the fino partners

Financial Reporting | By Andrew Smith | 2024-10-01 06:09:42

10 Financial Ratios Every Small Business Owner Should Know and Use

Financial ratios provide insights into different aspects of a business, from profitability and liquidity to efficiency and leverage. These ratios help assess the company financial health, identify strengths and weaknesses, and guide decision-making. By tracking the right financial ratios, small business owners can better understand their operations, make informed choices, and ensure long-term success. In the present blog we are going to provide you some guidance regarding the top 10 financial ratios which are going to help you out, hence must go through the blog from first to last line. 

Top 10 Financial Ratios Every Small Business Owner Know 

The below-mentioned provides for the proper financial ratio that every business owner must adopt for progressive growth:

Current Ratio

This stands towards the critical form of liquidity ratio that also measures the ability of the company and other forms of short-term obligations towards the short–term assets. This assessment talks about the current assets and other forms of liabilities under a year. 

Example: (Small Retail Store)

  • $150,000 (current assets) this includes the cash, accounts receivable and inventory.

  • $75,000 (current liabilities) is payable for the account's other short-term debts.

The ratio would stand at 2 including ($150,000/$75,000) this also indicates the store has other assets that also cover other liabilities.


The small business analysis further monitors other forms of ratio which is considered healthy as it states towards the business and other terms of obligations. This also suggests stating all the short-term obligations as it might also lead to some form of difficulties. The ratio being too high also indicates the accurate generation of revenue and also provides for small businesses and other challenges.

Quick Ratio Analysis

This is also known for the acid-test ratio and other critical liquidity and helps to assess the ability of the company and also helps to pay off short-term obligations and excludes for the inventory. This also provides for the analysis of the short-term and other financial positions and also excludes the inventory. This includes the calculation for the sum dividing of the cash equivalent and other forms of accounts receivable made towards the current liabilities.

Example: (Small Manufacturing Company)

  • $50,000 made in cash

  • $20,000 with accounts receivable

  • $10,000 other marketable securities

  • $30,000 other current liabilities

The ratio stands as the ($50,000+$20,000+$10,000/$30,000) this also indicates the assets and the current liabilities of the company which also indicates the short-term liquidity.


The business owners help with the slow-moving inventory that operates which might be economic fluctuations as the business might struggle to comply with the short-term obligations for relying on the sales of the inventory sales. This ratio stands for the significant excess towards the liquidity that also suggests for the company being more focused to generate the revenue.

Margin Gross Profit

The analysis towards the financial ratio also measures the progressive growth of the company's core objectives. This also assesses the percentage of the revenue and exceeds for the sale of goods.

Example: (Small Bakery)

  • $100,000 revenue from baked goods

  • $40,000 the cost of goods

The profit stands out to be 60% including ($100,000- $40,000) which indicates that 60% of the dollar is earned towards the revenue and also helps with the available expenses and other helps to contribute to the net profits. The small business owners towards the margin of the profits and another form of pricing strategy that also helps to control the productions and other forms of services.

Margin for Net Profits

This includes the margin of profitability made for the company and other forms of expenses and also includes taxes, interest and other forms of total revenue. This includes the formula which is the net profit / total revenue which is multiplied by 100 and to express the other percentage.

Example: (Small Software Company)

  • $20,000 towards the total revenue

  • The total expenses also include $140,000 and other operating expenses towards the taxes and interest.

This would also include the net profits followed by $60,000 ($200,000-$140,000) which is included with the 30% under ($60,000/$200,000x100) this makes sure that the company retains the 30% from every revenue generated.


The net profits made towards the industry and historical data which stands for the small business also help for the competitive position and other trends for profits. This helps also the analysis of the net profits margin that also helps for the conjunctions and other financial ratios to make a progressive growth.

Other Debt-to-Equity Ratio

Made towards the portion of the company and helps for the financing which comes from the debt of the company towards the equity and also provides valuable insights of the company for the other forms of financial risk.

Example: (Small Technology Startups)

  • This includes the total debt of $500,000 (long-term)

  • The formation of the total equity of $300,000(investment of shareholder)

The equity towards the debt which is made under ($500,000/$300,00) also indicates the financial status of the company and other forms of debt that also increase the financial risks. The small businesses made towards the regular assessment of debt-to-equity helps them to compare for the benchmark towards the financial structure and for professional business goals and to maintain long-term financial health.

Returns on Assets

The returns that are made on the assets also help to analyse the ability of the company to further generate profits for the total assets and help the company to further provide for the analysis to generate their income. This can be done by a formula to calculate return on assets which is Net Income/ Average Total Assets which is multiplied by 100 and provides the solution in percentage.

Example: (Small Manufacturing Business)

  • It includes a net income of $50,000

  • The average made on total assets is $500,000 towards the other consideration.

This helps the business to further return assets and also make sure for the generation of profits towards the assets and the effective management of the resources this also helps for the analysis towards the assessment of the management and further enhances the profitability.

Returns on Equity

This helps to analyse the financial ratios and also evaluates the returns that help the generations. This also helps for the profits of the company and also maintains for the shareholders and equity. The formula includes calculating the return on equity (Net Income / Average Shareholder) that is multiplied by 100 and other percentages.

Example: (Small Technology Startup)

  • Made towards a net income of $80,000

  • Equity of shareholder $400,000

This talks about the business owners and the returns of equity and for the company towards the shareholders and helps to generate the profits. This also helps to generate additional funding and generation for the progressive generation and other shareholders and equity.

Turnover Inventory Ratio

The efficient management of the ratio also manages the inventory towards the company that sells and further replaces the cost of inventory and other specific periods. This also can be calculated towards the Inventory Turnover Ratio followed by the (Cost of Goods Sold/ Average Inventory).

Example: (Small Retail Business)

  • The cost of goods sold is $300,000

  • The average inventory including $60,000

The ratio tends to be that inventory turnover also leads to the cost of other risks and also provides for the inventory of the company.The business owners can further optimise their business and other management of the business and other forms of cash flow.

Accounts Receivable for Turnover

This talks about the quality of the financial ratio which is collected towards the company and the payments made towards the customers followed by the receiving of the accounts. This can be calculated as the accounts receivable with the turnover ratio that includes the Net credit sales and average receivable accounts.

Example: (Small Wholesale Distributor)

  • This includes the net credit of $500,000

  • The accounts receivable of $100,000

The turnover will be as $500,000/$100,000 which also indicates the collected amount of payments which is paid through five periods and also acts as a critical measure to certainly reflect the collected payments. Small business owners tend to have their accounts receivable towards the turnover ratio and that also affects the credits of the company and the collection of the policies. But this needs to be done in a significant manner towards which one can make the efficient management of the services and more efficient strategies.

Cash Flow Ratio Operations

The effective management of the financial ratio tends to be very beneficial for the ability of the company to further generate the core operation of the business and other forms of short-term obligations that also provide for the cash flow of the company and other liquidity. The formula includes the operation of cash flow ratio / current liabilities.

Example: (Small Manufacturing Company)

  • The operation of a cash flow of $200,000

  • It includes the current liabilities of $150,000

The operation of the cash flow tends to be very beneficial for the cash flow ratio and to meet the financial requirements of the business and meet the financial requirements from the operations. This also helps to ensure proper financial stability but a low ratio might also lead to potential financial risks.

Conclusion

Fino Partners, Financial ratios are invaluable tools for small business owners to evaluate the overall health and performance of their companies. By regularly tracking these ratios, owners can gain deeper insights into their profitability, liquidity, operational efficiency, and debt management. This knowledge enables them to make data-driven decisions, identify potential issues early, and capitalize on growth opportunities. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Financial ratios are calculations that compare different aspects of your business’s financial performance, such as profitability, liquidity, and efficiency.

It's best to review key financial ratios regularly—monthly, quarterly, or at least annually.

Gross Profit Margin as well as Net Profit Margin are metrics that indicate the efficiency with which a business generates profit from its revenue.

Financial ratios are typically determined by analyzing data from your balance sheet, statement related to income, as well as statement of cash flow.

No, financial ratios vary by industry. What's considered a healthy ratio in one industry may differ in another.

Aishwarya-Agrawal

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is an experienced content writer with a strong focus on various financial niches including VCFO services, accounting, and bookkeeping. He has worked on multiple articles and papers on financial management and corporate finance, published in esteemed journals. Ankit's expertise and dedication to delivering precise and insightful content make him a trusted voice in the finance and accounting sector.

Why Choose The Fino Partners?

With Fino partners you get more than just accounting and bookkeeping in the USA. You get an accurate, clear process that makes you satisfied. We made money management easy so you can grow your business instead. The advantages of utilising Fino partners for accounting outsourcing USA are:

data security
the fino partner
the fino partner
finopartner
thefinopartner
fino partner
the fino partner
the fino partner

Get a Call Back

Request a callback from us for more inquiry, by filling out the details asked ahead