When you own a small business, understanding your finances is a vital part of managing it. After all, if you can’t manage your finances, how will you manage them? Keeping track of all the expenses and income of your small business can be challenging. Luckily, there are several tools available to help with financial analysis in a small business. In this article, we’ll discuss the uses for horizontal and common size financial analysis and how they can help you manage your finances better in your small business.

What is a Horizontal Financial Analysis?

A horizontal financial analysis is a process that you can use to evaluate the financial health of your company. Horizontal financial analysis will help you analyze your expenses, sales, and cash flow to determine whether your company is running at a profit or a loss. You can use a horizontal financial analysis to determine how profitable your company is, how much cash you have in the bank, and how your sales compare to your expenses. Since a horizontal analysis looks at all three areas at once, you’ll get a much better picture of your company’s financial health than you would by analyzing each separate area alone.

A Common Size Financial Analysis

A common size financial analysis is a method for evaluating your business that looks at both your expenses and sales at the same dollar amount. This can help you determine how profitable your company is, how much cash you have in the bank, and how your sales compare to your expenses. Both your expenses and your sales will be broken down into standard amounts. For example, your expenses might be broken down into categories such as payroll, rent, marketing, and utilities. You might also track your cost of sales items such as inventory, shipping, and sales tax. Like horizontal analysis, a common size financial analysis will show you how your company’s finances are broken down, but it will also show you at the same amount what each expense and sales item costs. This can help you determine the most profitable items to sell, which can be useful if you’re interested in growing your business.

How to do a Financial Analysis in a Small Business?

As you can see from reading this article, a horizontal and common size financial analysis is a useful tool for managing your finances in a small business. In this article, we’ll discuss the use of horizontal and common size financial analysis, but if you’re looking for a more detailed guide to financial analysis in a small business, check out our article on the subject. First, it is important to understand your current financial situation. The best way to do this is to conduct a vertical financial analysis. This will help you understand how much money you currently have in the bank and how much money you need to continue your business. Once you know these figures, you can conduct a common size financial analysis to determine how profitable your business is and how much cash you have in the bank. You can also use a common size financial analysis to evaluate your expenses and sales. This can help you determine the most profitable items to sell, and it can also help you to determine the cost of operating your business.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-holding-white-printer-paper-7876376/

Financial Statement Analysis