About Farm Financial Standard Council Ratios

The Farm Financial Standards Council represents a forum for identification, discussion and resolution of issues regarding both financial reporting and the measurement of financial position and financial performance. The Farm Financial Standard Council (FFSC) financial ratios are a comparison using two elements of financial data.

The FFSC ratios can be calculated using:

Cash or Accrual transaction activity on the income, expenses, and cost of goods accounts (Transaction Data).
Book or Market Values on assets,inventories, liabilities, and owner's equity (Balance Sheet Data.

Open a Ratio:

On the Reporting Tools menu, select Ratios, and then click ..
Select the company or companies you want to include in the ratio/index
Select the date range you want to include in the ratio/index.
Select the frequency you want to include in the X axis of the ratio/index, options are Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually.
Click OK.
Click the Farm Financial Standards Council tab.
Select the way you want to calculate your Balance Sheet Data, options are Book Value or Market Value. Balance Sheet Data is on assets, inventories,, liabilities, and owner's equity.
Select the way you want to calculate your Transaction Data, options are Cash or Accrual. Transaction data is activity on the income, expenses, and cost of good sold accounts.
Click OK.

See the Set Ratio Options and Format procedure to select the calculation method.

The components of each ratio can be displayed by clicking the plus sign to the left of the ratio or by double-clicking on the ratio. If you click the plus sign to the left of the component or double-click on the component, a list of the account categories in the component displays. You can view the information for each component or account category in the same format you selected to view the ratio. To view multiple account categories at the same time, select the first account category and then hold the CTRL key while you select the other account categories you wish to view.

Each ratio and index calculated has an accompanying explanation to help you interpret the information. The explanation can be viewed by clicking the Formula/Description button at the bottom of the Ratio screen.

Print a Ratio:

On the Reporting Tools menu, select Ratios.
Set Ratio Options and Format.
Open a ratio.
Click the drop-down arrow on the Print Icon .
Select Chart to print the graphical image of the ratio or select Table to print a display that is similar to a spreadsheet.
Click the Print icon . The information will be printed on the Windows default printer.

Export Ratio Information:

On the Reporting Tools menu, select Ratios.
Set Ratio Options and Format.
Open a ratio.
Click the Export icon .
Select to export the ratio information to a PDF, HTML, Excel, or Image file.
Select the location you want to save the export file to.
Enter a filename for your export file.
Click Save.

View Ratio Components/Categories:

On the Reporting Tools menu, select Ratios.
Set Ratio Options and Format.
Open a ratio.
Set the type of chart you want to display, Line, Pie, Bar, or Area.
To view all components that make up a ratio, right-click on the ratio name and select Select Components. All of the components will display in the format you previously selected on the right side of the Ratio screen.
To view only a selected set of components that makeup a ratio, click the plus sign next to the ratio name, then select the component(s) you want to view. To select multiple components, hold the CTRL key while you make your selections. Only the selected components will display in the format you previously selected on the right side of the Ratio screen.
To view all of the account categories that make up a component for a ratio, perform Steps 1 -3 and Step 4 or 5, and then right-click on a component and select Select Categories. All of the account categories that makeup the component will display in the format you previously selected on the right side of the Ratio screen.