Accounts Receivable Analysis

Xavier Stores Company and Lestrade Stores Inc. are large retail department stores. Both companies offer credit to their customers through their own credit card operations. Information from the financial statements for both companies for two recent years is as follows (all numbers are in millions):

	Xavier		Lestrade
Merchandise sales	$8,500,000		$4,585,000
Credit card receivablesbeginning	820,000		600,000
Credit card receviablesending	880,000		710,000

a. Determine the (1) accounts receivable turnover and (2) the number of days' sales in receivables for both companies. Round your calculations and answers to one decimal place. Assume 365 days a year.

	Xavier		Lestrade
1. Accounts receivable turnover	__________			________
2. Number of days' sales in receivables	__________	days		_______ days

b. Xavier's accounts receivable turnover is much ______ than Lestrade's. The number of days' sales in receivables is______ for Xavier than for Lestrade. These differences indicate that Xavier is able to turn over its receivables______ quickly than Lestrade. As a result, it takes Xavier _______ time to collect its receivables.