Efficiency Ratio: Definition, Formula, and Example (2024)

What is an Efficiency Ratio?

The efficiency ratio is typically used to analyze how well a company uses its assets and liabilities internally. An efficiency ratio can calculate the turnover of receivables, the repayment of liabilities, the quantity and usage of equity, and the general use of inventory and machinery. This ratio can also be used to track and analyze the performance of commercial and investment banks.

What Does an Efficiency Ratio Tell You?

Efficiency ratios,alsoknown as activity ratios,are used by analysts tomeasure the performance of a company's short-term or current performance. All these ratios use numbers in a company's current assets or current liabilities, quantifying the operations of the business.

An efficiency ratio measures a company's ability to use its assets to generate income. For example, an efficiency ratio often looks at various aspects of the company, such as the time it takes to collect cash from customers or the amount of time it takes to convert inventory to cash. This makes efficiency ratios important, because an improvement in the efficiency ratios usually translates to improved profitability.

These ratios can be compared with peers in the same industry and can identify businesses that are better managed relative to the others. Some common efficiency ratios are accounts receivable turnover, fixed asset turnover, sales to inventory, sales to net working capital, accounts payable to sales and stock turnover ratio.

Efficiency Ratios for Banks

In the banking industry, an efficiency ratio has a specific meaning. For banks, the efficiency ratio is non-interest expenses/revenue. This shows how well the bank's managers control their overhead (or "back office") expenses. Like the efficiency ratios above, this allows analysts to assess the performance of commercial and investment banks.

The EfficiencyRatio for Banks Is:

EfficiencyRatio=ExpensesRevenuenotincludinginterest\begin{aligned} &\text{Efficiency Ratio} = \frac{\text{Expenses}^{\dagger}}{\text{Revenue}} \\ &\dagger \text{not including interest}\\ \end{aligned}EfficiencyRatio=RevenueExpensesnotincludinginterest

Since a bank's operating expenses are in the numerator and its revenue is in the denominator, a lower efficiency ratio means that a bank is operating better.

An efficiency ratio of 50% or under is considered optimal. If the efficiency ratio increases, it means a bank's expenses are increasing or its revenues are decreasing.

For example, Bank X reportedquarterly earnings and it had anefficiency ratio of 57.1%, which was lower than the 63.2% ratio it reported for the same quarter last year. This means the company's operations became more efficient, increasingits assets by $80 million for the quarter.

Efficiency Ratio: Definition, Formula, and Example (2024)

FAQs

Efficiency Ratio: Definition, Formula, and Example? ›

The Efficiency ratio is calculated by dividing current liabilities & current assets by total assets. Efficiency ratios measure the efficiency of a firm's operation, which can be used to analyze how well a company uses its assets to generate revenue.

What is efficiency ratio with example? ›

If the efficiency ratio increases, it means a bank's expenses are increasing or its revenues are decreasing. For example, Bank X reported quarterly earnings and it had an efficiency ratio of 57.1%, which was lower than the 63.2% ratio it reported for the same quarter last year.

How to calculate efficiency ratio calculator? ›

Here are four ways that an Efficiency Ratio can be calculated:
  1. Non-interest expense divided by total revenue less interest expense.
  2. Non-interest expense divided by net interest income before provision for loan losses.
  3. Non-interest expense divided by revenue.

What is the ratio for efficiency? ›

Efficiency Ratios
RatioFormula
Efficiency RatioEfficiency ratio = expenses/revenue
Operating Efficiency or Operating RatioOperating efficiency or operating ratio = expenses (operating expenses + COGS)/net sales
Accounts Receivable Turnover RatioAccounts receivable turnover ratio = net sales/average accounts receivable
10 more rows
Oct 20, 2022

What describes the efficiency ratios? ›

Efficiency ratios measure a company's ability to use its assets and manage its liabilities effectively in the current period or in the short-term. Although there are several efficiency ratios, they are similar in that they measure the time it takes to generate cash or income from a client or by liquidating inventory.

What is an example of efficiency? ›

Because of her efficiency, we got all the work done in a few hours. The factory was operating at peak efficiency. A furnace with 80 percent fuel efficiency wastes 20 percent of its fuel. The company is trying to lower costs and improve efficiencies.

What is an example of an efficiency measure? ›

Examples of efficiency measures may include: Cost per benefit payment; Cost per inspection/audit/project; Processing cost per grant.

Is there a formula for efficiency? ›

The formula for calculating efficiency in physics is efficiency = (useful energy output / total energy input) x 100%.

What is the formula for process efficiency ratio? ›

What Is the Process Efficiency Formula? where: Value added time = Cycle Time - Non-value added time. Non-value added time = Wait time + Block Time.

What is the formula for efficiency ratio in capacity? ›

Efficiency ratio

It is calculated as: (Standard direct labour hours of actual production ÷ actual direct labour hours worked) × 100%.

How do you find the ratio of efficiency? ›

The Efficiency ratio is calculated by dividing current liabilities & current assets by total assets. Efficiency ratios measure the efficiency of a firm's operation, which can be used to analyze how well a company uses its assets to generate revenue.

How is efficiency ratio expressed? ›

An institution's efficiency ratio, expressed as a percentage, is the result of the ratio between operating expenses and the gross margin. For example, if the efficiency ratio is 60% it means that to earn 100 euro, an institution needs to spend 60. Therefore, the lower the percentage, the more efficient the institution.

How to calculate operating efficiency ratio? ›

Divide the sum of operating expenses and COGS by the total net sales. Please note that some companies include the cost of goods sold as part of operating expenses while other companies list the two costs separately.

What is the formula for ratios? ›

Ratios compare two numbers, usually by dividing them. If you are comparing one data point (A) to another data point (B), your formula would be A/B. This means you are dividing information A by information B. For example, if A is five and B is 10, your ratio will be 5/10.

What is efficiency defined as the ratio of *? ›

Efficiency is defined as the ratio of actual output to effective capacity.

Which of the following best describes the efficiency ratios? ›

Which of the following best describes the efficiency ratios? These ratios evaluate the ability of a company to generate income relative to revenue, assets, operating costs, and equity. These ratios measure the company's ability to pay both short-term and long-term debt.

How do you calculate efficiency examples? ›

How Do You Calculate Efficiency? Efficiency can be expressed as a ratio by using the following formula: Output ÷ Input. Output, or work output, is the total amount of useful work completed without accounting for any waste and spoilage. You can also express efficiency as a percentage by multiplying the ratio by 100.

What are the 3 efficiency ratios? ›

Asset turnover ratio – measures how effectively a company uses its assets to generate revenue. Inventory turnover ratio – measures the speed at which a company sells and replaces its inventory. Receivables turnover ratio – measures how quickly a company collects payments from its customers.

What is a good labor efficiency ratio? ›

15% is a strong pretax profit level for many different types of businesses. When an organization reaches this level of profitability some decisions will also need to be made. The Labor Efficiency Ratios are 6.0 for Sales, and 3.0 for DL (direct labor). At this level of profit, labor is productive.

What is a good efficiency ratio for a bank? ›

As a result, an unwritten rule in the industry is that a bank efficiency ratio of 50% is the optimal, achievable standard. And banks are still striving for this 50% standard. Even within the top 100 banks, the median efficiency ratio hovers at 59%.

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