Team Member Guide

  Financial Structure Return On Assets

Return on assets (ROA) is defined as ROA.

ROA is one of the most common performance measures. It mixes the income statement’s results with the balance sheet’s results, answering the question, “How good are we at producing wealth with our assets?”

As a measure, ROA has two drawbacks:

  • It pays little attention to sales growth.
  • It biases behavior towards the accumulation of equity.

When ROA is used alone, management pushes for increased profits while minimizing assets.

Because interest payments reduce profits, management avoids debt where possible.

Management is torn about increasing the size of the asset base. On the one hand, with assets in the denominator, any increase in assets makes it difficult to improve ROA. On the other, overall profits depend in part on sales volume. If we increase sales volume while holding ROS constant, the absolute profits must increase.

Management becomes cautious. When buying an asset, they must be confident that enough profit will flow from the investment to maintain or improve ROA. When funding the investment, they avoid debt, thereby limiting the size of the investment and increasing pressure to do stock issues.

In the end, assets grow slowly. Debt falls. Profits are retained. Stock is issued, but because there are no dividends, stock price stays flat.

Assets Minimally Increased To Emphasise ROA

ASSETS LIABILITIES & OWNER'S EQUITY
Cash $4,000 Accounts Payable $8,400 7.0%
Accounts Receivable $12,000 Current Debt $2,400 2.0%
Inventory $16,000 Long Term Debt $15,600 13.0%
Total Current Assets $32,000 Total Liabilities $26,400 22.0%
Plant and equipment $134,000 Common Stock $39,600 33.0%
Accum. Depreciation ($46,000) Retained Earnings $54,000 45.0%
Total Fixed Assets $88,000 Total Equity $93,600 78.0%
Total Assets $120,000 Total Liab. & O. E. $120,000 100.0%