Hi there,

I would like to calculate the average account receivable using netaccountsreceivable and lag_net_account_receivable.

However, I found the average value seems to be incorrect. For example, it is 276860608 for stkcd 1 in 1995, shouldn't it be (309246048+244475184)/2 = 276860616?

Could someone please tell me why this would happen and how to avoid that?

Thanks

code I used:
Code:
gen avg_account_receivable= (netaccountsreceivable+lag_net_account_receivable)/2
Code:
* Example generated by -dataex-. To install: ssc install dataex
clear
input long stkcd int year float(netaccountsreceivable lag_net_account_receivable avg_account_receivable)
1 1990           .           .            .
1 1991           .           .            .
1 1992           .           .            .
1 1993           .           .            .
1 1994   244475184           .            .
1 1995   309246048   244475184    276860608
1 1996   469556608   309246048    389401344
1 1997   534341664   469556608    501949120
1 1998   516883264   534341664    525612480
1 1999   378508704   516883264    447696000
1 2000  -396003232   378508704     -8747264
1 2001    11202902  -396003232   -192400160
1 2002  -762710976    11202902   -375754048
1 2003  -833153216  -762710976   -797932096
1 2004  -874245760  -833153216   -853699456
1 2005  -763604032  -874245760   -818924928
1 2006           .  -763604032            .
1 2007           .           .            .
1 2008 15109592064           .            .
1 2009 35209261056 15109592064  25159426048
1 2010 32229515264 35209261056  33719388160
1 2011 1.84321e+11 32229515264 108275253248
1 2012 99201843200 1.84321e+11 141761413120
1 2013 1.91714e+11 99201843200 145457922048
1 2014 2.56183e+11 1.91714e+11 2.239485e+11
1 2015 3.14259e+11 2.56183e+11  2.85221e+11
1 2016 4.19846e+11 3.14259e+11 3.670525e+11
1 2017 4.25209e+11 4.19846e+11 4.225275e+11
1 2018           . 4.25209e+11            .
2 1991   142333296           .            .
2 1992   125544736   142333296    133939016
2 1993   158023472   125544736    141784096
2 1994   386629024   158023472    272326240
2 1995   650885952   386629024    518757504
2 1996   691276416   650885952    671081216
2 1997   775456832   691276416    733366656
2 1998   528862240   775456832    652159552
2 1999   535368512   528862240    532115392
2 2000   516286848   535368512    525827680
2 2001   477500384   516286848    496893632
2 2002   302297120   477500384    389898752
2 2003   365968992   302297120    334133056
2 2004   838037504   365968992    602003264
2 2005  1082277376   838037504    960157440
2 2006  1035615424  1082277376   1058946432
2 2007   864883008  1035615424    950249216
2 2008   922774848   864883008    893828928
2 2009   713191936   922774848    817983360
2 2010  1594024576   713191936   1153608192
2 2011  1514813824  1594024576   1554419200
2 2012  1886548480  1514813824   1700681216
2 2013  3078969856  1886548480   2482759168
2 2014  1894071808  3078969856   2486520832
2 2015  2510653184  1894071808   2202362368
2 2016  2075256832  2510653184   2292955136
2 2017  1432733952  2075256832   1753995392
2 2018  1586180736  1432733952   1509457408
3 1991    96595616           .            .
3 1992   183449968    96595616    140022784
3 1993   389976800   183449968    286713376
3 1994   533173248   389976800    461575040
3 1995   652192256   533173248    592682752
3 1996   949415296   652192256    800803776
3 1997   710684608   949415296    830049920
3 1998   566756352   710684608    638720512
3 1999   711459392   566756352    639107840
3 2000   522822464   711459392    617140928
3 2001   344030464   522822464    433426464
4 1991    18389532           .            .
4 1992    53118160    18389532     35753848
4 1993   203273392    53118160    128195776
4 1994   191898672   203273392    197586032
4 1995   279380832   191898672    235639744
4 1996   118328432   279380832    198854624
4 1997   126063984   118328432    122196208
4 1998    93838936   126063984    109951456
4 1999    55299972    93838936     74569456
4 2000   222196064    55299972    138748016
4 2001    31434708   222196064    126815384
4 2002    62747196    31434708     47090952
4 2003    88416992    62747196     75582096
4 2004    98330824    88416992     93373904
4 2005    76457512    98330824     87394168
4 2006    62786196    76457512     69621856
4 2007     7229633    62786196     35007916
4 2008     4995476     7229633      6112554
4 2009     6860687     4995476      5928081
4 2010   4296549.5     6860687      5578618
4 2011     4540338   4296549.5      4418444
4 2012     8129105     4540338      6334721
4 2013     3760743     8129105      5944924
4 2014     2742071     3760743      3251407
4 2015   1726513.8     2742071    2234292.5
4 2016     1706211   1726513.8    1716362.5
4 2017     9456606     1706211      5581409
4 2018    27268320     9456606     18362464
5 1992   155349056           .            .
5 1993   166755648   155349056    161052352
5 1994   200326880   166755648    183541264
5 1995   127329032   200326880    163827952
end