In order to be profitable, a business must extract the maximum amount of value from the assets it owns. Efficiency ratios are used to measure the management’s ability to control the assets of the business and to produce the maximum amount of revenue and therefore profit from them.
Popular Efficiency Ratios List
There are numerous efficiency ratios available to monitor different aspects of business efficiency. Accordingly, the list below shows a selection of the most popular ratios.
- Asset Turnover Ratio
- Fixed Asset Turnover Ratio
- Working Capital Turnover Ratio
- Fixed Asset Turnover Ratio Calculator
Efficiency Ratios Analysis
Efficiency ratios should not be viewed in isolation but looked at over a period of time using trend analysis and in comparison to other businesses in your industry.
Additionally, in order to give a full picture the ratios should be viewed relative to other ratios calculated for the business. Other ratios include liquidity ratios, profitability ratios, leverage ratios, activity ratios, and investor ratios.
The ratios show how efficiently the resources of the business are being used to generate revenue. Consequently it is preferable for them to be as high as possible. A low efficiency ratio could indicate inefficiencies in the assets themselves or in the management team operating them.
An efficiency ratio will vary from industry to industry. It is important to make comparisons to similar businesses in your sector. A manufacturing business, for example, would be more capital intensive and therefore all things being equal, have a lower efficiency ratio than for example a retail business.
Efficiency Ratio Formulas
There are numerous examples of efficiency ratios, however, it is important to select the key ratios which relate to your business. Consequently the industry sector, size, and complexity of the business will determine the most appropriate ratios to use. It is important to realize that many ratios may not be relevant or worth calculating, particularly for a small business.
The following list of financial efficiency ratios are a useful start.
| Efficiency Ratio | Efficiency Ratio Formulas |
|---|---|
| Fixed Asset Turnover | Sales / Fixed Assets |
| Working Capital Turnover | Sales / Working Capital |
| Asset Turnover | Sales / Assets |
About the Author
Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Double Entry Bookkeeping. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years and has built financial models for all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own. He has been a manager and an auditor with Deloitte, a big 4 accountancy firm, and holds a degree from Loughborough University.