What is Liquidity (2024)

Liquidity (definition)

Liquidity measures a business’s ability to pay all its bills and make loan repayments in the coming months. It is commonly expressed as a ratio.

Liquidity compares current liabilities (which are amounts owed within the coming 12 months) against current assets. Current assets include cash the business has, inventory, plus payments due to come in such as receivables, and any assets that could be sold quickly.

What is Liquidity (1)

Current ratio liquidity formula.

What liquidity means for the business

A ratio of 1.0 or more shows the business can cover its costs and is generally in good shape. A ratio of less than 1.0 is not so positive but isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A business that’s investing in growth will have bigger bills and may find their current ratio drops below 1.0. However, most businesses will want to avoid having a ratio that is permanently stuck at less than 1.0.

The liquidity ratio will change depending on where a business is in its billing cycle, so it’s a good idea to measure it at the same time every month. That way you’re comparing like for like and can see if liquidity is trending up or down over the long term.

Other liquidity ratios

Although the current ratio is the most common way for small businesses to measure liquidity, there are two other ratios:

  1. Quick ratio (or acid test ratio): It only uses assets that can be changed into cash within three months. Cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and receivables divided by current liabilities (debts due to be paid within three months). Or alternatively, current assets minus inventory and prepaid expenses divided by current liabilities (debts due to be paid within three months).

  2. Cash ratio: Cash and cash equivalents divided by current liabilities.

Learn more in our guide on liquidity ratios.

How liquidity differs from workin.g capital, free cash flow, and cash flow

Liquidity is a measure of spending power, similar to cash flow, free cash flow, and working capital. Each of these terms has its own complexities, but here’s roughly how they compare:

  • Cash flow refers to the general availability of cash

  • Liquidity shows how easily a business can cover upcoming costs (expressed as a ratio)

  • Working capital shows how much money will be left after covering those upcoming costs

  • Free cash flow is the amount of cash left after making capital investments

See related terms

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Disclaimer

This glossary is for small business owners. The definitions are written with their requirements in mind. More detailed definitions can be found in accounting textbooks or from an accounting professional. Xero does not provide accounting, tax, business or legal advice.

What is Liquidity (2024)

FAQs

What is liquidity in simple terms? ›

Definition: Liquidity means how quickly you can get your hands on your cash. In simpler terms, liquidity is to get your money whenever you need it. Description: Liquidity might be your emergency savings account or the cash lying with you that you can access in case of any unforeseen happening or any financial setback.

What does by liquidity mean? ›

the fact of being available in the form of money, rather than investments or property, or of being able to be changed into money easily: The group has excellent liquidity.

What is an example of liquidity? ›

Cash is the most liquid asset, followed by cash equivalents, which are things like money market accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), or time deposits. Marketable securities, such as stocks and bonds listed on exchanges, are often very liquid and can be sold quickly via a broker.

Is liquidity good or bad? ›

Liquidity is neither good nor bad. Everyone should have liquid assets in their portfolio. However, being all liquid or all illiquid can be risky. Instead, it's better to balance assets with your investment goals and risk tolerance to include both liquid and illiquid assets.

What is liquidity in real life? ›

What is liquidity in real life? In real life, liquidity is the ease with which you can access or use money. For example, cash in hand or money in a bank account is highly liquid, while assets like property or antiques are less liquid as they take longer to sell.

What best describes liquidity? ›

Liquidity describes your ability to exchange an asset for cash. The easier it is to convert an asset into cash, the more liquid it is. And cash is generally considered the most liquid asset. Cash in a bank account or credit union account can be accessed quickly and easily, via a bank transfer or an ATM withdrawal.

Is liquidity just cash? ›

Liquidity is how easily an asset can be converted into cash and be spent. Every asset and investment requires finding a market if you decide to sell it—whether it's the stock market, where selling a stock or mutual fund is usually fast and simple, or the more complicated world of finding a buyer for real estate.

What is another word for liquidity? ›

the property of flowing easily. synonyms: fluidity, fluidness, liquidness, runniness.

Why would a person want assets with liquidity? ›

Why would a person want assets with liquidity? Liquid assets can be spent easily and non-liquid assest can't. What is an example of a situation in which a person would transfer money from an M2 account to an M1 account?

What is the purpose of liquidity? ›

Liquidity is crucial in the financial world and for companies and individuals for several important reasons: Meeting short-term liabilities: Liquidity enables companies and individuals to pay their short-term debts and current expenses such as salaries, rent, utilities and supplier bills on time.

What falls under liquidity? ›

Cash is the most "liquid" form of liquidity. In addition to notes and coins, it also includes account balances and cheques, as well as cash in foreign currencies. Other forms of liquidity assets that can be converted into cash very quickly due to their low risk and short maturity are treasury bills and treasury notes.

How to identify liquidity? ›

One of the popular elements to find liquidity is to check spreads. Generally, tight spreads indicate high liquidity, predictable market conditions, and easy trade execution. Meanwhile, wide spreads indicate low liquidity and unpredictable market conditions.

What is liquidity for dummies? ›

A business is considered to be liquid if it can cover current debt with current assets. In other words, can a company pay off its current liabilities without going to outside sources (such as a bank) to borrow money?

Why is liquidity a problem? ›

A liquidity crisis occurs when a company can no longer finance its current liabilities from its available cash. For example, it is no longer able to pay its bills on time and therefore defaults on payments. In order to avoid insolvency, it must be able to obtain cash as quickly as possible in such a case.

What is danger of liquidity? ›

The definition of a liquidity risk refers to a state of risk that an entity is in where it might not be able to repay short-term debt since it does not have enough cash. This is often the result of the entity investing too much or all of its cash in illiquid assets like real estate or debt-based instruments like bonds.

What is liquidity in short-term? ›

Liquidity refers to the ability to cover short-term obligations. Solvency, on the other hand, is a firm's ability to pay long-term obligations. For a firm, this will often include being able to repay interest and principal on debts (such as bonds) or long-term leases.

What is liquidity answer in one sentence? ›

Liquidity is a company's ability to convert assets to cash or acquire cash—through a loan or money in the bank—to pay its short-term obligations or liabilities.

What is a liquidity ratio for dummies? ›

A ratio of 1 means that a company can exactly pay off all its current liabilities with its current assets. A ratio of less than 1 (e.g., 0.75) would imply that a company is not able to satisfy its current liabilities. A ratio greater than 1 (e.g., 2.0) would imply that a company is able to satisfy its current bills.

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