Business Financial Metrics

1430 Words6 Pages
In business, financial metrics can refer to many different types of financial situations. Financial metrics refer to such things as net cash flow, return on investments, and earnings per share. Financial metrics are used to evaluate several bodies of data and measure the success of a company. When referring to the base information and gathering data, many investors look at the ratios of the company as compared to the other companies in the market to determine the financial success of any particular type of business. There are many financial metrics that are derived from financial statements. Some common financial metrics include free cash flow, net working capital, debt ratio, and debt to equity ratio. Free cash flow is the sum of all operating cash flow plus financing and investing cash flow. Net working capital is all current assets minus current liabilities. Net working capital is important because it shows a business’ ability to expand and grow. Debt ratio is total debt divided by total assets and debt to equity ratio is debt divided by stockholders equity. All of these are important when evaluating a company’s future success against others in the market. Financial ratios on the balance sheet can be helpful in comparing information. The current ratio for a company shows the relationship between current assets and current liabilities. The current ratio measurement can show the working capital within the company. A quick ratio is like the current ratio but excludes items such as inventory. It is a ratio that shows items that can be quickly converted to cash when compared to the current liabilities. Financial ratios based on the income statement are important as well. They show a broad spectrum of financial information important to showing a company’s success. Such ratios include the gross margin, profit margin, earnings per share, and return on stock holders’
Open Document