Revamp your payables procedures to hold onto cash longer. “Stretch your payables as long as possible without hurting your vendors, unless you’re offered a discount for prompt payment,” says Lisa Aldisert, a management consultant who specializes in small business financial management and growth. “Take full advantage of your 30 days to pay if those are the agreed-upon terms. But don’t be late — you want to maintain excellent trade credit.”

Reduce your investment in accounts receivable. “At the most basic level, you must track your receivables — be aware of what payments are due to you and when,” says Aldisert. “State your payment terms clearly on your invoices and enforce them, and consider assessing penalties for late payments.”

If you’re offering extended payment terms, you need to determine whether this is generating incremental sales and/or wider margins or not, says John Barrickman, the president of New Horizons Financial Group, a consulting group specializing in small business lending. “If not, the extended terms are reducing your profitability by tying up non-productive cash.”

Shave your inventory. Inventory “eats cash,” says Aldisert, “and you can’t get it back until you make more sales.”

Barrickman suggests that you compare your inventory levels and average inventory turnover ratio with industry averages “to see if you’re in the ballpark. Can you shift a portion of the burden of carrying inventory to your suppliers by using just-in-time inventory management processes? If you’ve accumulated excess inventory, can you liquidate it in a bulk sale?”

Reevaluate your client and project list. If you’re strapped for cash right now, you might consider reevaluating your current client list and the projects you’re working on for them.

“You may want to focus more on business that brings in more cash on a short-term basis and save longer-term projects for when you’re not juggling cash,” suggests Aldisert. This is often easier for self-employed professionals who may have more flexibility in their project scheduling.

“Savvy business owners know where their cash is at all times,” says Aldisert. “If you’re not familiar with your company’s cash flow, it’s time to become so.”