Current ratio is a measure of a company's liquidity, or its ability to pay its short-term obligations using its current assets. It's also a useful ratio for keeping tabs on an organization's overall financial health.
updated November 30, 2023 · 3min read
Current ratio is a measure of a company's liquidity, or its ability to pay its short-term obligations using its current assets. It's also a useful ratio for keeping tabs on an organization's overall financial health.
Here's what it is, how to calculate it, and how to interpret your results.
To understand your current ratio, you need to understand a couple of subtotals on your company's balance sheet.
Current ratio, also known as working capital ratio, shows a company's current assets in proportion to its current liabilities.
The formula for calculating current ratio is:
Current assets / current liabilities = current ratio
Dividing your total current assets by your total current liabilities determines how much of your current liabilities can be covered by your current assets.
For example, say your company's balance sheet shows the following current assets and current liabilities as of December 31, 2021:
Current assets:
Current liabilities:
With that in mind, your current ratio on Dec. 31, 2021, would be:
$252,000 / $42,000 = 6
This means you could pay off your current liabilities with your current assets six times over.
A current ratio of at least 1 is generally ideal. This signals that you're in a strong position to pay your current obligations without taking on more debt or needing a cash infusion from shareholders or investors.
A current ratio of less than one could indicate that your business has liquidity problems and may not be financially stable.
A current ratio greater than 3 may indicate an inefficiency in business operation or that the assets of the business are not being used to their full potential. However, there is no one-size-fits-all definition of a ratio that's too high, and what's deemed excessive depends on your business and the industry in which it operates.
While keeping an eye on your current ratio can be helpful, it's not the only metric for measuring your company's short-term liquidity. Some other useful ratios include:
Quick ratio is similar to the current ratio, but it does not include inventory in the numerator because inventory isn't always easily converted into cash.
(Current assets – inventory) / current liabilities = quick Ratio
The acid test ratio is a variation of the quick ratio, but it doesn't include inventory or prepaid expenses in the numerator.
(Current Assets – Prepaid Expenses – Inventory) / Current Liabilities = Acid Test Ratio
The debt-to-equity ratio divides total liabilities by total shareholder equity. This is a useful metric for comparing what a company owes (debt) to what it owns.
Total liabilities / total shareholder equity = debt-to-equity ratio
The cash ratio is the strictest measure of a company's liquidity because it only accounts for cash and cash equivalents in the numerator.
Cash and cash equivalents / current liabilities = cash ratio
Looking at any metric by itself or at a single point in time isn't a useful way to measure a company's financial health. Instead, it's important to consider other financial ratios in your analysis and look at those ratios over an extended period. This gives you a more accurate and complete view of your company’s financial health and an opportunity to identify areas for growth.
by Janet Berry-Johnson
A freelance writer with a background in accounting and income tax planning and preparation for individuals and small ...
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