Nyckeltal : En översyn av vilka nyckeltal som används i praktiken

Sammanfattning: Aim: A business ratio is a measuring instrument that companies use in their financial report to show profit and progress. As it is today, there are no standards to follow that shows which business ratio to present in a companies annual report. Our aim with this report is to see if there are any trends in the use of business ratios by looking into how thirty growth companies are applying them. Method: To see what business ratios are used in practice, we have collected information from the thirty companies’ annual reports. With help from the literature, we have created an understanding about the most frequently used business ratios. This information has been the base for our analysis. In the analysis we have presented the above mentioned business ratios, and analyzed the differences and similarities we could see. Result & Conclusions: There are three business ratios that are commonly used, but not enough to say there is a trend among all companies. We think it would be useful to set a standard. Suggestions for future research: Since there is such a wide spread use of business ratio, it would be interesting to interview some of the companies to see if they have some motivation behind their choice of business ratios. Contribution of the thesis: With this essay as a base we can see the lack of common guidelines in how business ratios should be presented in the annual report. Given this criteria, it is hard to compare companies just by looking at these items. This essay shows that there are motives to work on making guidelines that are useful for external investors to use, in their work upon analyzing the financial aspects of a company. Key words: Business ratio, Annual report, Growing companies.