Accounting: Ratios

A guide to resources for accounting and auditing.

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Company Financial Ratios - Online Sources

Gale Business Insights from Gale
Formerly: Business Insights: Essentials
Searches business journals and magazines, industry reports and encyclopedia articles focusing on company and business information. Indexing 1980-present. Full-text mostly 1990-present.
Formerly: Business Company Resource Center.
Mergent Online from Mergent
Provides information and data on U.S. and international companies, including annual reports and SEC filings, institutional holdings, FactSheets, Supply Chain reports, etc.
Supply Chain reports cover US public companies primarily in the tech, biotech, and financial sectors. They include information on competitors (by product), customers, market structure, and more. The information is drawn from SEC filings, trade articles, and more. Formerly called Horizon Reports.
Workspace from LSEG (formerly Refinitiv Workspace)
Individual account registration required. More information on linked page.
Chrome and Safari are the recommended browsers. Intro training videos available here.
For public companies provides: financial data; annual & other reports/filings; analyst & market research reports; M&A, new issues & syndicated loans data. Coverage: ~12,000 US companies & ~41,000 non-US companies.
Download limit of 150 pages / 24-hour period for After Market Research module (aka AMR or Investext).
Formerly called Thomson ONE.

What are financial ratios?

If you're new to financial ratios, try the online tutorial below from Investopedia. In addition, we have books on the topic ... here's a list in Marqcat, and in the next box, there are links to two online books.

Below are links to some definitions too ...

6 Basic financial ratios and what they reveal
From Investopedia.com.
Accounting ratio definition and different types
From Investopedia.com

Industry Ratios

When you need to see how your company compares to other companies in the same industry (peers and competitors), use these sources. Start with RMA e-Statement Studies; it is produced by the Risk Management Association (formerly Robert Morris Associates).

The others are not online! But they're classics, and you'll hear them mentioned regularly. Especially the Leo Troy ...

Refinitv Workspace and FactSet also allow you to calculate industry ratios, but its ratios will be based on GICS or SIC or another classification system, not on NAICS.

RMA eStatement Studies from eMentor
VPN Required for Off Campus Access.
If above link does not work when on campus on wireless, use this link
Industry ratios organized by NAICS codes, and revenue ranges.
Former title: Annual Statement Studies, from the Risk Management Association. Composite performance metrics derived from the financial statements of financial institutions' borrowers and prospects.

Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios by Troy, Leo
Call Number: HF 5681.R25 A45
Current edition kept in Raynor Reference; older editions on Memorial 4 (upper).
RMA Annual Statement Studies by Risk Management Association (formerly Robert Morris Associates)
Call Number: HF 5681 .B2 R6
Current edition kept in Raynor Reference; older editions on Memorial 4 (upper).
It includes data from private companies, and from small and medium size enterprises.
Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios by Dun & Bradstreet
Call Number: HF 5681 .R25 I53
Current edition kept in Raynor Reference; older editions on Memorial 4 (upper).
Financial Studies of the Small Business by Financial Research Associates
Call Number: Raynor Ref HD 2346.U5 F55a 29th ed. 2006
Although dated, this can be especially helpful for small businesses.

Ratios - books about

Business Ratios and Formulas by Steven M. Bragg
Publication Date: 2012
3rd edition via O'Reilly Learning. Click on "Institution not listed", then enter your MU email address.
Fire Your Stock Analyst! by Harry Domash
Publication Date: 2009
2nd edition; unlimited user license.
Click on "Institution not listed", then enter your MU email address; ignore the drop-down menu.