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Agricultural Marketing Resource Center

Financial Performance

Developing financial statements is only the first step in assessing the financial health of your business.  Next you need to calculate financial performance measures and compare them to similar businesses or industry standards.

Understanding Financial Performance Measures will help you calculate the measures that are relevant to your business.  Interpreting Financial Performance Measures will help you assess financial strengths and weaknesses of your business. Using financial performance measures will help you in the process of Building Equity in Your Business.

On the right you will see calculators and worksheets available on the Business Workbench.  For more information on this topic, see the links listed below of articles posted on related Web sites.

Understanding Financial Performance

Financial Ratios

  • Financial Ratios Used in Financial Management – Kansas State University Extension.
  • Liquidity Ratios – CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit -- Liquidity ratios are probably the most commonly used of all the business ratios.
  • Efficiency Ratios – CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit -- You can determine how efficiently your business uses its assets, and where there's room for improvement, by looking at these ratios.
  • Profitability Ratios – CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit -- You can use another set of ratios to assess the profitability of your business and changes in its profit performance.
  • Solvency Ratios – CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit -- The final group of ratios are designed to help you measure the degree of financial risk that your business faces.
  • Financial Ratios – Small Business Notes -- If you monitor your financial ratios on a regular basis, you will gain insight into how effectively you are managing your business.

Financial Ratio Calculators

  • Financial Ratios – CCH Financial Management Toolkit -- This calculator helps you to zero in on areas of your business that may need attention. Areas include topics such as solvency, liquidity, operational efficiency and profitability.
 
 

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