Total Asset Turnover: What Does it Say About Your Company?

Working capital is critical to the health of your company. However, working capital is more than just the cash on hand. It is also all of the assets that may be used to pay for day-to-day operations and additional company needs. Your company's capacity to leverage assets to produce sales may be measured using the total asset turnover ratio. Today, we're going to cover how you can calculate the total asset turnover ratio and how to interpret what you find.

What Is Asset Turnover?

Before going over asset turnover, we need to define what constitutes an asset.

Things that can't be simply converted into cash are known as assets. Examples of fixed assets include office equipment, automobiles, real estate, etc. Intangibles like goodwill, copyrights, and so forth are also part of the equation. The use of fixed assets enhances the effectiveness of an organization's operations, and we can decipher this by employing the total asset turnover ratio formula.

The asset turnover ratio assesses how well a company utilizes its assets to create revenue. It is a straightforward ratio of net revenue to average total assets that are generally measured annually. Investors may use the ratio to evaluate two firms in the same sector to see which one is better at allocating money to create sales.

However, before you determine your asset turnover ratio, there are a few elements to consider. The first is that intangible assets are not taken into account. Second, there is no "good" or "bad" asset turnover ratio statistic, as there is no substitute for comparing it to industry norms or firms of comparable size.

What Does the Asset Turnover Ratio Say About a Company?

A company's efficiency can be measured by its asset turnover ratio. There are several ways to gauge the company's capacity to create revenue from its assets. It is a good indicator of how well a business is generating revenue by employing its assets to do so. When comparing firms in the same industry, this ratio can help extrapolate the efficiency of the company. Conversely, it would be pointless to compare the fix asset turnover ratios of two different companies in different sectors.

To maximize profits, a corporation must have a high asset turnover ratio. A low asset turnover ratio, on the other hand, suggests that a firm is not properly utilizing its assets to create sales, which might be due to excess production capacity, bad collection procedures, or inadequate inventory management.

A greater asset turnover ratio is preferable in general. When a business gets more income from its assets than its rivals, it works more effectively and gets the most out of its resources. Having a low asset turnover ratio indicates that the firm is overproducing or undermanaging its inventories.

If a company's total assets turnover increases over time, it suggests that management is successfully scaling the firm and expanding its production capacity. Investing extensively in particular areas hoping that revenue would rise as a result may be the case with growth stocks.

Investors can find major competitive advantages by using the asset turnover ratio. It would be best if you examined why one firm has a greater asset turnover ratio than its counterparts.

In other words, when a company's asset turnover is significantly higher than that of its competitors, it may be a warning flag. This might be an indication that the company's management isn't investing enough to maximize the company's potential. A reduced asset turnover ratio may be achieved by increasing investment in revenue-generating assets, allowing shareholders to see a favorable return on their capital. Even if the following investment isn't nearly as successful as the previous one, management should strive to maximize earnings.

Calculating the Total Asset Turnover Ratio

So, what is the total asset turnover formula? In order to calculate the asset turnover ratio, you need to divide net sales by average total assets.

The company's financial statement should provide the net sales information you want. For the most part, net sales are used to calculate the ratio of refunds and returns. To fairly analyze a company's asset's potential to generate sales, returns and refunds should be taken out of the overall sales.

For the average total assets, you just need to sum up the beginning and ending total asset balances, then divide the result by two. Just a two-year balance sheet average is used in this calculation. Although it isn't necessarily the best solution, a weighted average method can be used.

Asset Turnover Formula

Net sales ÷ Total assets = Total asset turnover

Net Sales

Gross sales less returns, allowances, and discounts equal net sales.

Net sales = gross sales – returns – allowances – discounts

Average Total Assets

The average amount of assets listed on a company's balance sheet at the end of the current year and the year prior is what is meant by the term "average total assets."

Average total assets = (total assets for current year) + (total assets for previous year) / 2

Total Asset Turnover Ratio Example

How does the asset turnover ratio actually work? Here is an example of what we're talking about. Consider that Company ABC has net revenues of $750,000 and total assets of $3,000,000. Using the asset turnover ratio formula, you can figure out how well they produce revenue from assets.

$750,000 / $3,000,000 = 0.25 x 100 = 25%

This signifies that the value of Company A's assets generates 25% of net sales. In other words, for every dollar of assets, the net sales revenue is 25 cents.

To calculate your asset turnover rate, you must have your total assets and net sales numbers.

Asset Turnover Ratio: Limitations

A company's asset turnover ratio is only one piece of the puzzle when evaluating a business. Furthermore, its concentration on net sales means that the company is willing to overlook the profitability of such transactions. As a result, asset turnover and profitability ratios may be more effective when used together.

For example, an investor may have a better understanding of the value of asset turnover from a profitability viewpoint by calculating the return on assets. Additional insights into how a firm makes profits for shareholders might be gained by employing asset turnover in a DuPont analysis to compute return on equity.

On the other hand, the asset turnover ratio might be misleading in the absence of further context. For instance, it should be noted that historical data isn't necessarily the best guide when it comes to making predictions. Furthermore, some businesses have few assets, and others have many. Because of this, it is understandable if these ratios appear overused. There is a wide range of asset turnover ratio benchmarks across different industries. While capital-intensive businesses tend to have lower ratios than industries with large profit margins, the reverse is also true.

Additionally, this ratio isn't particularly beneficial when applied to a single corporation at a single moment in time. To get the most value out of this measure, compare it to other firms in your industry or follow it over time.

Reach Your Business Goals with Porte Brown

The total asset turnover ratio is a critical metric for determining how efficiently a corporation uses its assets to produce income. With these prescribed parameters, you can sort out organizations with a high asset turnover ratio with a single formula, and run your business more effectively.

Many companies choose to use Porte Brown, top accounting firm in Chicago, as their asset turnover company and for good reason. When you choose us, you will grasp the efficiency of your business without having to sacrifice your time. If this is the direction you want to go in, our team is ready to help you reach your goals. Just send us a message, and we'll get started on your strategy right now.

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