the plain accounts receivable line. When you compare your own math to the book, check which lines you included.
Beginner Traps
What Do Beginners Get Wrong About Receivables?
- Counting receivables as if they were cash.
- Watching the dollar figure instead of the percentage of sales.
- Missing vendor non-trade receivables listed on a separate line.
- Reading one year instead of the trend.
- Ignoring the customer mix behind the number.
- Forgetting that rising receivables drain operating cash flow.
How the Book Grades Apple’s Collections
From the Book
The Simplest Way to Picture It
Balance Sheet · Accounts Receivable
Dinner, Then the Check
Accounts receivable is equivalent to going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant and receiving our meal.
Every current asset, five years of Apple numbers, the ratios that measure them, and a grade for each.
Get the Book on Amazon →Waiting on Your Own Customers?
Slow payers hurt a small business far faster than they hurt Apple. Read how to get customers to pay on time. If receivables are squeezing your cash, Dr. Paul works with owners as a part-time financial lead. See fractional CFO services.
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Accounts Receivable Questions
Is accounts receivable an asset or a liability?
Is accounts receivable the same as cash?
Is a rising accounts receivable good or bad?
Keep Going
Related Guides
Receivables connect the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement.
Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant, author, and adjunct finance instructor with an MBA focused in finance.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not investment, financial, tax, accounting, or legal advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Apple and Microsoft figures come from their public filings as analyzed in the book. Apple and Microsoft are trademarks of their respective owners, and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company.