ISA 520 · ISA 570 · Technology

Financial Ratio Calculator
for Technology

Pre-configured for technology entities. Revenue-based analysis where PBT is volatile or negative, with emphasis on gross margin, working capital efficiency, and R&D investment.

ISA 520 · ISA 570v2026.04Manufacturing

30+ ratios, benchmarked.
Not just calculated.

Session
0x67EB
Fiscal Year
FY 2026
Benchmark
BACH 2023
inputs.conf
methodology.conf
README.md
01// engagement— ISA 520.4
02entity_name=
03fiscal_year_end=
04currency=
05industry=
09// income_statement— current year
10revenue=
11cogs=
12ebit=
13net_income=
17// balance_sheet— period end
18total_assets=
19current_assets=
20current_liabilities=
21total_liabilities=
22total_equity=
awaiting input·3 sections · 2/13 fields · 0 errors·ISA 520 compliantEUR·Manufacturing
01liquidity
current_ratio
quick_ratio
cash_ratio
working_capital
02profitability
gross_margin
net_margin
roe
roa
ebitda_margin
roic
03leverage
debt_to_equity
debt_to_assets
interest_coverage
dscr
equity_multiplier
04activity
inventory_days
dso
dpo
asset_turnover
cash_conversion_cycle
05going_concern
altman_z_score
beneish_m_score
piotroski_f_score
isa_570_flags0
benchmark_source
Manufacturing
BACH database · 2023
Bank for the Accounts of Companies Harmonized. European industry medians (Q1 / median / Q3) from the ECB/ECCBSO aggregated database covering 12 European countries by NACE sector.
≥ median between q1 and median < q1
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ADVANCED ANALYSIS

Deeper ratio analysis, styled the same.

01// sensitivity— revenue stress ±25%
Enter revenue and COGS to run sensitivity.
02// dupont_decomposition— 3-factor ROE breakdown
Enter revenue, net income, and balance sheet to compute DuPont.
03// cross_ratio_intelligence— pattern detection warnings
Enter inputs to run pattern detection.
04// covenant_headroom— typical mid-market covenants
Enter EBIT, debt, and current assets/liabilities to test covenants.
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4 advanced sections · sensitivity · DuPont · cross-ratio · covenants
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Pages
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Price
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Financial ratio analysis for Technology

Technology company financial ratio analysis requires a growth-adjusted perspective that traditional ratio frameworks do not always accommodate. Many technology companies — particularly SaaS businesses, marketplace platforms, and pre-profit startups — deliberately prioritise revenue growth over profitability, making profit-based ratios (net margin, ROE, ROA) misleading or negative. Revenue-based ratios and gross margin are more diagnostic for technology entities.

The gross margin is the single most important traditional ratio for technology companies, particularly SaaS businesses where gross margins of 60–80% (BACH median: 62%) indicate the scalability of the business model. A declining gross margin in a technology company may indicate rising infrastructure costs, increased customer support burden, or competitive pricing pressure. For ISA 520 analytical procedures, compare gross margin trends against the company's own history and against the BACH technology sector quartiles.

R&D capitalisation under IAS 38 is a critical area for technology companies. Companies that capitalise a higher proportion of development costs will show better current-period profitability but inflated asset bases, affecting ROA and asset turnover ratios. The auditor should assess whether capitalisation criteria are consistently applied and whether the asset will generate future economic benefits. Stock-based compensation (IFRS 2) is another significant non-cash expense that distorts standard profitability ratios — a technology company with 15–25% of revenue in SBC expense may show operating losses despite strong cash generation.

Regulatory context

IFRS 15 revenue recognition for multi-element SaaS arrangements. IAS 38 development cost capitalisation. IFRS 2 share-based payment expense. Deferred tax asset recoverability for loss-making entities.

Industry-specific going concern indicators (ISA 570)

Cash runway less than 12 months without committed funding

Declining gross margin below 50%

Customer concentration: single customer exceeds 20% of revenue

Unable to raise follow-on funding

Key person departure without succession plan

Annual churn rate exceeding 15% (SaaS)

Worked Example: European SaaS Company

CloudMetrics GmbH — B2B SaaS platform with €12M ARR

Key results: Current Ratio: 2.00, Quick Ratio: 2.00, Gross Margin: 70.0%, Net Margin: -15.0% (pre-profit stage), ROE: -22.5% (negative — expected), D/E: 0.75, Cash Ratio: 1.38, Z'' Score: 4.85 (services variant — Safe, but negative RE reduces reliability)

Frequently asked questions: Technology

How do I analyse a pre-profit technology company?
For pre-profit technology companies, skip profitability ratios (which will be negative and meaningless) and focus on: gross margin (>60% is typical for healthy SaaS), cash runway (cash / monthly burn rate), revenue growth rate, working capital adequacy, and customer acquisition efficiency. The cash ratio and current ratio indicate how long the company can sustain operations without additional funding — this is the primary going concern metric for pre-profit tech.
Is the Altman Z-Score reliable for technology companies?
The Z'' (services) variant removes asset turnover and adjusts coefficients for non-manufacturing companies. However, it should be interpreted with caution for technology companies with negative retained earnings (common in growth-stage companies). A negative X2 component (Retained Earnings / Total Assets) will reduce the Z-Score significantly — this reflects accumulated losses during the growth phase, not necessarily financial distress. Flag this limitation explicitly.
How does R&D capitalisation affect technology ratio analysis?
Companies that capitalise development costs under IAS 38 will show higher assets (inflating total assets, reducing ROA), higher current-period profitability (as costs are amortised over useful life rather than expensed immediately), and potentially better-looking ratios. Compare capitalisation rates across peer companies and assess whether the policy is aggressive. A company that capitalises 80% of R&D while peers capitalise 20% is not directly comparable.
What gross margin should technology companies target?
BACH European technology sector median gross margin is 62%. By subsector: pure SaaS companies typically achieve 70–85%, hardware-inclusive technology companies 40–60%, IT services companies 25–40%, and marketplace/platform companies 60–80%. A declining gross margin warrants investigation into infrastructure cost scaling, pricing pressure, or product mix shifts.
What are technology-specific going concern indicators?
Key indicators under ISA 570 for technology companies include: cash runway less than 12 months without committed funding, declining gross margin below 50%, customer concentration (single customer >20% revenue), inability to raise follow-on funding at comparable or higher valuation, key person dependency, and technology obsolescence risk. For SaaS companies specifically: churn rate exceeding 15% annually, declining net revenue retention, or CAC payback period exceeding 24 months.

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