What Is Return On Assets (ROA)? | Maintenance Metrics | Fiix (2024)

What is a return on assets?

Return on assets is a ratio that measures how well a company uses its assets to generate profit.

How do you calculate your return on assets?

Return on assets is calculated by dividing the company's net income by its total asset base. The formula is:

Return on assets

=

What are some examples of return on assets?

Here are a few examples to help you understand ROA a bit better:

  • If company A has $1 million in total assets and earned $100,000 in net income during a period, its return on assets would be 10%.
  • Conversely, suppose company B has $2 million in total assets but only $50K of profits for the same period (a much lower ROA). Then we might say that company B needs to improve efficiency or find ways to generate more profit from those same resources—or perhaps shut down operations entirely.

What is considered a good and bad return on assets?

A good return on assets is in the 10% range. Anything above that is excellent and below 5% is considered harmful. A company with a ROA of 15% or higher is doing very well, while one with 1% or lower is likely in trouble.

If the return on assets is less than one, you lose money. If your ROA is less than the cost of capital, then it means that your company needs to make more money to cover its costs and maintain current operations. In addition, if your ROA is less than the cost of debt (which would be equal to interest payments), then you're losing money on every dollar in debt owed by your company.

Suppose this continues for long enough or gets worse over time. In that case, it could lead to bankruptcy because too much debt will cause financial distress and make it harder for companies to stay afloat—especially if there's no way out of debt through increased revenues or reduced expenses (like cutting back).

What Is Return On Assets (ROA)? | Maintenance Metrics | Fiix (2024)

FAQs

What Is Return On Assets (ROA)? | Maintenance Metrics | Fiix? ›

Return on assets is a measure of how well a company turns its owned capital into profit. A high ROA indicates that a company efficiently uses its assets to produce a profit. A low ROA may suggest that the company must invest more to increase profitability.

What is the return on assets metric? ›

Return on assets (ROA) measures how efficient a company's management is in generating profit from their total assets on their balance sheet. ROA is shown as a percentage, and the higher the number, the more efficient a company's management is at managing its balance sheet to generate profits.

What is the meaning of ROA? ›

The term “return on assets” (ROA) refers to a financial ratio that indicates how profitable a company is in relation to its total assets. Corporate management, analysts, and investors can use ROA to determine how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate a profit.

How do you calculate the ROA? ›

The return on assets (ROA) metric is calculated using the following formula, wherein a company's net income is divided by its average total assets.
  1. Return on Assets (ROA) = Net Income ÷ Average Total Assets.
  2. Net Income = Earnings Before Taxes (EBT) – Taxes.
Mar 13, 2024

What's a good ROA? ›

What Is a Good ROA? An ROA of 5% or better is typically considered good, while 20% or better is considered great. In general, the higher the ROA, the more efficient the company is at generating profits.

What is an example of return on assets? ›

Example of ROA Calculation

A: $10 million divided by $50 million is 0.2, therefore the business's ROA is 20%. For every dollar of assets the company invests in, it returns 20 cents in net profit per year.

What is return on assets a measure of quizlet? ›

Return on assets (ROA) is stated in ratio form as net income divided by the average total assets invested. A higher ratio indicates that there is a greater probability that a company will not be able to pay its debt in the future.

What is the simple explanation of ROA? ›

A Memorandum of Association (MoA) represents the charter of the company. It is a legal document prepared during a company's formation and registration process. It defines the company's relationship with shareholders and specifies the objectives for which the company has been formed.

Is ROA a good indicator? ›

Return on assets is a good indicator of a company's performance. It helps you identify areas where you need to improve and provides insight into what's working well for your business. The more efficient your use of assets, the higher your ROA will be.

How to improve return on assets? ›

There are a few things that a company can do to improve their return on assets. They can focus on becoming more efficient with their assets, make sure they are using all their assets, or increase their net income.

Why is return on assets important? ›

What is the importance of ROA? ROA is a very important indicator for a corporation, as it shows investors how the company is actually behaving in terms of converting assets into net capital. As a result, it can be inferred that the higher the metric (given in percentage), the better it is for the business's management.

What is a good return on equity? ›

ROE is used when comparing the financial performance of companies within the same industry. It is a measure of the ability of management to generate income from the equity available to it. A return of between 15-20% is considered good. ROE is also used when evaluating stocks, as well as other financial ratios.

Can ROA be negative? ›

Yes, ROA can be negative, which generally indicates that a company is not making a profit and is not using its assets efficiently. A negative ROA could be a sign of operational or financial difficulties that require further investigation.

How do I make my ROA higher? ›

A company can arrive at a high ROA either by boosting its profit margin or, more efficiently, by using its assets to increase sales.

Can ROA be too high? ›

With a lot of measures of profitability ratios, like gross margin and net margin, it's hard for them to be too high. “You generally want them as high as possible” says Knight. ROA, on the other hand, can be too high.

What is the best ROA value? ›

One cannot declare a particular range of ROE as a good return on equity. For some industries, an ROE of more than 25% is desirable, while for others, a figure over 15% may be considered exceptional. However, a lower ROE does not always indicate impending catastrophe for a business.

What is the ROE metric? ›

Return on equity (ROE) is the measure of a company's net income divided by its shareholders' equity. ROE is a gauge of a corporation's profitability and how efficiently it generates those profits. The higher the ROE, the better a company is at converting its equity financing into profits.

What is an ROI metric? ›

Return on Investment (ROI) is a popular profitability metric used to evaluate how well an investment has performed. ROI is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing an investment's net profit (or loss) by its initial cost or outlay.

What is the metric of rate of return? ›

The rate of return is an important financial metric that helps you to understand the profitability of your investments, as well as the cost and risk. Calculating the rate of return allows you to make better decisions about how much money you want to spend on future investments.

What does a return on assets of 12.5% represent? ›

What does a return on assets of 12.5% represent? A return on assets (ROA) of 12.5% means that for every $100 of total assets on the company's balance sheet, it generates $12.50 in net income.

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