It's prudent to note that the most likely reason one starts a business is to generate profits. On this guide we shall difuse several methods for analyzing your company's operations and calculating the profitability of your business.
Before hitting the road you need to watch out the following:
Profitability Ratios
- Gross Profit Margin
- Operating Profit Margin Ratio
- Net Profit Margin Ratio
- Other Common Size Ratios
Break-Even Analysis
Calculating Return on Assets and Return on Investment
Checklist
Resources
What To Expect
Most of us start businesses at least in part because of pride of ownership and the satisfaction that comes from being their ones boss. In addition, you certainly also started your business to generate profits. In this guide among the tools to which you will be introduced are profitability ratios, break-even analysis, return on assets and return on investment.
Some of the concepts, we will use to describe them, may be new to you. But we have tried to explain the terminology and concepts as they are introduced. Where appropriate, we have pointed you to additional sources of information.
There are a number of ways to measure your company's profits other than just looking at your bank account.Here we introduce three methods of analyzing how well your company is doing:
- Margin (or profitability) ratios
- Break-even analysis (based on revenues and on units sold)
- Return on assets and on investment
Before starting, you or your bookkeeper should prepared an income (or profit and loss) statement for the business. The techniques we will be introducing you below are intended to make your income statement more understandable and meaningful to you. If an income statement has not been prepared, the information below on constructing a common size income statement will not be of relevance, and the data you need for break-even analysis may be missing.
The term "break-even analysis" is another phrase which may seem complex, but the concept behind it is actually quite simple.
We will look at several aspects of financial ratio analysis. A ratio is simply a comparison between two numbers. If you have won Eight games and lost two, its ratio of wins to losses is eight to two , which is equivalent to a ratio of four to one. In the business field, the most commonly used kind of financial ratios are various comparisons of two numbers from a company's financial statements, such as the ratio of net income to annual sales. A ratio can be written in several different ways:
4:1 3-to-1 4/1 2
In these pages, when a ratio is in the text, it will be written out using the word "to," that is "two to one." If it is in a formula, the slash symbol (/) will be used to indicate division, that is "2/1."
Here are the profitability ratios that small business owners should look at regularly:
- Gross Profit Margin Ratio.
- Operating Profit Margin Ratio.
- Net Profit Margin Ratio.
- Other Common Size Ratios
We will define each of them as we go along, and how one can best use them.
The three measurements of profits — gross profit, operating profit and net profit — all come from your company's income statement.
The definition of gross profit, operating profit and net profit.
Gross Profit = Net Sales Minus The Costs Of Goods Sold.
(Net sales = gross sales less any returns and discounts.)
(Net sales = gross sales less any returns and discounts.)
Operating Profit = Gross Profit Minus Selling And Administrative Expenses
(Administrative expenses = salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, rent, utilities, office supplies, insurance, depreciation, etc.)
Operating profit includes all expenses EXCEPT income taxes.
(Administrative expenses = salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, rent, utilities, office supplies, insurance, depreciation, etc.)
Operating profit includes all expenses EXCEPT income taxes.
Net Profit = Operating Profit (plus Any Other Income) Minus Any Additional Expenses And Minus Taxes.
Net profit is what is known as "the bottom line."
Net profit is what is known as "the bottom line."
Each of these three terms is a way of expressing profit when different categories of expense are included. Gross profit is the difference between sales and the costs of goods sold. Operating profit is the difference between sales and the costs of goods sold PLUS selling and administrative expenses. And finally, net profit is the difference between net sales and ALL expenses, including income taxes.
The three ways of expressing profit can each be used to construct what are known as profitability ratios. This is done by dividing each item into net sales and expressing the result as a percentage. For example, if your company had gross sales of KSH 1 million last year, and net profits were KSH50,000, that's a ratio of 50,000/1,000,000 or 5%.
There are several reasons that ratios are expressed as percentages. This makes it easy to compare your company's results at different time periods. It also allows you to compare your company's results with those of your peers or competitors, and with industry "benchmark" ratios
It is easier to discuss these ratios using actual numbers, so we will include the following income statement for the a certain company. Look at line numbers 3, 9, and 14. We will use the Locopus Company's gross profit (line 3), operating Income (line 9) and net income (line 14) numbers to compute the three profitability ratios.
Locopus Company Income Statement
for the period ending December 31, 2010
for the period ending December 31, 2010
| Item | Ksh |
| 1. Sales | Ksh200,000 |
| 2. Cost of goods sold | 130,000 |
| 3. Gross Profit | 70,000 |
| 4. Operating expenses: | |
| 5. Selling expenses | 22,000 |
| 6. General expenses | 10,000 |
| 7. Administrative expenses | 4,000 |
| 8. Total operating expenses | 36,000 |
| 9. Operating income | 34,000 |
| 10. Other income | 2,500 |
| 11. Interest income | 500 |
| 12. Income before taxes | 36,000 |
| 13. Income taxes | 1,800 |
| 14. Net profit | 34,200 |
Gross Profit Margin Ratio
Gross profit is what is left after the costs of goods sold have been subtracted from net sales. (Cost of goods sold, also called "cost of sales," is the price paid by your company for the products it sold during the period you are looking at. It is the price of the goods, including inventory or raw materials and labor used in production, but it does not include selling or administrative expenses.)
The ratio of gross profit as a percentage of sales is an important indicator of your company's financial health. Without an adequate gross margin, a company will be unable to pay its operating and other expenses and build for the future.
Here is the formula to compute the gross profit margin ratio:
Gross Profit Margin Ratio = (gross Profit/sales) X 100
(Multiplying by 100 converts the ratio into a percentage.)
Let's use the income statement data for the Locopus Company and compute the gross margin ratio for the company:
Locopus Company Gross Margin Ratio:
ksh70,000/200,000 = .35
.35 X 100 = 35%
The gross profit margin ratio for the Locopus Company is 35%.
Your company's gross margin is a very important measure of its profitability, because it looks at your company's major inflows and outflows of money: sales (money in) and the costs of goods sold (money out.) It is a real measure of profitability, because it must be high enough to cover costs and provide for profits. Because it is an important barometer, one should monitor it closely.
In general, your company's gross profit margin ratio should be stable. It should not fluctuate much from one period to another, unless the industry your company is in, is undergoing changes which affect the costs of goods sold or your pricing policies. The gross margin is likely to change whenever prices or costs change.
Operating Profit Margin
The operating profit margin is an indicator of your company's earning power from its current operations. This is the core source of your company's cash flow, and an increase in the operating profit margin from one period to the next is considered a sign of a healthy, growing company. (If your company's operating income is not sufficient to generate the cash you need to keep operating, you must find other sources of cash.)
Here is the formula to compute the operating profit margin ratio:
Operating Profit Margin = (operating Income/sales) X 100
Using the income statement data for the Locopus Company, we can compute the following operating profit margin:
Locopus Company Operating Profit Margin Ratio: Ksh 34,000/200,000 = .17
.17 X 100 = 17%
The operating profit margin ratio for the Locopus Company is 17%.
.17 X 100 = 17%
The operating profit margin ratio for the Locopus Company is 17%.
In general, the operating profit margin is an indicator of management skill and operating efficiency. It measures your company's ability to turn sales into pre-tax profits. It is a ratio that you can use to compare your company's competitive position to others in the same industry.
Because it looks at a company's operating income before taxes are subtracted, the operating profit margin is sometimes considered a more objective evaluator than the net profit margin ratio.
Net Profit Margin Ratio
Net Profit Margin Ratio
The formula for the net profit margin ratio is as follows:
Net Profit Margin Ratio = (net Income/sales) X 100
Locopus Company Net Profit Margin Ratio: Ksh 34,200/200,000 = .17
.17 x 100 = 17%
The net profit operating margin ratio is 17%.
.17 x 100 = 17%
The net profit operating margin ratio is 17%.
While the calculation and evaluation of the gross profit margin ratio, the operating profit ratio, and the net profit margin ratio are important, there are many other helpful tools you can use to get real information from the data in your company's income statement.
One of the most useful ways as an owner of a small business is to look at the items listed on the income statement is to see how each one relates to sales. This is done by constructing "common size" ratios for the entire income statement. The phrase "common size ratio" is simple in concept and just as simple to create. You just calculate each line item on the income statement as a percentage of total sales. (Divide each line item by total sales, then multiply each one by 100 to turn it into a percentage.)
For example, cost of goods sold at the Locopus Company were Ksh 70,000, while sales were Ksh 200,000. So the common size ratio for cost of goods sold was 70,000/200,000, or .35. Multiplied by 100, that's 35%.
Here is what a common size income statement looks like for the Locopus Company.
Locopus Company
Common Size Income Statement
for the period ending December 31, 2010
Common Size Income Statement
for the period ending December 31, 2010
| Sales | Ksh 200,000 | 100% |
| Cost of goods sold | 130,000 | 65% |
| Gross Profit | 70,000 | 35% |
| Operating expenses | ||
| Selling expenses | 22,000 | 11% |
| General expenses | 10,000 | 5% |
| Administrative expenses | 4,000 | 2% |
| Total operating expenses | 36,000 | 18% |
| Operating income | 34,000 | 17% |
| Other income | 2,500 | 1% |
| Total income | 36,500 | 18% |
| Interest expense | 500 | 0% |
| Income before taxes | 36,000 | 18% |
| Income taxes | 1,800 | 1% |
| Net income | 34,200 | 17% |
Once operating income and expense data are turned into percentages of sales, you can begin to analyze the profitability of your company more effectively. Look back over the past several periods (years, quarters or months, whatever is appropriate) and you may soon spot changes in the size of some line items' ratios that reflect problems that need fixing or progress that can be enhanced.
It is also very useful to compare your company's common size ratios to those of your competitors, or to peers in your industry. Privately held companies won't let you see their financial statements, but several organizations publish almanacs of key business ratios. Your accountant or banker may have access to these or other compilations of ratios for your industry.
Common size ratios allow you to begin to make knowledgeable comparisons with past financial statements for your own company and to assess trends — both positive and negative — in your financial statements. They can also be highly informative when you compare them with the ratios of other companies in your industry.
Owners and managers should carefully watch the three most important profitability ratios: gross profit, operating profit, and net profit. The usefulness to you of the other ratios calculated from the income statement will vary depending on the specific line item and the type of business you are in.
One of the most effective way for you to use common size ratios as a management tool is to prepare them on a regular basis (at least quarterly, and monthly is better) and compare the ratios from one period to another. If you put them side by side in a computer spreadsheet, you can easily spot significant positive or negative changes.
The term "break-even analysis" is another phrase which may seem complex, but the concept behind it is actually quite simple.
Remember that break-even is the point at which revenues equal expenses. Until your company reaches break-even, you are generating red ink; your costs for materials, labor, rent and other expenses are greater than your gross revenues. Once you pass the break-even point, revenues exceed expenses. After break-even, a portion of each dollar of sales contributes to profits. It is only when you pass break-even that profits begin to be generated.
Break-even analysis is a simple but effective tool you can use to evaluate the relationship between sales volume, product costs and revenue.
It is certainly useful for you to calculate your company's current break-even point. If your company is profitable you may want to know how much breathing room you have should revenues take a dip. If your company is losing money, knowing the break-even point will tell you how far you are from beginning to turn a profit.
In addition to evaluating your present situation you can, and should, also use break-even analysis for profit planning. We will show you how to calculate a break-even point both for sales and for units sold.
Break-even Analysis For Sales
To calculate the sales break-even point for your business you should have (or be able to estimate) three pieces of information about your business:
- Fixed expenses
- Variable expenses (expressed as a percentage of sales)
- Sales
Using just these three pieces of data, you can perform a break-even analysis for your company. Before we do that, however, let's quickly review the concepts of fixed and variable expenses.
Expenses that are defined as "fixed" do not vary with sales. They are the day-to-day expenses that your business will incur regardless of how sales volume is increasing or decreasing. Some examples of fixed expenses include overhead, administrative costs, rent, salaries, office expenses, and depreciation.
Variable expenses, on the other hand, do vary with sales. Let's say your company makes paper clips by cutting and bending pieces of wire. As you sell more paper clips, you have to buy more wire. The expense for wire varies with your sales. Typical variable expenses include the cost of goods sold (as shown on the income statement) and variable labor costs (like overtime wages or salaries for sales personnel.) Variable expenses will increase and decrease according to sales volume.
Make the best guess you can to divide expenses into the categories of fixed and variable. There are no hard and fast rules for the allocations; it is up to you and your knowledge of the business.
Once you have the three pieces of information — fixed expenses, variable expenses, and sales — you can use the information in conjunction with the following formula for calculating your company's break-even point.
At the break-even point, Sales = Fixed Expenses + Variable Expenses or
S= F + V
S= F + V
As you can see from the formula, sales at the break-even point are equal to expenses. Until sales reach the break-even point no profits can be recorded, but the next sales dollar will contribute to profits.
Now, let's calculate the level sales must reach to achieve break-even. To do it, we will find what percentage current variable expenses are of total sales.
Here is how the owners of the Locopus Company would calculate the break-even point for their business, using data taken from the income statement above. Their first step is to separate fixed costs from variable costs. The Locopus Company's only variable cost is the cost of goods sold. Selling, general, and administrative expenses are all fixed costs. (For your company, the data may not break out so evenly. Just divide fixed and variable costs to the best of your ability.)
For the Locopus Company, the formula — Sales At The Break-even Point = Fixed Expenses + (variable Expenses Expressed as A % Of Sales) — translates into the following:
Sales at the break-even point = 36,000 + .65S
(Fixed expense of 36,000 is calculated based on data from the Locopus Company's income statement: Selling expense = Ksh22,000, General expense = ksh10,000, Administrative expense =Ksh4,000. These expenses total Ksh36,000.)
Variable expense for the Locopus Company is the cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales. Looking at the Locopus Company common size income statement, we see that the cost of goods sold is Ksh130,000, or .65 of sales.
Now we have to solve the equation
S= 36,000 + .65s
where "S" stands for "Sales at the break-even point."
Move the ".65S" to the other side of the equal sign. (As you may remember from algebra class, it becomes a negative .65S when you move it to the other side of the equation.) So now we have, on one side of the equation, 1S minus .65S, as shown below:
1s - .65s = 36,000
or
.35s = 36,000
Now we can easily solve for S (which here stands for "Sales at the break-even point") by dividing .35S into 36,000.
S= Ksh102,857
The Locopus Company is at its break-even point when sales total ksh102,857. The next dollar of sales will include some profit.
Using Break-even Analysis For Profit Planning
Now that we understand how to calculate the break-even point, we can make one small adjustment to the break-even analysis formula so we can do some "what if" planning about profitability. After all, you don't want to just know where you are today in terms of break-even. You almost certainly also want to know how to attain a given amount of profit.
You can easily calculate the amount of sales necessary for a desired amount of net income before taxes. We just revise the formula slightly by adding the amount of net income you want your company to earn, as follows:
Sales At The Break-even Point = Fixed Expenses + Variable Expenses As A Percentage Of Sales + Desired Net Income.
Let's say the owners of the Locopus Company have a goal of, say, Ksh50,000 in net income before taxes, and want to know what level of sales will be required to generate that. They just make the following calculation:
Sales At The Break-even Point = 36,000 + .65s + 50,000
Using our handy high school algebra again, we solve the formula in these steps:
S= 36,000 + .65s + 50,000 S= 86,000 + .65s
1s - .65s = 86,000
.35s = 86,000
S= 245,714
1s - .65s = 86,000
.35s = 86,000
S= 245,714
The Locopus Company must generate sales of ksh245,714 to produce a net income before taxes of Ksh50,000.
Use Break-even Analysis To Calculate A Specified Amount Of Net Income For Your Business.
Break-even Analysis For Units Sold
Depending on what kind of business you are in, it is may be useful for you to calculate break-even in terms of the number of units sold as well by revenues. In other words, you want to know the number of units that must be sold to reach the break-even point. This can be calculated using this formula:
Break-even For Units To Be Sold = Fixed Expenses Divided By (unit Sales Price Minus Unit Variable Expenses)
This formula needs two new bits of information: the unit sales price and the unit variable expense.
If you know the sales price for your company's products (for the Locopus Company it is ksh20.00 per unit) you can compute the unit variable expense, using the variable expense as a percentage of sales; we developed that figure earlier in this guide.
For the Locopus Company, the variable expense was .65. So the unit variable sales expense is ksh20 multiplied by .65, which equals ksh13. What this means is that each unit has a variable cost of ksh13.
Plugging the data into the formula, it looks like this:
Break-even for units to be sold = Fixed expenses divided by (Unit sales price minus Unit variable expenses)
Let S = Break-even For Units To Be Sold S= 36,000/(20 - 13)
S= 36,000/7
S= 5,142
S= 36,000/7
S= 5,142
The Locopus Company must sell 5,142 units to break even. If it sells only 5,141, it is not yet generating any profits. On the 5,143d unit it sells, part of the revenue from the sale of that unit will contribute to profits.
The final two types of profitability analysis we will discuss in here are:
Return On Assets and
Return On Investment
Return On Investment
Return on Assets
You use the return on assets ratio to measure the relationship between the profits your company generates and assets that are being used. You compute it using data from both the income statement and the balance sheet.
Let us use an abridged balance sheet for the Locopus Company to see how these ratios are calculated and used:
Locopus Company
Balance Sheet
For The Year Ending December 31, 2010
Balance Sheet
For The Year Ending December 31, 2010
| Assets | |
| Current Assets | ksh 65,000 |
| Fixed Assets | 115,000 |
| Total Assets | 180,000 |
| Liabilities | |
| Current Liabilities | 40,000 |
| Long-term Liabilities | 100,000 |
| Owner's Equity | 40,000 |
| Total Liabilities and Assets | 180,000 |
The formula for computing return on assets is as follows:
Return On Assets = Net Income Before Taxes/total Assets X 100
(Multiplying by 100 converts the ratio into a percentage.)
Locopus Company's Return on Assets:
(36,000/180,000) X 100 = 20%
This ratio is useful when you compare the figure for the most recent period with results from earlier periods in your company's history. It can also be very informative when you compare your company's return on assets with the returns generated by other businesses in your industry.
If your company's return on assets ratio is lower than those of other companies, this may indicate that your competitors have found ways to operate more efficiently. If your company's current return on assets is lower than it was a year ago, you should look at what has changed in the way your company is using its resources.
Return on Investment
Return on investment is considered by many people to be the most important profitability ratio. It measures the return on the owner's investment . As small business owner, the return on investment figure can help you decide whether all of your hard work has been worth it. If the return you are receiving on the money invested in your company does not at least equal the return you would receive from a risk-free investment (such as a bank CD), this could be a red flag.
Here is the formula:
Return On Investment = Net Profit Before Tax/net Worth
Return on Investment for the Locopus Company:
36,000/40,000 = .90
Locopus Company return on investment = 90%.
We have introduced several different methods of evaluating profitability. Used alone or in combination, they can give a small business owner a good picture of the financial viability of his or her business.
As a management tool, objective profitability measures such as the ones shown here are invaluable tools for financial management. They are also important to the small business owner because these common profitability measures will be used by outsiders, such as bank loan officers, investors, and, even, merger and acquisition specialists, to evaluate the management skill and potential for success of a company.
Profitability Ratios
- Has your gross profit margin been stable over the last few periods? If not, why?
- What common size ratios are most important to your business?
- Did you consult at least one source of compiled financial ratios to evaluate how your ratios compare to others in your industry?
Break-Even Analysis
- Did you include depreciation and overhead as fixed costs?
- Do all the variable costs you listed truly vary with sales volume?
Return On Assets And Return On Investment
- When you calculated return on assets and return on investment, did you use net profit Before tax?
- Is your company producing a return on investment that's acceptable to you, given the resources employed and the rates of interest you could earn on alternative investments?
Sources Of Information On Profitability Analysis
How to Read and Interpret Financial Statements, American Management Association, 1992.
Budgeting and Finance (First Books for Business) by Peter Engel. (McGraw-Hill, 1996).
The Credit Process: A Guide for Small Business Owners by Tracy L. Penwell. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1994).
Sources Of Information On Financial Ratios
RMA Annual Statement Studies, RMA — The Risk Management Association. Data for 325 lines of business, sorted by asset size and by sales volume to allow comparisons to companies of similar size in the same industry. The "common size" (percentage of total assets or sales) is provided for each balance sheet and income statement item.
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios, annual, by Leo Troy. (Prentice-Hall, Inc.). Information for 150 industries on 22 financial categories. Data is usually three years prior to the publication date.
Financial Studies of the Small Business by Karen Goodman. (Financial Research Associates). Focusing on business with capitalizations under ksh1 million, providing financial ratios and other information.
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