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Accounting · Definition

Quick Ratio

A liquidity test of whether assets excluding stock cover current liabilities.

The quick ratio compares cash, receivables and short-term investments against current liabilities, deliberately excluding inventory on the grounds that stock cannot be turned into cash quickly or at full value.

For inventory-heavy businesses it is a far harsher measure than the current ratio, which is exactly why lenders look at it. A comfortable current ratio beside a weak quick ratio says the balance sheet is sitting in the warehouse.

How it is calculated

Quick ratio = (Current assets − Inventory) ÷ Current liabilities

Also called the acid-test ratio; 1.0 is the conventional floor.

Also called

  • acid-test ratio

Quick Ratio is not just a definition here

Accounting runs on this vocabulary every day in AWRA OpsHub — 51 of our 257 glossary terms describe things the platform actually does.