Liquidity of enterprise assets. Arrange the assets in descending order of their liquidity: land, mobile phone, cash, car, government bonds Assets in descending order of their liquidity

Balance sheet liquidity is defined as the degree to which an enterprise's liabilities are covered by its assets, the period of transformation of which into cash corresponds to the period of repayment of liabilities. Asset liquidity is the inverse value of balance sheet liquidity in terms of the time of transformation of assets into cash. The less time it takes for a given type of asset to acquire a monetary form, the higher its liquidity. Analysis of balance sheet liquidity consists of comparing funds for assets, grouped by the degree of their liquidity and arranged in descending order of liquidity, with liabilities for liabilities, grouped by their maturity dates and arranged in ascending order of maturity.

Depending on the degree of liquidity, the assets of the enterprise are divided into the following groups:

A1. Most liquid assets- enterprise cash and short-term financial investments.

A2. Quickly selling assets- accounts receivable (payments for which are expected within 12 months after the reporting date) and other current assets.

AZ. Slow moving assets- articles of section II of the balance sheet asset, with the exception of items included in the first two groups, as well as the article “Long-term financial investments” from section I of the balance sheet asset.

A4. Hard to sell assets- articles of section I of the balance sheet asset, with the exception of the article “Long-term financial investments” of this section, included in the previous group.

Balance sheet liabilities are grouped according to the degree of urgency of their payment:

P1. The most urgent obligations are accounts payable.

P2. Short-term liabilities - short-term loans and credits.

PZ. Long-term liabilities are long-term liabilities.

P4. Constant liabilities - items in section III of the balance sheet liabilities “Capital and reserves”. To maintain the balance of assets and liabilities, the total of this group is increased by the amount of the articles “Debt to participants (founders) for payment of income”, “Future income”, “Reserves for future expenses” of Section V of the liability.

To determine the liquidity of the balance sheet, you should compare the results of the given groups for assets and liabilities. The balance is considered absolutely liquid if the following ratios exist:

The fulfillment of the first three inequalities necessarily entails the fulfillment of the fourth inequality, therefore, it is practically essential to compare the results of the first three groups for assets and liabilities.

The fourth inequality is of a “balancing” nature, and at the same time it has a deep economic meaning: its fulfillment indicates compliance with the minimum condition for financial stability - that the enterprise has its own working capital.

In the case when one or more inequalities have a sign opposite to that fixed in the optimal option, the liquidity of the balance sheet differs to a greater or lesser extent from absolute. In this case, the lack of funds in one group of assets can be compensated by their surplus in another group only in terms of value, since in a real payment situation less liquid assets cannot replace more liquid ones.

The balance sheet liquidity analysis is presented in Table 6.

Table 6. - Balance sheet liquidity analysis

Payment surplus or deficiency is determined by the formula

,

Where - payment surplus or deficiency of the relevant group;

, - results of the corresponding groups for assets and liabilities.

Comparison of the most liquid funds with the most urgent liabilities (terms up to 3 months) and quickly realizable assets with short-term liabilities (terms from 3 to 6 months) allows you to find out current liquidity, which indicates the solvency (or insolvency) of the enterprise at the period of time closest to the moment in question.

Comparing slow-moving assets with long-term liabilities reflects forward-looking liquidity, which is a forecast of solvency based on a comparison of future receipts and payments.

The analysis of balance sheet liquidity carried out according to the above scheme is approximate, since the correspondence between the degree of liquidity of assets and the maturity dates of liabilities in liabilities is planned approximately.

For a comprehensive assessment of the liquidity of the balance sheet as a whole, the general liquidity indicator is used, calculated by the formula

Where - weighting coefficients that are subject to the following restrictions:

These restrictions are satisfied, for example, by the following values: =1;
=0,5;
=0,3.

The overall balance sheet liquidity indicator shows the ratio of the sum of all liquid funds of the enterprise to the sum of all payment obligations (both short-term and long-term), provided that various groups of liquid funds and payment obligations are included in the specified amounts with weighting coefficients that take into account their significance in terms of timing receipt of funds and repayment of obligations.

Using the general liquidity indicator, changes in the financial situation of the enterprise are assessed from the point of view of liquidity.

This indicator is also used when choosing the most reliable partner from several potential partners based on reporting.

. It is necessary to differentiate the solvency of the enterprise, i.e. the expected ability to eventually repay the debt, and liquidity of the enterprise, i.e. sufficiency of available cash and other funds to pay debts at the current moment. However, in practice, the concepts of solvency and liquidity usually act as synonyms.

Solvency of the enterprise

An important indicator characterizing the solvency and liquidity of an enterprise is own working capital, which is defined as the difference between current assets and current liabilities. An enterprise has its own working capital as long as current assets exceed short-term liabilities. This figure is also called net current assets.

In most cases, the main reason for changes in the amount of own working capital is the profit (or loss) received by the organization.

The growth of own working capital, caused by an increase in current assets faster than short-term liabilities, is usually accompanied by an outflow of cash. The decrease in own working capital, observed if the growth of current assets lags behind the increase in short-term liabilities, is usually caused by the receipt of loans and borrowings.

Own working capital should be easily transformed into cash. If in current assets the proportion of their types that are difficult to sell is large, this can reduce the solvency of the enterprise.

Bankruptcy

Decisions made in accordance with the considered system of criteria for declaring organizations insolvent serve as the basis for preparing proposals for financial support for insolvent organizations, their reorganization or liquidation.

In addition, if an organization is unable to pay off its short-term obligations, creditors may apply to arbitration to declare the debtor organization insolvent (bankrupt).

Consequently, bankruptcy as a certain state of insolvency is established in court.

Simple bankruptcy applies to a debtor guilty of frivolity, inconsistency and poor business management (speculative transactions, gambling, excessive household needs, disorderly issuance of bills, deficiencies in accounting, etc.).

Fraudulent bankruptcy is caused by the commission of illegal actions with the aim of misleading creditors (concealment of documents and a certain part of the organization’s liabilities, as well as deliberate overestimation of the sources of formation of the organization’s property).

In addition to the considered signs that make it possible to classify a given enterprise as insolvent, there are also criteria that make it possible to predict the likelihood of a potential bankruptcy of an enterprise.

Enterprise bankruptcy criteria:

• unsatisfactory structure of current assets; a tendency towards an increase in the share of hard-to-sell assets (inventories with slow turnover, doubtful) can lead to the insolvency of the organization;
• slowdown in working capital turnover due to the accumulation of excessive inventories and the presence of overdue debts from buyers and customers;
• the predominance of expensive loans and borrowings in the enterprise’s liabilities;
• the presence of overdue debt and the increase in its share in the organization’s liabilities;
• significant amounts of receivables written off as losses;
• the tendency of a preferential increase in the most urgent liabilities in relation to the growth of the most liquid assets;
• reduction in liquidity ratios;
• formation of non-current assets through short-term sources of funds, etc.

When analyzing, it is necessary to promptly identify and eliminate these negative trends in the activities of the enterprise.

It must be kept in mind that current solvency businesses can only be identified from the data once a month or quarter. However, the company makes payments to creditors on a daily basis. That's why for operational analysis current solvency, for daily monitoring of the receipt of funds from the sale of products (works, services), from the repayment of other receivables and other cash receipts, as well as for monitoring the fulfillment of payment obligations to suppliers and other creditors it is necessary to create a payment calendar, which, on the one hand, shows available funds, expected cash receipts, that is, accounts receivable and, on the other hand, reflects payment obligations for the same period. Operational payment calendar is compiled on the basis of data on the shipment and sale of products, on purchased means of production, documents on payroll calculations, on the issuance of advances to employees, bank account statements, etc.

To assess the solvency prospects of an enterprise, they calculate liquidity indicators.

Liquidity of the enterprise

The company is cleared of liquidity, if it can pay off its short-term accounts payable through the sale of current (current) assets.

An enterprise can be liquid to a greater or lesser extent, since current assets include different types of them, where there are easily sold and hard to sell assets.

By degree of liquidity, current assets can be divided into several groups.

A system of financial ratios is used to express the liquidity of the enterprise:

Absolute liquidity ratio (urgency ratio)

It is calculated as the ratio of cash and marketable short-term securities to short-term accounts payable. This indicator gives an idea of ​​how much of this debt can be repaid at the balance sheet date. The values ​​of this coefficient are considered acceptable within 0.2 - 0.3.

Adjusted (interim) liquidity ratio

It is calculated as the ratio of cash, marketable short-term securities and short-term accounts payable. This indicator reflects that part of short-term liabilities that can be repaid not only from existing cash and securities, but also from expected receipts for products shipped, work performed or services rendered (i.e., from accounts receivable). The recommended value of this indicator is the value - 1:1 . It should be borne in mind that the validity of conclusions regarding this ratio largely depends on the “quality” of receivables, that is, on the timing of their occurrence and on the financial condition of the debtors. A large share of doubtful accounts receivable worsens the financial condition of the organization.

Current ratio

General liquidity ratio, or the coverage ratio characterizes the overall security of the organization. This is the ratio of the actual value of all current assets (assets) to short-term obligations (liabilities). When calculating this indicator, it is recommended to subtract from the total amount of current assets the amount of value added tax on acquired assets, as well as the amount of future expenses. At the same time, short-term obligations (liabilities) should be reduced by the amount of future income, consumption funds, as well as reserves for future expenses and payments.

This indicator allows you to determine the proportion of current assets to cover short-term obligations (liabilities). The value of this indicator must be at least two.

An indicator characterizing the organization's provision of its own working capital. It can be defined in one of the following two ways.

Method I Sources of own funds minus (total of the third section of the liabilities side of the balance sheet) (total of the first section of the assets of the balance sheet) divided by (total of the second section of the assets of the balance sheet).

II method. Current assets - Short-term liabilities (total of the V liability section of the balance sheet) (total of the II asset section of the balance sheet) divided by current assets (total of the II asset section of the balance sheet).

This coefficient should have a value not less than 0.1.

If the current liquidity ratio at the end of the reporting period is less than two, and the ratio of the organization's own working capital at the end of the reporting period is less than 0.1, then the structure of the organization's balance sheet is recognized as unsatisfactory, and the organization itself is insolvent.

If one of these conditions is met and the other is not, then the possibility of restoring the solvency of the enterprise is assessed. To make a decision about the real possibility of its restoration, it is necessary that the ratio of the calculated current liquidity ratio to its established value of two is greater than one.

Balance sheet liquidity

The current solvency of an enterprise is directly influenced by its liquidity (the ability to convert them into cash or use them to reduce liabilities).

Assessing the composition and quality of current assets from the point of view of their liquidity is called liquidity analysis. When analyzing balance sheet liquidity, a comparison is made of assets grouped by the degree of their liquidity with liabilities grouped by their maturity dates. The calculation of liquidity ratios allows us to determine the degree to which current liabilities are covered by liquid funds.

Balance sheet liquidity- this is the degree to which the obligations of an enterprise are covered by its assets, the rate of conversion of which into money corresponds to the maturity of the obligations.

Changes in the level of liquidity can also be assessed by the dynamics of the company’s own working capital. Since this value represents the balance of funds after repayment of all short-term obligations, its growth corresponds to an increase in the level of liquidity.

To assess liquidity, assets are grouped into 4 groups according to the degree of liquidity, and liabilities are grouped according to the degree of urgency of repayment of obligations (Table 4.2)

The balance is absolutely liquid if all four inequalities are satisfied:

A 1 > P 1

A 2 > P 2

A 3 > P 3

A 4 < P 4(is of a regular nature);

The second stage of enterprise liquidity analysis is the calculation of liquidity ratios

1)Absolute liquidity ratio- shows what part of the company’s short-term obligations can be repaid immediately with cash and short-term financial investments:

To absolute.= DS + KFV / KO = (p.250 + p.260) / (p.610 + p.620 + p.630 + p. 650 + p.660) > 0,2-0,5

2) Intermediate coverage ratio(critical liquidity) - shows what part of the company’s short-term obligations can repay by mobilizing short-term debt and short-term financial investments (SFI):

To crit. liquid= DZ + DS + KFV / KO = (p.240 + p.250 + p.260) / (p.610 + p.620 + p.630 + p.650 + p.660) > 0,7 — 1

3) (current ratio), or working capital ratio - shows the excess of current assets over short-term liabilities.

To current update= OA / KO = (p.290 - p.220 - p.216) / (p.610 + p.620 + p.630 + p.650 + p.660) > 2

• Where DS— cash;
• KFV— short-term financial investments;
• DZ- accounts receivable;
• THAT— current liabilities;

Current ratio shows how many times short-term liabilities are covered by the company, i.e. how many times a company can satisfy the claims of creditors if it converts all the assets currently at its disposal into cash.

If a company experiences certain financial difficulties, of course, it pays off its debt much more slowly; additional resources are sought (short-term bank loans), trade payments are postponed, etc. If short-term liabilities increase faster than current assets, the current ratio decreases, which means (in unchanged conditions) the enterprise has liquidity problems. According to standards, it is believed that this coefficient should be between 1 and 2 (sometimes 3). The lower limit is due to the fact that current assets must be at least sufficient to pay off short-term obligations, otherwise the company may become insolvent on this type of loan. An excess of current assets over short-term liabilities by more than twice is also considered undesirable, since it indicates an irrational investment by the company of its funds and ineffective use of them.

In we provided a definition of the liquidity of an enterprise's assets. We will talk about the grouping of assets according to the degree of liquidity in the balance sheet in this material.

Liquidity groups

When they talk about balance sheet liquidity, they mean the liquidity of assets and liabilities. However, when applied to liabilities, the term “liquidity” is not entirely appropriate. When talking about liquidity and the liability balance, we mean the urgency of paying obligations.

Asset and liability items on the balance sheet, based on their liquidity and urgency, are combined into 4 groups:

Asset liquidity ratio

The distribution of balance sheet asset and liability items into groups is important for analyzing the liquidity of the enterprise’s balance sheet. Thus, by correlating groups of assets and groups of liabilities on the balance sheet, asset liquidity ratios are determined.

So, for example, the absolute liquidity ratio (KAL) characterizes the organization’s ability to pay off its current liabilities using the most liquid assets:

Standard value KAL ≥ 0.2.

The ability of an organization to pay off its current liabilities through the sale of liquid assets is called the quick liquidity ratio (KLR) and is determined as follows:

The concept of liquidity means not only the current state of settlements, but also characterizes the corresponding prospects. The need to analyze balance sheet liquidity arises in the context of increasing financial restrictions and the need to assess the creditworthiness of the enterprise. Balance sheet liquidity is defined as the degree to which an enterprise's liabilities are covered by its assets, the period of transformation of which into cash corresponds to the period of repayment of liabilities.

Asset liquidity is the inverse value of balance sheet liquidity in terms of the time of transformation of assets into cash. The less time it takes for a given type of asset to acquire a monetary form, the higher its liquidity. Analysis of balance sheet liquidity consists of comparing funds for assets, grouped by the degree of their liquidity and arranged in descending order of liquidity, with liabilities for liabilities, grouped by their maturity dates and arranged in ascending order of maturity. Depending on the degree of liquidity, the assets of the enterprise are divided into the following groups:

A1 - the most liquid assets - the company’s cash and short-term financial investments;

A2- quickly realizable assets - accounts receivable and other assets;

A3 - slowly selling assets - inventories, as well as items from section I of the balance sheet asset “Long-term financial investments” (reduced by the amount of investments in the authorized funds of other enterprises);

A4 - hard-to-sell assets - the result of section I of the balance sheet asset, with the exception of the articles of this section included in the previous group.

Balance sheet liabilities are grouped according to the degree of urgency of their payment:

P1 - the most urgent obligations - accounts payable, other liabilities, as well as loans not repaid on time;

P2 - short-term liabilities - short-term loans and borrowed funds;

P3 - long-term liabilities - long-term loans and borrowed funds;

P4 - permanent liabilities - the result of section IV of the liabilities side of the balance sheet.

If an enterprise has losses (the result of section III of the balance sheet asset), then in order to maintain the balance, own sources are reduced by the amount of losses, and the balance sheet currency is adjusted accordingly.

To determine the liquidity of the balance sheet, you should compare the results of the given groups for assets and liabilities. The balance is considered absolutely liquid if the following relationships exist:

A1>P1, A2>P2, AZ>PZ, A4<П4. (5)

The fulfillment of the first three inequalities necessarily entails the fulfillment of the fourth inequality, therefore, it is practically essential to compare the results of the first three groups for assets and liabilities. The fourth inequality is of a “balancing” nature and at the same time has a deep economic meaning: its fulfillment indicates compliance with the minimum condition for financial stability - the presence of the enterprise’s own working capital.

In the case when one or more inequalities have a sign opposite to that fixed in the optimal option, the liquidity of the balance sheet differs to a greater or lesser extent from absolute. In this case, the lack of funds in one group of assets is compensated by their surplus in another group, although compensation in this case takes place only in value, since in a real payment situation less liquid assets cannot replace more liquid ones.

Comparison of the most liquid funds (A1) and quickly realizable assets (A2) with the most urgent liabilities (P1) and short-term liabilities (P2) allows us to assess current liquidity. Comparison of slowly selling assets with long-term and medium-term liabilities reflects promising liquidity. Current liquidity indicates the solvency (or insolvency) of the enterprise for the period of time closest to the moment under consideration.

The analysis of balance sheet liquidity carried out according to the above scheme is approximate for the reason that the correspondence of the degree of obligations in the liabilities is planned approximately due to the limited information available to the analyst conducting an external analysis based on the financial statements.

Forward liquidity is a forecast of solvency based on a comparison of future receipts and payments.

Indicators characterizing the solvency of the enterprise. The instantaneous solvency of an enterprise is characterized by the absolute liquidity ratio , showing what part of the short-term debt the organization can cover with available cash and short-term financial investments.

Current liabilities include: short-term bank loans and other short-term loans, short-term accounts payable, including dividend arrears, reserves for future expenses and payments, and other short-term liabilities. Normal limit k ? 0.2, common in economic literature, means that every day 20% of the enterprise’s short-term obligations are subject to repayment or, in other words, a uniform receipt of payments from counterparties; short-term accounts payable existing at the reporting date can be repaid in 5 days (1:0, 2). Considering the heterogeneous structure of debt repayment periods, this standard should be considered too high.

The current ratio shows the extent to which current assets cover short-term liabilities. It is calculated as the ratio of all current assets (current assets) to current liabilities.

The normal value for this coefficient is 1-2. The value of the lower limit of the coefficient, equal to 1, is due to the fact that there should be as much working capital as there are short-term liabilities. The excess of current assets (twice) over short-term liabilities creates conditions for the sustainable development of production and financial activities, as a result of which working capital, or “net current assets,” is formed.

The quick (critical) liquidity ratio is calculated as the ratio of cash, short-term financial investments and doubtful accounts receivable to the amount of short-term liabilities of the enterprise.

The quick ratio reflects the projected payment ability of the enterprise, subject to the timely processing of accounts with debtors. The normal limit for this coefficient is 0.5 - 1.0.

Thus, the concept of liquidity means not only the current state of settlements, but also characterizes the corresponding prospects. Asset liquidity is the inverse value of balance sheet liquidity in terms of the time of transformation of assets into cash. The less time it takes for a given type of asset to acquire a monetary form, the higher its liquidity. Analysis of balance sheet liquidity consists of comparing funds for assets, grouped by the degree of their liquidity and arranged in descending order of liquidity, with liabilities for liabilities, grouped by their maturity dates and arranged in ascending order of maturity.

Liquidity analysis

Liquidity - mobility of assets of enterprises, firms, banks, suggesting the possibility of uninterrupted payment on time of credit and financial obligations and legal monetary claims. Distinguish liquidity banks, firms, liquid assets, liquid funds. To determine the degree liquidity many countries use coefficient systems liquidity as the ratio of certain asset and liability items, regulations are developed and approved that require maintaining the established level of these ratios. Liquidity firm - the ratio of its debt and liquid funds, i.e. those funds that can be used to pay off the debt: cash, bank deposits, salable elements of working capital, etc. There is a classification of cash and financial assets by degree liquidity, i.e. by the speed and ease of their conversion into cash or other acceptable means of payment; the higher the degree liquidity, the lower the return on a given asset, as a rule, and vice versa.

Liquidity of a business entity can be found out by its balance. This means, in essence, the liquidity of the balance sheet of the enterprise under study will mean the liquidity of the entire enterprise as a whole.

Liquidity of the enterprise's balance sheet- the degree to which the enterprise’s liabilities are covered by its assets, the period of transformation of which into cash corresponds to the period of repayment of obligations. Liquidity is determined by the ratio of the amount of debt and liquid funds at the disposal of the enterprise. Liquid means are those funds that can be used to pay off debts (cash on hand, deposits placed in bank accounts, securities, sellable elements of working capital, such as fuel, raw materials, etc.).

The task of analyzing balance sheet liquidity arises in connection with the need to assess the solvency of the organization, i.e. its ability to timely and fully pay all its obligations. Liquidity means the unconditional solvency of the enterprise and presupposes constant equality between assets and liabilities, both in total amount and in terms of maturity.

Balance sheet liquidity analysis consists in comparing funds by asset, grouped by the degree of their liquidity and arranged in descending order of liquidity, with liabilities for liabilities, grouped by their maturity dates.

Depending on the degree of liquidity, i.e. the rate of conversion into cash, the assets of the enterprise are divided into the following groups.

A1.Most liquid assets - To This includes all items of the enterprise's funds and short-term financial investments (securities). This group is calculated as follows:

A1 = Financial investments + Cash

or page 1240 + page 1250.

A2.Quickly realizable assets - accounts receivable.

A2 = Accounts receivable or line 1230.

AZ.Slow moving assets - items in section II of the balance sheet assets, including inventories, value added tax, accounts receivable (payments for which are expected more than 12 months after the reporting date) and other current assets.

AZ = Inventories + Long-term accounts receivable + VAT + Other current assets.

or page 1210 + 1 page. 220 + page 1260

A4.Hard to sell assets - Articles in section 1 of the balance sheet assets - non-current assets.

A4 = Non-current assets or page 1110.

Balance sheet liabilities are grouped according to the degree of urgency of payment.

P1.Most urgent obligations - To This includes accounts payable.

P1 = Accounts payable or page 1520.

P2. Short-term liabilities - These are short-term borrowed funds, debt to participants for payment of income, and other short-term liabilities.

P2 = Short-term borrowed funds + Other short-term liabilities

or page 1510 + page 1550.

PZ.Long-term liabilities - these are balance sheet items related to sections IV and V, i.e. long-term loans and borrowed funds, as well as deferred income, reserves for future expenses and payments.

PL = Long-term liabilities + Deferred income + Estimated liabilities

or page 1400 + page 1530 + page 1540.

P4.Permanent liabilities or stable - These are articles in section III of the balance sheet “Capital and reserves”.

P4 = Capital and reserves (organization’s own capital)

or page 1300.

To determine the liquidity of the balance sheet, you should compare the results of the given groups for assets and liabilities.

Balance is considered absolutely liquid, if the following relations hold:

Tcurrent liquidity indicates the solvency (+) or insolvency (-) of the organization at the closest date period of time at the moment in question:

TL = (Al + A2) - (P1 + P2);

Pprospective liquidity - This is a forecast of solvency based on a comparison of future receipts and payments:

PL = A3 - PZ.

Let's consider the main types of possible situations.

1. A1 > P1; A2 > P2; A3 > PZ; A4< П4; А1 >P1; A2< П2; A3 >PZ; A4< П4 при (А1+А2)>(P1+P2).

Normal, reliable solvency and financial stability of the organization.

2. A1 > P1; A2< П2; A3 >PZ; A4< П4 при (А1+А2)<(Ш + П2) или А1>P1;A2<П2;АЗ<ПЗ; А4<П4 при (А1+А2)>(P1 + P2).

There is occasional insolvency and financial instability of the enterprise.

3. A1 > Ш; A2< П2; A3 < ПЗ; А4 < П4 при (А1 +А2)<(П1 + П2) или А1< П1; А2 >P2; A3< ПЗ; А4 >P4 at (A1 + A2)<(Ш + П2).

There is an increase in insolvency and financial instability of the enterprise.

4. A1< П1; А2 < П2; A3 >PZ; A4 > P4 (A4< П4).

There is chronic insolvency and financial instability of the enterprise.

5. A1< П1; А2 < П2; A3 < ПЗ; А4 >P4.

There is a crisis financial condition of the enterprise, close to bankruptcy.

Comparison of liquid funds and liabilities allows you to calculate relative indicators. These indicators are the liquidity ratios of an enterprise. These ratios allow us to determine the company's ability to pay its short-term obligations during the reporting period. The most important among them from the point of view of financial management are the following:

General (current) liquidity ratio;

Quick liquidity ratio;

Absolute liquidity ratio;

Own working capital.

Total (current) liquidity ratio. Gives a general assessment of asset liquidity, showing how many rubles of current assets account for one ruble of current liabilities. The logic for calculating this indicator is that the company repays short-term liabilities mainly at the expense of current assets; therefore, if current assets exceed current liabilities, the enterprise can be considered to be operating successfully (at least in theory).

Total (current) liquidity ratio is calculated as the quotient of current assets divided by short-term liabilities and shows whether the enterprise has enough funds that can be used to pay off its short-term liabilities within a certain period. According to generally accepted international standards, it is believed that this coefficient should be in the range from one to two. The lower limit is due to the fact that working capital must be at least sufficient to pay off short-term obligations, otherwise the company will be at risk of bankruptcy. An excess of current assets over short-term liabilities by more than two (three) times is also considered undesirable, since it may indicate an irrational capital structure. The value of the indicator can vary by industry and type of activity, and its reasonable growth in dynamics is usually considered as a favorable trend.

To tl = Working capital/Short-term liabilities =

Page 1200/page 1500 – (1530+1540+1430+1550)

Next on our list is urgent (quick) liquidity ratio, revealing the ratio of the most liquid part of current assets (cash, short-term financial investments and receivables) to short-term liabilities. The indicator is similar to the current ratio; however, it is calculated over a narrower range of current assets. The least liquid part of them, industrial inventories, is excluded from the calculation. The logic of such an exception consists not only in the significantly lower liquidity of inventories, but, what is much more important, in the fact that the funds that can be gained in the event of a forced sale of inventories can be significantly lower than the costs of their acquisition.

According to international standards, the level of the quick liquidity ratio should be above one. In Russia, its optimal value is defined as 0.7 - 0.8. The need to calculate this ratio is due to the fact that the liquidity of individual categories of working capital is far from the same. It is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of using this indicator in Russia, in our market conditions. The fact is that, as follows from the description of the formula, the most liquid working capital here includes not only cash, but also short-term securities and receivables. In a developed market economy, this approach is completely justified: short-term securities, by definition, are highly liquid funds; accounts receivable, firstly, are assessed minus potential doubtful debts, that is, only those debtors who are one hundred percent able to pay their debt to our company are taken into account. Secondly, an enterprise in a developed market economy has a number of legally regulated opportunities with which it can collect debts from its client. It is obvious that such conditions do not exist in the Russian economy. When analyzing the dynamics of this coefficient, it is necessary to pay attention to the factors that determined its change. Thus, if the increase in the quick liquidity ratio was mainly associated with an increase in unjustified accounts receivable, then this cannot characterize the activity of the enterprise from a positive side.

K sl = (Cash + Short-term financial investments + Accounts receivable) / Current liabilities =

Page 1260 + page 1240 + page 1230/page 1500

Based on the above, in the practice of Russian financial management, the quick liquidity ratio is rarely calculated. Most often used absolute liquidity ratio, that is, the liquidity of an enterprise is assessed by the indicator of cash, which, as we know, has absolute liquidity. The optimal level of this coefficient in Russia is considered to be 0.2 – 0.25. The absolute liquidity (solvency) ratio is the most stringent criterion for the liquidity of an enterprise and shows what part of short-term borrowed obligations can be repaid immediately if necessary. Since the development of industry standards for these coefficients is a matter of the future, in practice it is desirable to analyze the dynamics of these indicators, supplementing it with a comparative analysis of available data on enterprises that have a similar orientation of their economic activities.

Cal = Cash/Current Liabilities = Page 1250/ page 1500

An important indicator in the study and analysis of the liquidity of an enterprise is own working capital, the value of which is the difference between the company’s current assets and its short-term liabilities.

SOS = Working capital – Short-term liabilities =

Page 1200 – p.1500

The amount of own working capital characterizes that part of the enterprise's own capital, which is the source of covering its current assets (i.e. assets with a turnover of less than one year). This calculated indicator depends both on the structure of assets and on the structure of sources of funds. All other things being equal, the growth of this indicator in dynamics is considered as a positive trend. The main and constant source of increasing equity is profit. It is necessary to distinguish between “working capital” and “own working capital”. The first indicator characterizes the assets of the enterprise (Section II of the assets of the balance sheet), the second - the sources of funds, namely the part of the enterprise's own capital, considered as a source of covering current assets. The amount of own working capital is numerically equal to the excess of current assets over current liabilities. A situation is possible when the value of current liabilities exceeds the value of current assets. The financial position of the enterprise in this case is considered as unstable; immediate measures are required to correct it.

Own working capital gives the company greater self-confidence. After all, it is he who helps the enterprise out in the most varied manifestations of the negative aspects of the market. For example: in case of delay in repayment of accounts receivable or difficulties with sales of products, depreciation or loss of working capital. The financial position of an enterprise is negatively affected by both a lack and a surplus of net working capital.

The lack of these funds can lead the company to bankruptcy, since it indicates its inability to repay short-term obligations in a timely manner. The deficiency may be caused by losses in business activities, an increase in bad accounts receivable, the acquisition of expensive fixed assets without prior accumulation of funds for these purposes, the payment of dividends in the absence of corresponding profits, and financial unpreparedness to repay the enterprise's long-term obligations. A significant excess of net working capital over the optimal need for it indicates inefficient use of resources. Examples are: issuing shares or receiving loans without a real need for them for the economic activities of the enterprise, irrational use of profits from economic activities.

The balance sheet liquidity analysis carried out according to the above scheme is approximate. A more detailed analysis of solvency using financial ratios.