Financial ratios help their users to take various managerial decisions. In this context there are four categories of users who are interested in financial ratios. These are the management, investors, long term creditors and short term creditors.
The significance of ratios to the above mentioned users is as follows
(i) Management :Management calculate ratios for taking various managerial decisions. Management is always interested in future growth of the organisation. In this regard management design various policy measures and draft future plans. Management wish to know how effectively the resources are being utilised conseguently, they are interested in Activity Ratios and Profitability Ratios like Net Profit Ratio, Debtors Turnover Ratio, Fixed Assets Turnover Ratios, etc.
(ii) Equity Investors :The prime concern of investors before investing in shares is to ensure the security of their principle and return on investment. It is a well known fact that the security of the funds is directly related to the profitability and operational efficiency of the business. In this way they are interested in knowing Earnings per Share, Return on Investment and Return on Equity.
(iii) Long Term Creditors: Long term creditors are those creditors who provide funds for more than one year, so they are interested in long term solvency of the firm and in assessing the ability of the firm to pay interest on time. In this way they are interested in calculating Long term Solvency Ratios like, Debt-Equity Ratio, Proprietory Ratio, Total Assets to Debt Ratio, Interest Coverage Ratio, etc.
(iv) Short Term Creditors :Short term creditors are those creditors who provide financial assistance through short term credit (Generally less than one year). That’s why short-term creditors are interested in timely payment of their debts in short run. In this way they are always interested in Liquidity Ratios like, Current Ratio, Quick Ratios etc. These ratios reveal the current financial position of the business. It is always observed that short term obligations are paid through current assest.
