The Balance Sheet is analysed by the banks with a view to determining the creditworthiness and financial strength of the company. The Balance Sheet is analysed by the bankers to find out the liquidity position and gearing position of the firm.

How to Calculate the Ratios for Analysing a Balance Sheet?

The ratios calculated from a company's balance sheet are used to determine its liquidity, solvency, and profitability. You can calculate three types of ratios from the balance sheet—liquidity (turn assets into cash), solvency (cash or equivalents to pay debts), and profitability ratios.

What Are the Balance Sheet Ratios?

The balance sheet is divided into three segments. Assets, or the value of what the company has, owns, or is owed. Liabilities (debts) are what the business owes, and shareholder's equity is the value that is owned by shareholders.
Balance sheets can have many types of entries that signify where the money came from, where it went, and who owes it to the business. Investors are generally concerned with profitability (how much money a company makes), liquidity (how fast a company can pay its debts), and solvency (how a company can pay its long-term debts).

How Do You Calculate the Balance Sheet Ratios?

The balance sheet and the income statement are used to determine many of the ratios used to analyse the balance sheet. For some of the ratios, you can use the information on just the balance sheet, and for others, you need to use data from both sheets.

Profitability Ratios:

Profitability ratios show how much money a company makes and how it distributes the cash to operate
• Gross profit ratio
• Contribution margin ratio
• Net profit ratio
• Return on equity ratio
• Return on assets ratio

The Gross profit margin ratio

It is used to figure out how much profit is left after sales and when all administrative and selling costs have been paid. To calculate the gross profit of a company, uses the Formula

The contribution margin ratio

It subtracts all variable expenses from sales and is divided by sales. The ratio demonstrates the percentage of profit left to pay for fixed expenses and call a profit. The formula reads:

The net profit margin ratio

It indicates the ratio of sales that is left after all expenses are paid including interest on debentures and other debts along with preferential dividend to be paid to preference shareholders.

The return on equity ratio

It shows the ratio of income to shareholder's equity, demonstrating to investors their investment return.

The return on assets ratio

A business's assets should provide profit for the company. The return on assets ratio offers a measurement of how well the business is doing this.

How Do You Calculate Liquidity?

Liquidity ratios measure how quickly a company can pay off its debts by liquidizing assets or using cash.
• Current ratio
• Quick ratio
• Cash ratio

The current ratio

It measures the percentage of current assets to current liabilities. The one limitation of the current ratio is that it includes inventory, which isn't quickly converted into cash.

The Quick ratio

It is the same as the current ratio, but you subtract inventory first because it isn’t a liquid asset.

The Cash ratio

Cash and convertible investments are compared to current liabilities to show how fast debts can be paid with either or both.

How Do You Calculate Solvency?:

Solvency ratios are used to figure out how a company is positioned to pay off its debts. The current and quick ratios are capable of being used for liquidity and solvency tests.
• Current ratio
• Quick ratio
• Debt to equity
• Interest coverage
• Essential solvency ratio

The debt-to-equity ratio

It demonstrates how much debt a company has compared to its equity.

The interest coverage ratio

It is used to figure out if a company can pay its interest debts.

One last ratio is not necessarily named but is essential to know. This ratio compares profit and non-cash items to all liabilities. It gives an investor a clearer picture of whether a business can meet all its financial obligations. This ratio is called the essential ratio

Profit and non-cash items to Liabilities = (Net After – Tax Profits + Deprecation + Amortization )/All liabilities

How the Balance Sheet Ratios Work

The ratios are used to gather an all-encompassing picture of how a company manages its finances. The profitability ratios, when used together, establish whether the business is creating earnings. One caveat to determining whether a business is profitable or not is that it has to be compared to companies similar in financial structure, operational structure, supply chain, and other aspects of the business.

This comparison also needs to be applied to solvency and liquidity ratios, especially ratios that indicate low performance. All of these ratios have a general guideline that indicates whether the business is performing well or not. For example, if you have ₹1 of debt and ₹3 of equity, your debt-to-equity ratio is 0.333. General guidelines for this ratio suggest that any ratio of less than “one” is a good indicator.

When judging whether a business is a good investment or not, it helps to compare as much past financial performance data as possible.

The ratios are beneficial for comparing a company's past performance to its current performance. This is usually done on a comparative balance sheet that shows multiple periods' worth of financial data.

Limitations of the Balance Sheet Ratios

While the ratios derived from a balance sheet provide an investor with a picture of a company's finance, the ratios are limited to a specific period. The data provided is how the company has performed in the past—not how it performs in the present.

Disclaimer:“Information contained herein is for informational purposes only and should not be used in deciding any particular case. The entire contents of this document have been prepared on the basis of relevant provisions and as per the information existing at the time of the preparation. Though utmost efforts have been made to provide authentic information, it is suggested that to have better understanding and obtaining professional advice after thorough examination of particular situation.”