#financial-health
Assess and improve your business financial health and stability
In Q1 2026, 31% of small business owners named cash flow their top worry, passing inflation. With a 27-day median buffer, track runway in days.
The defensive interval ratio divides cash, marketable securities and net receivables by daily cash operating expenses to state your runway in days. Half of small businesses hold under 15 buffer days — here is how to compute and lengthen yours.
Bluevine's 2026 BOSS Report: 77% say ownership met or exceeded expectations but 27% report higher-than-expected burnout and 77% made sacrifices — cash-flow lessons.
The quick ratio (acid-test ratio) measures whether a business can cover current liabilities using only cash, marketable securities, and receivables — deliberately excluding inventory and prepaid expenses. Covers the formula with a worked example, why loan covenants often set a quick-ratio minimum instead of a current-ratio one, why 1.0 is the textbook benchmark but fast-turn retailers healthily run 0.3–0.4, and the mistakes that make the ratio misleading.
Operating margin — operating income divided by revenue — shows whether a business's core operation makes money before interest and taxes. Here's the formula with a worked example, 2026 benchmarks by industry (SaaS 15–35%, services 15–25%, manufacturing 8–15%, retail under 5%), how it differs from gross and net margin, and the bookkeeping errors that distort it.
The quick ratio (acid-test ratio) strips inventory and prepaid expenses from current assets to test whether cash, receivables, and marketable securities alone can cover current liabilities. Includes the formula, a worked example where a 2.5 current ratio hides a 1.0 quick ratio, industry benchmarks, and the aged-receivables blind spot.
ROIC measures how efficiently a business turns debt and equity into after-tax operating profit — NOPAT divided by invested capital. Learn the formula, why it beats ROI and ROE, the WACC benchmark that separates value creators from value destroyers, and the five calculation mistakes owners make most.
The times interest earned (TIE) ratio — EBIT divided by interest expense — tells lenders how many times over your operating earnings cover your interest bill. Most lenders want at least 2.5–3.0; below 1.5 signals high default risk. Here's how to calculate it, where it falls short, and how to improve it before a loan application.
Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) measures the average number of days it takes a business to sell through its inventory, calculated as average inventory divided by cost of goods sold, multiplied by the number of days in the period.
Days cash on hand measures how many days a business can pay operating expenses using only its current cash balance, with small businesses typically running 30–60 days and 90+ days considered a strong cushion.
The Altman Z-Score combines five financial ratios into one number that predicted bankruptcy with 72% accuracy two years out. This guide covers the original formula, the Z' and Z'' versions for private and non-manufacturing firms, a worked example, and how to screen your own company, customers, and suppliers.
The sales-to-AR ratio measures the share of revenue stuck in unpaid invoices. This guide explains how to calculate it, what good looks like by industry, and how to drive it down within one or two quarters.
