Difference Between Horizontal and Vertical Analysis with Comparison Chart

Of course, you will want to take a more detailed look at the revenues of Other Operated Departments, and A&G and P&M expenses, to understand why they show results that differ from the trend. If you’d rather see both variances and percentages, you can add columns in order to display changes in both. While this format takes the most time to create, it also makes it easier to spot trends and better analyze business performance. law firm bookkeeping How detailed your initial financial statements are depends largely on the accounting software application you’re using. If you’re using an entry-level application, it’s likely you’ll need to use spreadsheets in order to complete the horizontal analysis. Worthy of note at this time is that for a trend analysis to be truly meaningful, it must include multiple periods, be they months, quarters, or years.

Even though the Illustration Hotel’s Operating Revenue shows an upward trend, it is not nearly as positive as its competitors’ average. Expenses seem to be more aligned with the set’s trend, but with revenues lagging far behind the average, this isn’t very good news either. In the end, compared to your competitors’ 15.3 percent increase, your humble 2.7 percent gain in GOP leaves a bitter aftertaste. The example from Safeway Stores shows a comparative balance sheet for 2018 and 2019 following a similar format to the income statement above.

Horizontal analysis template

Horizontal analysis can be used with an income statement or a balance sheet. For example, a company’s management may establish that the robust growth of revenues or the decline of the cost of goods sold as the cause for rising earnings per share. By exploring coverage ratios, interest coverage ratio, and cash flow-to-debt ratio, horizontal analysis can establish whether sufficient liquidity can service a company.

Horizontal or trend analysis is the historic review of the financial statements of a company for a specified period. Creditors and investors use vertical analysis to compare a company’s financial performance to that of others in the same industry. These formulas are used to compare trends across time, which might be quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year, depending on the accounting period from which the data is derived.

By Industry

By dividing the net difference by the base figure, the percentage change comes out to 25%. Per usual, the importance of completing sufficient industry research cannot be overstated here. In each industry, market participants attempt to solve different problems and encounter various obstacles, resulting in financial performance that reflects a given industry’s state. In the current year, company XYZ reported a net income of $20 million and retained earnings of $52 million.

This type of analysis is mostly used by investors, financial analysts, and business managers. However, anyone who is interested in the future of a company will be interested in conducting a trend analysis to determine its likely trajectory. This may include creditors, regulatory authorities, and industry observers like business journalists, among others. Financial Analysis is helpful in accurately ascertaining and forecasting future trends and conditions. The primary aim of horizontal analysis is to compare line items in order to ascertain the changes in trend over time. As against, the aim of vertical analysis is to ascertain the proportion of item, in relation to a common item in percentage terms.

How to Perform Horizontal Analysis?

If a company’s net sales were $2 million, they will be presented as 100% ($2 million divided by $2 million). If the cost of goods sold amount is $1 million, it will be presented as 50% ($1 million divided by sales of $2 million). ASD Inc. manufactures precision components for Tier-I OEMs (Original equipment manufacturers). In this first example, I will be doing a horizontal analysis of Company A’s revenue based on its annual income statement. In the next section, you have step-by-step instructions on how to do horizontal analysis with examples using a balance sheet and an income statement. Now that you have the percentage change values for your chosen variables – both for your company and others in the same industry – it’s time to analyze your company’s values and those of your competitors.

• Then, the right approach is to combine it with other types of analysis like forecasting and vertical analysis to get a clearer picture of where the stock is headed.
• The analysis of critical measures of business performance, such as profit margins, inventory turnover, and return on equity, can detect emerging problems and strengths.
• However, always use caution when applying historical data to future periods.
• This percentage method is most useful when identifying changes over a longer period of time where there may be significant deviations from the base period to the current period.
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• Profitability Ratios – Determine how well a company produces returns on investment.