Effect of Cash Conversion Cycle and Inventory Holding Period on the Profitability of Small and Medium Enterprises in Wote, Makueni County

This study examined influence of working capital management practices on the profitability of small and medium sized enterprises in Makueni County. A cross-sectional survey research design was used. A sample of 50 small and medium sized enterprises from Wote town was used. The financial statements for 2012-2016 were used to generate secondary data while semi-structured questionnaires were used for primary data collection. Descriptive statistics of frequency, means and standard deviation were used while the results were presented in tables. The study aimed at finding out the relationship between profits of the small and medium enterprises and inventory turnover, receivables, cash management and payables. The findings indicated that there exist a positive but not significant relationship between cash conversion cycle and profitability, while inventory-holding period has a positive and significant effect on profitability. The study recommends an improvement on the cash conversion cycle and use of the findings for developing policies for improvement since small and medium enterprises are key contributors to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.