Start networking and exchanging professional insights

Register now or log in to join your professional community.

Follow

What is difference between current ratio and acid test ratio and how quick ratio differs from acid test ratio?

user-image
Question added by Amjad Ali , Regional Manager , NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN
Date Posted: 2013/10/28
Jaya Prakash Goulikar
by Jaya Prakash Goulikar , FINANCIAL CONSULTANT , ACORN SOLUTIONS INC.

Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities

Acid test ratio = (Current assets - Inventory) / Current liabilities

Current ratio is current assets over current liabilities. Current ratio includes all the current assets. Acid test ratio is Current assets excluding Inventory over current liabilities. The reason is Inventory needs some time to dispose and in case of distress, you may not receive the full value for the inventory. To assess how quickly you can repay your current liabilities, you use acid test ratio.

The acid test ratio is also known as Quick ratio, Quick assets ratio or liquid ratio.

Joel Rodrigues
by Joel Rodrigues , Senior Credit Officer , Dubai First

The current ratio is a financial ratio that investors and analysts use to examine the liquidity of a company and its ability to pay short-term liabilities (debt and payables) with its short-term assets (cash, inventory, receivables). The current ratio is calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities.

The quick ratio, on the other hand, is a liquidity indicator that filters the current ratio by measuring the amount of the most liquid current assets there are to cover current liabilities (you can think of the “quick” part as meaning assets that can be liquidated fast). The quick ratio, also called the “acid-test ratio,” is calculated by adding cash & equivalents, marketable investments and accounts receivables, and dividing that sum by current liabilities.

 

The main difference between the current ratio and the quick ratio is that the latter offers a more conservative view of the company’s ability to meets its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets because it does not include inventory and other current assets that are more difficult to liquidate (i.e., turn into cash). By excluding inventory (and other less liquid assets) the quick ratio focuses on the company’s more liquid assets.

Allen Ambo
by Allen Ambo , Finance Manager , Qatar Living for Trade & IT Investment

The current ratio is a liquidity ratio that measures a company's ability to pay short-term and long-term obligations. The quick ratio is a liquidity indicator that filters the current ratio by measuring the amount of the most liquid current assets there are to cover current liabilities.

The main difference between them is that the latter offers a more conservative view of the company’s ability to meets its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets because it does not include inventory and other current assets that are more difficult to liquidate.

More Questions Like This

Do you need help in adding the right keywords to your CV? Let our CV writing experts help you.