Horizontal Analysis of Balance Sheets and Financial Statements

In Horizontal ratio analysis, some firms take into consideration all current liabilities but completely ignore the bank overdraft. For example, in Safeway Stores’ balance sheets, both sales and the cost of sales increased from 2018 to 2019. Horizontal analysis of income statements also produces worthwhile information.

Therefore, total net sales are in the Oral, Personal & Home Care, andPet Nutrition Segments. The ideal number is 1 or higher, where a company can completely meet its current liabilities with its current assets, but, depending on the industry, a lower number might be the norm. In the case of Airbnb, the trend shows increasingly solid working capital. There was a huge increase in cash-on-hand and a very meaningful increase in receivables, making total assets increase by nearly 50%. This is clearly a move into short-term holdings and away from long-term holdings that reflects the expectation that high inflation will continue to plague the economy. In other words, vertical analysis can technically be completed with one column of data, but performing horizontal analysis is not practical unless there is enough historical data to have a useful point of reference.

Horizontal analysis makes it easy to detect these changes and compare growth rates and profitability with other companies in the industry. Ratios such as earnings per share, return on assets, and return on equity are similarly invaluable. These ratios make problems related to the growth and profitability of a company evident and clear.

So, If you are looking for a way to simplify your average collection period formula accounting so that you can make the most of your data then be sure to check out LiveFlow today. This gives you an idea of how much money was made during that period of time on average per month or quarter depending on what time frame is relevant for your particular business model. Whether you perform this analysis every fiscal year or every quarter, the information it provides is well worth the time and effort required. From that comparative statement, you highlight increases or decreases within that time frame. This way, you can quickly see growth, as well as any red flags that require attention.

Types of Analysis

Horizontal analysis allows financial statement users to easily spot trends and growth patterns. Step 1 – Perform the horizontal analysis of the income statement and balance sheet historical data. The first step to performing horizontal analysis is to calculate the net difference — in dollar terms ($) — between the comparable periods. Suppose we’re tasked with performing horizontal analysis on a company’s financial performance from fiscal years ending 2020 to 2021.

On the other hand, horizontal analysis looks at amounts from the financial statements over a horizon of many years. Coverage ratios, like the cash flow-to-debt ratio and the interest coverage ratio, can reveal how well a company can service its debt through sufficient liquidity and whether that ability is increasing or decreasing. Horizontal analysis also makes it easier to compare growth rates and profitability among multiple companies in the same industry.

If they were only expecting a 20% increase, they may need to explore this line item further to determine what caused this difference and how to correct it going forward. It could possibly be that they are extending credit to customers more readily than anticipated or not collecting as rapidly on outstanding accounts receivable. The company will need to further examine this difference before deciding on a course of action. Another method of analysis MT might consider before making a decision is vertical analysis. Horizontal analysis uses a line-by-line comparison to compare the totals. For example, if you run a comparative income statement for 2018 and 2019, horizontal analysis allows you to compare revenue totals for both years to see if it increased, decreased, or remained relatively stagnant.

This usually entails a ratio study to see whether the company is adequately liquid and generates enough cash flow. Ratios such as asset turnover, inventory turnover, and receivables turnover are also important because they help analysts to fully gauge the performance of a business. Consistency and comparability are generally accepted accounting principles . Operating and administrative expenses also increased slightly and interest expense increased by over 12%. This resulted in only a slight increase in net income for 2019 over 2018. For example, a $1 million increase in General Motors’ cash balance is likely to represent a much smaller percentage increase than a corresponding $1 million increase in American Motors’ cash balance.

The Usefulness of Horizontal Analysis

Horizontal is helpful for shareholders to check their performance and also to improve their weak areas. The articles and research support materials available on this site are educational and are not intended to be investment or tax advice. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Regardless of how useful trend analysis may be, it is regularly criticized.

As a result, there’s a $5 million increase in net income and $2 million in retained earnings year over year. The fastest way to see trends is to look at the changes from period to period. But, if you need more detailed analysis, you’ll want to view variances – either as percentages or dollar amounts. Vertical analysis is more often used by creditors and investors to compare a company’s financial performance to others in the same industry. Using the formula described above, calculate the horizontal analysis formula for each item you selected.

Vertical Analysis

It can also be used to compare growth rates and profitability over a period of time, across companies in the same industry. Horizontal analysis looks at trends over time on various financial statement line items. For example, a business may compare sales from their current year to sales from the prior year. The trending of items on these financial statements can give a business valuable information on overall performance and specific areas for improvement. It is most valuable to do horizontal analysis for information over multiple periods to see how change is occurring for each line item. If multiple periods are not used, it can be difficult to identify a trend.

A horizontal analysis can be particularly illuminating when it includes calculations of key ratios or margins, such as the current ratio, interest coverage ratio, gross margin, and/or net profit margin. In particular, take note of any measurements included in a company’s loan covenants, since it makes sense to monitor trends in these measurements that could lead to a covenant breach. This type of presentation makes it easier to spot declining margins and/or liquidity problems early and make corrections before they can become serious concerns. First, run both a comparative income statement and a balance sheet for each of the periods you want to compare. You’ll need at least two to compare, but it will easier to find trends if there are three or more.

How to Use Horizontal Analysis

This will give you an understanding of how each item has changed from the base year to the current year. The base year can be any period you choose; typically, this is year to year, quarter to quarter, or past trailing twelve months. The horizontal analysis formula is typically expressed as the percentage change in a financial ratio from one year to the next or as a dollar amount.

Horizontal Analysis is performed by placing multiple years’ worth of data lined up next to each other and then graphing the data points to determine if there is a trend, and where it is going. Examines a business’s financial statements and supporting disclosures to determine whether it is worthwhile to invest in or lend money to the company. I need to know the Excel formulas to use to solve for the horizontal analysis, the vertical analysis and the ratios.

However, as additional information, Colgate has provided some details of segments on page 87. Solvency Ratios – Just as the name implies, these ratios reveal how solvent a company is, most specifically, how capable of paying its long-term debts. Retained earnings went up by 16.70% and shareholders’ equity increased by 14.59%.

It is an important part of any commercial activity since it gives practical insights into the health and future potential of the company. Finance Strategists is a leading financial literacy non-profit organization priding itself on providing accurate and reliable financial information to millions of readers each year. For example, a low inventory turnover would imply that sales are low, the company is not selling its inventory, and there is a surplus. This could also be due to poor marketing or excess inventory due to seasonal demand. Calculate the average net income per month by dividing your total net income by the number of months in which it was recorded .

Any sharp deviation in trend may indicate some anomaly in reporting that requires immediate investigation. This analysis technique can provide an overall picture of where the subject company stands regarding financial matters. It allows financial statement users to easily spot trends and growth patterns. In this case, if management compares direct sales between 2007 and 2006 , it is clear that there is an increase of 3.2%. Expressing the corresponding amounts on the other years’ financial statements as a percentage of base-year or period amounts. Compute the percentages by Analysis year amount / base year amount and then multiplying the result by 100 to get a percentage.

Horizontal analysis is an important tool for investors and analysts to understand a company’s financial performance. By analyzing horizontal changes in financial statements such as income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, you can make better decisions when it comes to investing in a particular company. It’s used in the review at a company financial statement over multiple periods it’s usually depicted as percentage growth over the same line items from the base year. Horizontal analysis allows financial statements used to easily spot trends and growth patterns. For example, a company’s management may establish that the robust growth of revenues or the decline of the cost of goods sold as the cause for rising earnings per share.

Common Size Analysis of Financial Statements

This calculation helps identify trends and fluctuations in financial performance, which is useful in making informed business decisions. Indeed, sometimes companies change the way they break down their business segments to make the horizontal analysis of growth and profitability trends more difficult to detect. Accurate analysis can be affected by one-off events and accounting charges.

• By analyzing horizontal analysis of both Apple and Microsoft’s financial statements, we can see that Microsoft had higher Revenue growth and Gross Profit Margin than Apple in both years.
• A vertical analysis is a way to take apart an item on your balance sheet or income statement and look at the individual pieces that make up that item.
• Long story short, the “common size” financial statements are only informative if the companies being compared as similar in nature in terms of the business model, target customer profile, end markets served, etc.
• The horizontal analysis technique uses a base year and a comparison year to determine a company’s growth.
• If they were only expecting a 20% increase, they may need to explore this line item further to determine what caused this difference and how to correct it going forward.
• It is an important part of any commercial activity since it gives practical insights into the health and future potential of the company.

An absolute comparison involves comparing the amount of the same line of the item to its amounts in the other accounting periods. For example, comparing the accounts receivables of one year to those of the previous year. This can happen when the analyst modifies the number of comparison periods used to make the results appear unusually good or bad. For example, the current period’s profits may appear excellent when only compared with those of the previous month, but are actually quite poor when compared to the results for the same month in the preceding year. Also, when an analysis is presented on a repetitive basis over many reporting periods, any changes in the comparison periods should be disclosed, to make readers aware of the difference. The key advantage of using horizontal analysis is that it allows for the visual identification of anomalies from long-running trends.

Most horizontal analysis entail pulling quarterly or annual financial statements, though specific account balances can be pulled if you’re looking for a specific type of analysis. In this analysis, the analyst always compares the financial statement of the business for more than two accounting periods. Instead, attention would be directed first to changes in totals—current assets, long-term assets, total assets, current liabilities, and so on. Next, changes in significant individual items, such as receivables and inventory, would be examined. These changes may be related to certain changes in income statement items to determine whether they are favorable. When examining financial statements, the investment analyst focuses immediate attention on significant items only.