Return on Assets

Use ROA to determine how much profit is being generated for each dollar your company has in
assets. Divide the net profit by net assets, and multiply by 100 to compute the ROA. Find net profit
on the income statement, and use the balance sheet to compute net assets by taking total assets minus
total liabilities. The higher the ratio, the more efficiently your company is generating profits from its
resources. New businesses take time to produce profits and utilize assets; therefore the trend in the
figure year-over-year is often considered more important than a single calculation.
Asset Turnover
Asset turnover, or sales-to-asset ratio, shows how efficiently your company is converting its assets
into sales. Find your company's sales on the income statement and divide it by total assets from the
balance sheet. The higher the ratio the better; a reading of one or higher indicates the company is
generating more than $1 in sales for each $1 in assets. New start-ups may take time to generate
significant sales, therefore track the quarterly or yearly trend of the figure. A rising asset turnover
ratio over time shows assets are being utilized more effectively.
Return on Equity
ROE tells you how well your company is using shareholder's equity -- potentially your own equity --
to generate profits. Take net income from the income statement and divide it by the shareholder's
equity from the balance sheet to attain ROE. The ratio is tracked over time -- computing the figure
quarterly or yearly -- to see if return on equity is increasing or decreasing. An increasing ROE is
preferable as it shows the company is more efficiently using shareholder's equity to produce profits.
Business owners typically want to maximize ROE to sustain or attract investors. 13 Asset turnover,
or sales-to-asset ratio, shows how efficiently your company is converting its assets into sales. Find
your company's sales on the income statement and divide it by total assets from the balance sheet.
The higher the ratio the better; a reading of one or higher indicates the company is generating more
than $1 in sales for each $1 in assets. New start-ups may take time to generate significant sales,
therefore track the quarterly or yearly trend of the figure. A rising asset turnover ratio over time
shows assets are being utilized more effectively. Asset turnover, or sales-to-asset ratio, shows how
efficiently your company is converting its assets into sales. Find your company's sales on the income
statement and divide it by total assets from the balance sheet. The higher the ratio the better; a
reading of one or higher indicates the company is generating more than $1 in sales for each $1 in
assets. New start-ups may take time to generate significant sales, therefore track the quarterly or
yearly trend of the figure. A rising asset turnover ratio over time shows assets are being utilized more
effectively.