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KBR - Key Business Ratios

About Key Business Ratios

Key Business Ratios helps you to assess how your business is doing compared to your industry or a competitor. The 14 key business ratios cover all critical areas of business performance-solvency, efficiency and profitability. They are broken down into median figures, with upper and lower quartiles. Ratios are arranged by SIC codes. CSULB has access to the current year.

To run Key Business Ratios on the Internet successfully, you must use one of the following browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (or higher) OR Netscape Navigator 6.1 (or higher)

Searching the Database

Image of the Criteria Selection bar

To calculate the ratios you use the Criteria Selection bar at the top of the Ratio Spreadsheet. First choose your industry from either the list of SIC codes or from the drop down menu next to the Line of Business box. You can also search for a particular line of business by typing words into the blank box and clicking FIND. Note: the Up & DOWN arrows in each section will change your list to ascending or descending order.

Now select from the Asset Range list. Use this drop down menu and click each range you want, then click OK.

Ratio tabs are located at the top of the Ratio Spreadsheet: solvency, efficiency and profitability. The default ratio is solvency. Click on any of the other tabs to display another ratio.

The Report tab brings all the data into one format that can be printed or exported.

My Financials

In the Report mode you now have the option to use the tab My Financials. This allows you to input statistics for a particular company in order to compare them to the industry ratios that you found in the Key Industry Ratios database.

Graphic of Criteria Bar in Report mode

Click on the My Financials tab and input your data. Click on the Report tab at the bottom of the screen and the report that is created will include a column with the data that you input. Now you can print or export this report.

Printing Or Exporting Your Data

To display ratios in report format you can either:

Click Image for Display in Report Format for the line of business you want to display.

OR

Click the Report tab. Then the first line listed on the Ratio Spreadsheet will be displayed.

To Print a report

  1. Click Print (a preview version of the report will be displayed in a separate window)
  2. The Print dialog box appears
  3. Make any changes to the print settings, if required, and then click Print

To Export a report

  1. Click Export (the File Download dialog box appears)
  2. To download the report, click Open. The report will be downloaded and displayed in Microsoft Excel.
  3. To save the report, click Save. Specify the location and file name, and then click Save. The file will be saved in a comma separated value (.CSV) format.

 

Please Note: See the User Guide to get any additional information about this database including the definitions of the ratios. Click on Graphic of Help link then click on Calculating Ratios in the left frame. A list results and then you can click on Solvency Ratios, Efficiency Ratios, or Profitability Ratios to see how they are calculated.

 

Content maintained by Susan Jackson, Business Librarian