
What does vertical analysis tell you?
- After adjusting entries are posted but before financial statements are prepared.
- The vertical analysis of financial statements focuses on the relationship of different components to the total amount.
- Horizontal analysis can be performed on a quarterly or on an annual basis.
- The financial statements are key to both financial modeling and accounting.
What is vertical analysis also called?
What is vertical analysis? also called common-size analysis, is a technique that expresses each financial statement item as a percent of a base amount. On an income statement, we might say that selling expenses are 16% of net sales.
What is the formula for vertical analysis?
Vertical Analysis – Formula and Advantages. To calculate the percentage for the vertical analysis of financial statements – with reference to the income statement and the balance sheet, the formulas are: Vertical Analysis (Income Statement) = Item in Income Statement/Total Sales * 100.
How to calculate vertical analysis percentages?
Vertical Analysis Formula. The following equation is used to analyze a financial statement using vertical analysis. VA = (SL/B) * 100. Where VA is the vertical analysis (%) SL is the statement line item ($) B is the total base figure/amount ($)

What is vertical analysis give examples?
Vertical analysis is a method of analyzing financial statements that list each line item as a percentage of a base figure within the statement. The first line of the statement always shows the base figure at 100%, with each following line item representing a percentage of the whole.
Why is it called vertical analysis?
What is vertical analysis? Vertical analysis, which is also known as common-size analysis, is similar to horizontal analysis and can be performed on the same financial documents. However, financial analysts perform vertical analysis vertically inside of a column rather than horizontally across time periods.
How do you do vertical analysis?
How do you calculate vertical analysis of a balance sheet? The vertical analysis equation is a very straightforward percentage formula – you simply divide each line item by your base figure and multiple the result by 100.
What is vertical and horizontal analysis?
Given these descriptions, the main difference between vertical analysis and horizontal analysis is that vertical analysis is focused on the relationships between the numbers in a single reporting period, while horizontal analysis spans multiple reporting periods.
What is another name for vertical analysis?
common-size analysisDefinition: Vertical analysis, also called common-size analysis, is a financial analysis tool that lists each line item on the financial statements as a percentage of its total category.
What are the tools of vertical analysis?
Which of the following are the tools of Vertical Analysis? Ratio Analysis Comparative Statements Common Size Statements - AccountancyRatio Analysis.Comparative Statements.Common Size Statements.
What is meant by horizontal analysis?
Horizontal analysis is used in the review of a company's financial statements over multiple periods. It is usually depicted as percentage growth over the same line item in the base year. Horizontal analysis allows financial statement users to easily spot trends and growth patterns.
How do you perform a vertical and horizontal analysis?
For a horizontal analysis, you compare like accounts to each other over periods of time — for example, accounts receivable (A/R) in 2014 to A/R in 2015. To prepare a vertical analysis, you select an account of interest (comparable to total revenue) and express other balance sheet accounts as a percentage.
How do you create a vertical analysis in Excel?
0:155:53Vertical Analysis of an Income Statement in Excel by Chris MenardYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThese other numbers are up to 600,000. And if you don't like the word revenue we can change it thereMoreThese other numbers are up to 600,000. And if you don't like the word revenue we can change it there you go. So here's your formula equals B 6 divided by B 6.
What is the difference between vertical and horizontal?
Anything parallel to the horizon is called horizontal. As vertical is the opposite of horizontal, anything that makes a 90-degree angle (right angle) with the horizontal or the horizon is called vertical. So, the horizontal line is one that runs across from left to right.
What is a characteristic of vertical analysis?
What is a characteristic of vertical analysis? It calculates percentages of single items to a total. It is an expression of logical relationships between items in a single period.
Is an example of horizontal analysis?
Example of Horizontal Analysis To calculate the percentage change, first select the base year and comparison year. Subsequently, calculate the dollar change by subtracting the value in the base year from that in the comparison year and divide by the base year. The result is then multiplied by 100.
How do you perform a horizontal analysis?
Horizontal Analysis (%) = [(Amount in Comparison Year – Amount in Base Year) / Amount in Base Year] * 100The overall growth has been relatively higher in the year 2018 compared to that of the year 2017. ... Further, it is also noticed that the operating income moves in tandem with the revenue growth, which is a good sign.
What is a vertical analysis of an income statement?
Vertical analysis refers to the method of financial analysis where each line item is listed as a percentage of a base figure within the statement. This means line items on income statements are stated in percentages of gross sales, instead of in exact amounts of money, such as dollars.
What is the base amount for vertical analysis?
Common‐size analysis (also called vertical analysis) expresses each line item on a single year's financial statement as a percent of one line item, which is referred to as a base amount.
Which is better analysis horizontal or vertical and why?
Horizontal vs Vertical Analysis Main purpose of vertical analysis is to compare changes in percentage terms. Horizontal analysis becomes more useful when comparing company results with previous financial years. Vertical analysis is more useful in comparing company results with other companies.
What is Vertical Analysis?
Vertical analysis is an accounting tool that enables proportional analysis of documents, such as financial statements. While performing a vertical analysis, every line item on a financial statement is entered as a percentage of another item.
When is Vertical Analysis Used?
Vertical analysis is most commonly used within a financial statement for a single reporting period, e.g., quarterly. It is done so that accountants can ascertain the relative proportions of the balances of each account.
Advantages of Vertical Analysis
Vertical analysis simplifies the correlation between single items on a balance sheet Balance Sheet The balance sheet is one of the three fundamental financial statements. The financial statements are key to both financial modeling and accounting. and the bottom line, as they are expressed in a percentage.
How does vertical analysis work?
You can use vertical analysis on an income statement, balance sheet or cash flow statement to understand the proportions of each line item to the whole, understand key trends that occur over time, compare multiple companies of varying sizes or compare a company's financial statements to averages within their industry.
What is the difference between horizontal and vertical analysis?
The primary difference between vertical analysis and horizontal analysis is that horizontal analysis uses percentages to represent each line item's percent change quarter over quarter (QoQ) or year over year (YoY). While the formula for a vertical analysis looks at the percentage of an item to the whole, the formula for a horizontal analysis looks at the item's percent change from one period to another. Here is a comparison of each of the formulas for vertical analysis and horizontal analysis:
How to compare horizontal and vertical analysis?
The primary difference between vertical analysis and horizontal analysis is that horizontal analysis uses percentages to represent each line item's percent change quarter over quarter (QoQ) or year over year (YoY). While the formula for a vertical analysis looks at the percentage of an item to the whole, the formula for a horizontal analysis looks at the item's percent change from one period to another. Here is a comparison of each of the formulas for vertical analysis and horizontal analysis: 1 Vertical analysis formula = (Statement line item / Total base figure) X 100 2 Horizontal analysis formula = { (Comparison year amount - Base year amount) / Base year amount} X 100
Can you use vertical analysis to compare a line item?
However, it is important to remember that you can still use vertical analysis to compare a line item's percentages from one quarter or year to another. The main difference is that the percentages in a vertical analysis do not represent the percentage of change.
What Does Vertical Analysis Mean?
What is the definition of vertical analysis? The balance sheet uses this presentation on individual items like cash or a group of items like current assets. Cash is listed as an individual entry in the assets section with the total balance being listed on the left and its percentage of total assets being listed on the right.
Example
Vertical analysis is said to get its name from the up and down motion of your eyes as you scan the common-size financial statements during the analysis process. Most often, vertical analysis is used by management to find changes or variations in financial statement items of importance like individual asset accounts or asset groups.
Summary Definition
Define Vertical Analysis: Vertical analysis means a method of analyzing financial statement items by comparing their balances as ratios of the total account category balance.

When Is Vertical Analysis used?
Advantages of Vertical Analysis
- Vertical analysis simplifies the correlation between single items on a balance sheetand the bottom line, as they are expressed in a percentage. A company’s management can use the percentages to set...
- It is a relatively more potent tool than horizontal analysis, which shows the corresponding changes in the finances of a particular unit/ account/department over a certain period of time.
- Vertical analysis simplifies the correlation between single items on a balance sheetand the bottom line, as they are expressed in a percentage. A company’s management can use the percentages to set...
- It is a relatively more potent tool than horizontal analysis, which shows the corresponding changes in the finances of a particular unit/ account/department over a certain period of time.
- It is also useful in comparing a company’s financial statement to the average trends in the industry. It would be ineffective to use actual dollar amounts while analyzing entire industries. Common-...
- It is also highly effective while comparing two or more companies operating in the same industry but with different sizes. It is often tricky to compare the balance sheet of a $1 billion …
Practical Examples
- 1. Comparative Balance Sheet with Vertical Analysis
*2019: ($50,000 / $64,000) × 100 = 78.13% **2018: ($43,000 / $56,100) × 100 = 76.65% - 2. Comparative Income Statement with Vertical Analysis
*2018: ($104,000 / $198,000) × 100 = 52.53% **2017: ($98,000 / $176,000) × 100 = 55.68%
Related Readings
- Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Vertical Analysis. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following resources will be helpful: 1. Analysis of Financial Statements 2. Projecting Balance Sheet Line Items 3. Top-Down Budgeting 4. Vertical Equity