Company Financial Health Check
Instantly assess the financial health of any UK company. Solvency analysis, 19 financial ratios, Altman Z-Score bankruptcy prediction, and industry benchmark comparison — all computed automatically from official Companies House data.
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What a financial health check covers
Solvency Analysis
Altman Z-Score predicts whether a company is at risk of insolvency within two years. Assessed against safe (>2.9), grey (1.23–2.9), and distress (<1.23) zones.
Liquidity Assessment
Current ratio and quick ratio show whether the company can meet short-term obligations. Working capital in absolute £ terms. Cash on hand.
Profitability Analysis
Gross margin, EBITDA margin, net profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity — compared against ONS industry benchmarks for the same SIC code.
Leverage & Gearing
Equity ratio (equity as % of total assets) and gearing ratio (total liabilities / equity) — the most meaningful leverage measures for UK private companies.
Cash Conversion Cycle
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), and inventory days — revealing how efficiently the company converts operations to cash.
Red Flag Detection
12+ automated red flags with high/medium/low severity ratings. Covers financial distress signals, filing failures, and early warning indicators.
The four pillars of company financial health
1. Liquidity — can the company pay its bills?
Liquidity measures whether a company has enough short-term assets to cover short-term liabilities. The current ratio (current assets ÷ current liabilities) is the primary indicator. UK service businesses typically operate with current ratios of 1.0–1.4 — a ratio below 1.0 means current liabilities exceed current assets, a warning sign requiring investigation.
2. Solvency — can the company survive long-term?
Solvency goes beyond day-to-day cashflow to ask whether the company's total asset base can support its total liabilities over time. The Altman Z'-Score distils this into a single number using five financial ratios. For UK private companies, the score is adapted (Z' variant) to account for the absence of market data.
3. Profitability — is the company generating returns?
A profitable company generates earnings above its costs. Net profit margin, EBITDA margin, and return on assets (ROA) are the key measures. Profitability varies enormously by sector — a 5% net margin is excellent for wholesale distribution but weak for professional services. FinancialInsight benchmarks each figure against ONS data for the correct SIC code.
4. Leverage — how much debt is the company carrying?
Leverage measures how much of the company's capital structure is funded by debt versus equity. UK SMEs often have minimal paid-up share capital (£100 is standard), which distorts traditional debt/equity ratios. FinancialInsight uses the equity ratio (equity ÷ total assets) and gearing ratio (total liabilities ÷ equity) as more meaningful measures for UK private companies.
Frequently asked questions
A company financial health check is a systematic review of a company's financial condition covering solvency (can it survive long-term?), liquidity (can it pay short-term bills?), profitability (is it generating returns?), and leverage (how much is it borrowing?). FinancialInsight automates this analysis from filed Companies House accounts.
FinancialInsight computes 19 ratios: Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Working Capital, Cash Ratio (liquidity); Debt/Equity, Equity Ratio, Gearing Ratio, Interest Coverage, Net Debt/EBITDA (leverage); Gross Margin, Net Margin, EBITDA Margin, ROA, ROE (profitability); DSO, DPO, Cash Conversion Cycle, Asset Turnover, Revenue/Employee (efficiency).
UK benchmarks vary significantly by sector. For service companies: current ratio 1.0–1.4 is normal (not a warning sign), net margins 10–25% are healthy. For distribution/wholesale: current ratio 1.2–1.8, margins 3–8%. FinancialInsight compares each ratio against ONS Annual Business Survey benchmarks for the specific SIC code, giving you sector-appropriate context.
The Altman Z'-Score is a formula combining five financial ratios to predict bankruptcy risk. For UK private companies: scores above 2.9 are in the safe zone, 1.23–2.9 is the grey zone requiring monitoring, and below 1.23 is the distress zone with elevated default probability. FinancialInsight computes this automatically and contextualises it for UK micro-entities and SMEs.
Yes. Many UK SMEs and micro-entities file balance-sheet-only accounts. FinancialInsight's scoring adapts — when P&L data is unavailable it relies on balance sheet ratios (equity ratio, gearing, working capital), filing compliance, company age, Gazette signals, and director checks to produce a meaningful health assessment.
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