Liquidity Ratio Basics: Different Types & Formulas

Liquidity management is a critical part of financial planning and decision-making for businesses. It focuses on the company’s ability to meet its current obligations, which are usually short-term in nature.

Liquidity Ratios help measure this capability by analyzing the ratio of liquid assets (cash and accounts receivable) to current liabilities (debt due within a year), as reported on the balance sheet. Different types of Liquidity Ratios provide insight into various aspects of a company’s position, from quick ratio to cash ratio and more.

These formulas help assess whether or not the business has sufficient resources to cover its immediate expenses and obligations without compromising the cash flow. In this article, we’ll explore different Liquidity Ratios and their formulas and examine why they are essential for your business.

What is a Liquidity Ratio?

A Liquidity Ratio is a metric that measures a company’s ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. It indicates the company’s financial health by evaluating its current assets, such as cash, marketable securities, and accounts receivable, compared to its short-term obligations, like short-term debt and other liabilities. 

The most common Liquidity Ratio is the acid-test ratio. This measures a company’s ability to pay off its short-term debts with liquid assets, such as cash equivalents or working capital. Another popular measurement is the Current Ratio, which evaluates whether a company has enough current assets to cover its short-term liabilities.

Types of Liquidity Ratios 

Let’s dive deeper into the different kinds of Liquidity Ratios and their corresponding formulas.

Current Ratio or Working Capital Ratio

Formula: Current Assets / Current Liabilities

The Current Ratio is one of the most commonly used Liquidity Ratios and measures the company’s ability to meet its short-term debt obligations. It is calculated by dividing total current assets by total current liabilities. 

A higher ratio indicates the company has enough liquid assets to cover its short-term debts. In comparison, a low ratio suggests that the company may not have enough cash or other liquid assets to cover its immediate liabilities. In general, a Current Ratio of 1:1 or greater is considered healthy.

Acid Test (Quick) Ratio

Formula: (Current Assets - Inventory) / Current Liabilities

As mentioned above, the acid-test ratio (also known as the quick ratio) measures a company’s ability to pay off its short-term debts with liquid assets such as cash equivalents or working capital. It is calculated by dividing the total current assets, minus inventories and prepaid expenses, by total current liabilities. 

A higher ratio indicates the company has enough liquid assets to cover its short-term obligations. Comparatively, a lower ratio suggests that the company may be unable to meet these obligations.

Cash Ratio

Cash Ratio is also known as Cash Asset Ratio or Absolute Liquidity Ratio

Formula: Cash and Equivalents / Current Liabilities

The cash ratio is the most stringent of all Liquidity Ratios and measures a company’s ability to pay off its short-term debt with only cash or cash equivalents. To calculate this ratio, divide a company’s total cash and cash equivalents by its total current liabilities. 

Here, a higher ratio indicates that the company has enough liquid assets to cover all its short-term obligations without selling any other assets. A cash ratio of 1:1 or greater is generally considered healthy.

Net Working Capital Ratio

Formula: (Current Assets - Current Liabilities) / Total Assets

As opposed to the Current Ratio, the Net Working Capital Ratio puts more emphasis on current liabilities. It is calculated by taking a company’s total current assets minus its total current liabilities. A higher ratio indicates that the company has enough liquid assets to cover all its short-term debt obligations without selling any other assets.

Liquidity Ratio vs. Current Ratio

Now that you have an idea of the different types of Liquidity Ratios, let’s have a quick look at two of the most commonly used Liquidity Ratios: Current Ratio and Liquidity Ratio.

Current Ratio

The Current Ratio is among the oldest and most widely used financial metrics. It measures a company’s ability to pay its short-term obligations with its available assets. The formula for this calculation is:

Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

A higher number indicates that a company has more liquid assets to cover its short-term debt, while a lower number suggests its liquidity position may be jeopardized.

Liquidity Ratio

The Liquidity Ratio is often seen as an improved version of the Current Ratio. This ratio is a more focused measure of short-term solvency, as it only considers the most liquid assets, such as cash and marketable securities, instead of all current assets. The Liquidity Ratio formula is:

Liquidity Ratio = (Cash + Marketable Securities) / Current Liabilities

Comparing the Current Ratio and the Liquidity Ratio

The main difference between the Current Ratio and Liquidity Ratio is that the former includes all of a company’s assets, while the latter only considers its most liquid assets. This means that companies with low liquidity may have a higher Current Ratio but a lower liquidity ratio.

When it comes to assessing a company’s financial health, lenders often prefer to use the Liquidity Ratio over the Current Ratio, as they want to know how much cash or marketable securities are available for debt repayment in case of an emergency. Therefore, considering both ratios is essential to understand your company’s short-term solvency accurately.

While the Current Ratio is a better measure of short-term debt obligations, the Liquidity Ratio provides more insight into a company’s ability to cover long-term debt and other financial commitments. As such, it is generally recommended that companies review both ratios to assess their financial health and liquidity position accurately.

Liquidity Ratio vs. Solvency Ratio

Compared to Liquidity Ratios, solvency ratios better indicate a company’s overall liquidity and financial health. For example, when a company’s liquidity is at risk, solvency ratios are used to measure its ability to pay its long-term debt obligations.

Another good time to use solvency ratios is when a company’s liquidity is impaired or if the company has insufficient cash flow for operations.

Debt-to-Equity Ratio

The debt-to-equity ratio is the most common solvency ratio used to determine a company’s long-term financial health. This measures the proportion of total liabilities (current and long-term debt) to total equity in the company. A higher debt-to-equity ratio indicates that more of the company’s assets are funded by creditors than shareholders, which can be risky.

Debt-to-Assets Ratio

The debt-to-assets ratio is another solvency ratio used to assess a company’s ability to pay off its debts. This measures the proportion of total liabilities to total assets owned by the company. A higher debt-to-assets ratio means that more of the company’s assets are funded by creditors, which can be risky and indicate financial stress.

While Liquidity Ratios measure a company’s ability to pay off short-term obligations (accounts payable), solvency ratios measure a company’s ability to pay off long-term obligations (debt). 

For example, if a company has an increasing accounts payable level but sufficient cash flow for operations, it may have high liquidity with a low solvency ratio. On the other hand, if a company has high financial obligations and limited assets to cover those costs, it would have a high solvency ratio but lower liquidity.

To determine which ratio is better for assessing a company’s financial health, looking at liquidity and solvency ratios is essential. 

A company with higher liquidity than solvency ratios is more likely to pay off its short-term debts quickly and efficiently. However, if the company has higher solvency ratios than Liquidity Ratios, this may indicate financial stress in the long term.

Importance of Liquidity Ratios

Liquidity Ratios measure a company’s ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. This is important for internal and external stakeholders, as it indicates the company’s financial health. 

Here are some of the main advantages of Liquidity Ratios:

1. Identifying Financial Problems: One of the main advantages of Liquidity Ratios is that they can help identify any potential financial problems before they become too severe. Analyzing Liquidity Ratios regularly will allow you to spot any issues early, giving a business ample time to take corrective action.

2. Assessing Creditworthiness: Lenders and creditors often use Liquidity Ratios to assess a company’s creditworthiness before deciding whether or not to extend credit.

3. Measuring Efficiency: Liquidity Ratios help measure how efficiently a company manages its current assets and liabilities. High Liquidity Ratios indicate the business can quickly convert its assets into cash and pay off liabilities.

4. Comparing Companies: Liquidity Ratios are used to compare companies in the same industry or sector to gain insight into their performance relative to peers.

5. Predicting Bankruptcy: Liquidity Ratios can also predict the likelihood of bankruptcy. If the Liquidity Ratios are consistently low, the company is likely at risk of defaulting on its financial obligations.

What is a Good Liquidity Ratio?

The “ideal” Liquidity Ratio is highly dependent on the industry and type of business.

Generally, a good Liquidity Ratio should be above 1.0. This indicates the company has enough current assets to cover its short-term liabilities. 

A higher Liquidity Ratio (above 2.0) shows the company is in a stronger financial position and may have spare cash available for investments or other opportunities.

What is a Bad Liquidity Ratio?

A bad Liquidity Ratio is one that is below 1.0, indicating that the company does not have enough current assets to cover its short-term liabilities. This might indicate a potential cash flow problem and should be monitored closely. 

A Liquidity Ratio that is consistently below 1.0 may also be an indication of financial distress and could lead to bankruptcy or insolvency in the near future.

To manage Liquidity Ratios, it’s essential to maintain an appropriate balance between current assets and liabilities. Companies are using different kinds of treasury software to manage their Liquidity Ratios and ensure that they are in a healthy financial position. It gives them a clear view of their liquidity ratio and helps them take corrective action if it is not within the desired range.

Conclusion

Liquidity Ratios are essential for evaluating a company’s ability to fulfill short-term financial obligations and offer insights into its fiscal health. By examining the liquid assets to current liabilities ratio, businesses can determine if they have adequate resources to manage immediate expenses without affecting cash flow.

Regularly monitoring Liquidity Ratios helps companies detect financial issues early and implement corrective measures. These ratios also assess creditworthiness, create asset and liability management efficiency, facilitate industry performance comparison, and help to predict bankruptcies.

Liquidity Ratio FAQs

Liquidity management and all of its nuances are important to understand for the financial health of your business. Learn more about how financial leaders are taking the reins on financial planning and forecasting for their businesses through holistic AP automation in our downloadable eBook, “The Holy Grail of Accounts Payable.”