AccountingHub
A2

Return on assets

See how a retailer's income compares to the assets that produced it.

Net income

$20,000

Average total assets

$200,000

($180,000 + $220,000) ÷ 2

Return on assets

10.0%

A worked example for a generic retailer, not FastForward — FastForward is one month old and has no prior-year assets to average against.

divides net income by average total assets. It answers how much income a company squeezed out of what it owns, not just how much income it made.

Average assets, not the year-end figure, is the denominator. A company that bought a warehouse on the last day of the year should not get credit for a full year of income from it.