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Do you use financial ratios as part of your business’s accounting strategy? They can help you evaluate your business’s overall financial health. Among other things, financial ratios provide insight into liquidity, profitability, risk and more. Unfortunately, many business owners neglect to use them. They either aren’t familiar with financial ratios, or they believe financial ratios are a waste of time. Here are some of the most common financial ratios used in the world of accounting.

Liquidity Ratios

Liquidity ratios are exactly what they sound like: ratios that reveal the liquidity or lack thereof of a business. They are used to determine whether a business can meet its financial obligations. All businesses have financial obligations. They have debt and bills that must be paid. With liquidity ratios, business owners can determine their ability to pay and satisfy these financial obligations.

Profitability Ratios

Profitability ratios reveal a business’s ability to generate profits. There are several different types of profitability ratios, such as gross profit margin ratio, net profit margin ratio and return on equity (ROE) ratio. While there are nuances between them, they all provide insight into the profitability of a business. Profitability ratios are arguably some of the most importable financial ratios, as they allow business owners to make strategic decisions regarding their revenue-generating operations.

Efficiency Ratios

We can’t talk about financial ratios without mentioning efficiency ratios. Efficiency ratios reveal how efficient a business is at converting its assets and resources into revenue. Businesses, of course, must spend money to make money. They’ll typically use a combination of cash and resources to perform their money-making operations. Common resources include labor and materials. Businesses that are highly efficient at converting their assets and resources into revenue will experience greater success than their counterparts. Business owners can measure efficiency using efficiency ratios.

Solvency Ratios

There are also solvency ratios used by businesses. Solvency ratios reveal a business’s long-term financial stability. Like liquidity ratios, they provide insight into a business’s ability to meet its financial obligations. The difference is that liquidity ratios focus on short-term financial obligations, whereas solvency ratios focus on long-term financial obligations. Long-term financial obligations include loans. Business loans may have a term of one to 5 years, making them a common form of long-term debt. By calculating their solvency ratios, business owners can determine their ability to satisfy long-term financial obligations such as this.

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