Set Collection Baselines
Collection baselines are the metrics from before you started using BayWise Payments. They give the Payments Impact dashboard a reference point to measure how much your collections have improved since going live. Without baselines, the impact panel shows “No data” — BayWise never fabricates baseline figures.
This guide covers what each baseline metric means, where to find the values, and how to enter them.
Who can do this: Account Owner, Org Admin, and Location Manager.
Why baselines matter
The Payments Impact panel on the dashboard answers the question: “Is BayWise Payments actually improving my cash collection?” To answer that, it needs to know where you started.
- Without baselines: The impact panel displays “No data” for all comparison metrics. Your current DSO, collection rate, and working capital savings are still calculated, but there is nothing to compare them against.
- With baselines: The panel shows the delta between your pre-BayPay figures and your current performance. A workshop that went from 45-day DSO to 12-day DSO after going live sees that improvement quantified.
Setting baselines takes two minutes. The payoff is permanent visibility into the return on your payments investment.
Understand the four fields
Navigate to Settings → Baselines. The screen contains four input fields.
BayPay live date
The calendar date when your location started actively using BayWise Payments for real transactions. This date anchors the “before vs. after” comparison on the dashboard.
Use the date picker to select the date. If you did a phased rollout — running BayPay in parallel with your old system for a few weeks — choose the date when BayPay became your primary system.
Baseline DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)
Your average DSO before going live with BayPay. DSO measures how many days it takes, on average, to collect payment after an invoice is issued.
Enter the value in whole days. If you tracked this metric in your previous system or accounting software, use that number. If you estimated it informally, use your best approximation.
| Workshop type | Typical pre-digital DSO |
|---|---|
| Quick-service (oil, tyres, brakes) | 5-15 days |
| General repair (mixed retail + fleet) | 20-35 days |
| Body shop (insurance-heavy) | 45-90 days |
| Fleet-focused (corporate accounts) | 30-60 days |
At Tanaka Auto Service in Osaka, where most customers are walk-in retail and pay on collection, the baseline DSO might be 8 days. At Santos Body Works in Sao Paulo, where insurance claims dominate, it might be 62 days.
Baseline collection rate
The percentage of invoiced revenue that you actually collected before going live. Enter this as a whole number (e.g., enter 92 for 92%).
A collection rate below 100% means some invoiced amounts went uncollected — write-offs, disputes, abandoned vehicles, or customers who never returned. The dashboard compares this to your current collection rate to show the improvement.
Cost of capital rate
The annual percentage cost of the capital your business uses to bridge the gap between invoicing and collection. This is the opportunity cost of having money tied up in receivables.
Enter this as a percentage with up to one decimal place (e.g., 8.5 for 8.5% annual cost of capital). The value is displayed as a percentage in the UI but stored as a decimal internally (8.5% is stored as 0.085).
If you are not sure what your cost of capital is, consider: the interest rate on your business line of credit, the return rate on alternative investments you could make with the tied-up cash, or a blended rate that reflects your actual financing mix. A common range for small-to-medium workshops is 6-12%.
Enter your baselines
Open Settings → Baselines
From the main navigation, go to Settings → Baselines.
Enter the BayPay live date
Click the date picker and select the date when your location went live with BayWise Payments.
Enter the Baseline DSO
Type the number of days in the Baseline DSO field. Whole numbers only.
Enter the Baseline Collection Rate
Type the percentage in the Baseline Collection Rate field (e.g., 95 for 95%).
Enter the Cost of Capital Rate
Type the annual percentage in the Cost of Capital field (e.g., 8.5 for 8.5%). The field accepts increments of 0.1.
Save
Click Save. All four values are saved to your location’s payment settings. A confirmation message appears briefly.
Baselines are reference values for comparison. Entering inaccurate baselines will make the impact dashboard misleading. Use real figures from your accounting system or previous payment records. If you do not have exact numbers, a reasonable estimate is better than no baseline at all — but note it as an estimate so your team knows.
What happens after you save
Once baselines are saved, the Payments Impact panel on the dashboard activates. It begins showing:
- DSO improvement — the difference between your baseline DSO and your current DSO, expressed in days saved
- Collection rate improvement — the delta between your baseline collection rate and your current rate, expressed in percentage points
- Working capital savings — an estimate of the cash freed up by faster collections, calculated using your cost of capital rate and the DSO improvement
These figures update as new transactions flow through the system. The longer BayWise Payments has been active, the more statistically meaningful the comparison becomes.
Update baselines later
You can return to Settings → Baselines and update any field at any time. Common reasons to update:
- You found more accurate historical figures after the initial setup
- Your accounting team provided corrected numbers
- You want to reset the comparison point after a major business change (e.g., acquiring a new location, changing your service mix)
Updated baselines take effect immediately on the dashboard. Historical dashboard snapshots are not retroactively recalculated.
Common questions
What if I do not know my historical DSO? Estimate based on your typical collection pattern. If most customers paid within a week of invoice, enter 7. If fleet accounts took a month, enter 30. An approximate baseline is far more useful than no baseline.
Can I set baselines for multiple locations at once? No. Each location has its own baselines stored independently. Navigate to each location and set baselines individually. This is by design — different locations typically have different historical collection patterns.
What does the dashboard show if I set some fields but not all? The impact panel calculates each metric independently. If you enter a baseline DSO but not a collection rate, the DSO improvement figure appears while the collection rate comparison shows “No data.” Enter all four fields for the complete picture.
How is cost of capital used in the calculation? The working capital savings metric multiplies the cash freed up by faster collections (based on DSO improvement and average daily revenue) by your cost of capital rate. It represents the annual financing cost you avoid by collecting faster.
Can I delete baselines? Clear all four fields and save. The impact panel reverts to “No data” for baseline-dependent metrics. Your current performance metrics (live DSO, live collection rate) continue to display normally.
Related pages
- Understanding the Dashboard — see where the impact panel sits and how to read all dashboard metrics
- Read AR Aging — the AR aging view shows your current receivables profile, which feeds into DSO
- Configure Payment Preferences — set the currency used for all financial calculations
- Use the Collection Queue — faster collection queue processing directly improves your live DSO