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Worked-example setupScope and assumptions
- The Aster packet passes the comparison contract and continuity checks.
- Net sales and total assets are positive declared common-size bases.
- Period
- Three consecutive 365-day years ended December 31
- Units
- Whole USD; decimal common-size shares and percentage changes; base-100 index
- Rounding
- Full precision internally; displayed percentages and indexes to two decimals
Preserve scale and rate
| Net sales comparison | Dollar change | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|
| Year 2 versus Year 1 | $45,000 | 15.00% |
| Year 3 versus Year 2 | $35,000 | 10.14% |
Sales continue to rise, but the added amount and growth rate both slow in Year
3. Relative to Year 1, the Year 3 base-100 index is
$380,000 ÷ $300,000 × 100 = 126.67. That means sales are 26.67% above Year 1,
not that they grew 126.67%.
Add statement composition
For Year 3, cost of goods sold is $235,000 ÷ $380,000 = 61.84% of net sales.
Net income is 6.58% of net sales. On the ending balance sheet, receivables are
$55,000 ÷ $285,000 = 19.30% of total assets and Inventory is 28.07%.
The original amounts stay beside the percentages. A $55,000 receivable balance has different scale and materiality from a $5.5 million balance even if both are 19.30% of assets.
The three-year packet stipulates consistent policies and presentation within Aster. That supports period-to-period reading but does not make Aster automatically comparable with Birchline or another entity. A justified policy, estimate, error, or presentation change must be identified and handled under its applicable requirements rather than suppressed to preserve a smooth series.
Form the bounded observation
Aster grows sales, but its net-income share falls and its receivable and Inventory shares rise by Year 3. Those are compositional and directional facts. They do not establish pricing pressure, cost inflation, collection weakness, overstock, or demand. The next analysis adds exact operating numerators, averages, turnover, and days; operational cause still requires separate evidence.
Zero-base control
If a prior line were zero, the engine would retain the dollar change and omit ordinary percentage change and a fixed-base index for that zero base. It would not coerce the result to 100%.
Verified calculation · multi period statement analysis
The curriculum loader recomputed this example before it entered the site build. Expand any structured input to inspect the stated facts.
- common size balance base
- total assets
- common size income base
- net sales
- days basis
- actual-period-days
- entities
- 1 field
Inspect data
{
"aster": {
"period_order": [
"year_1",
"year_2",
"year_3"
],
"periods": {
"year_1": {
"days_in_period": 365,
"ending": {
"accounts_payable": 28000,
"accounts_receivable": 33000,
"cash": 22000,
"inventory": 54000,
"noncurrent_assets": 100000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 65000,
"other_current_assets": 11000,
"other_current_liabilities": 16000,
"total_equity": 111000
},
"flow": {
"cost_of_goods_sold": 180000,
"credit_purchases": 150000,
"merchandise_purchases": 184000,
"net_credit_sales": 240000,
"net_income": 28000,
"net_sales": 300000,
"operating_expenses": 80000
},
"opening": {
"accounts_payable": 25000,
"accounts_receivable": 30000,
"cash": 20000,
"inventory": 50000,
"noncurrent_assets": 90000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 60000,
"other_current_assets": 10000,
"other_current_liabilities": 15000,
"total_equity": 100000
}
},
"year_2": {
"days_in_period": 365,
"ending": {
"accounts_payable": 35000,
"accounts_receivable": 42000,
"cash": 24000,
"inventory": 66000,
"noncurrent_assets": 106000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 70000,
"other_current_assets": 12000,
"other_current_liabilities": 18000,
"total_equity": 127000
},
"flow": {
"cost_of_goods_sold": 210000,
"credit_purchases": 185000,
"merchandise_purchases": 222000,
"net_credit_sales": 285000,
"net_income": 27000,
"net_sales": 345000,
"operating_expenses": 95000
},
"opening": {
"accounts_payable": 28000,
"accounts_receivable": 33000,
"cash": 22000,
"inventory": 54000,
"noncurrent_assets": 100000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 65000,
"other_current_assets": 11000,
"other_current_liabilities": 16000,
"total_equity": 111000
}
},
"year_3": {
"days_in_period": 365,
"ending": {
"accounts_payable": 44000,
"accounts_receivable": 55000,
"cash": 25000,
"inventory": 80000,
"noncurrent_assets": 111000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 75000,
"other_current_assets": 14000,
"other_current_liabilities": 20000,
"total_equity": 146000
},
"flow": {
"cost_of_goods_sold": 235000,
"credit_purchases": 210000,
"merchandise_purchases": 249000,
"net_credit_sales": 325000,
"net_income": 25000,
"net_sales": 380000,
"operating_expenses": 110000
},
"opening": {
"accounts_payable": 35000,
"accounts_receivable": 42000,
"cash": 24000,
"inventory": 66000,
"noncurrent_assets": 106000,
"noncurrent_liabilities": 70000,
"other_current_assets": 12000,
"other_current_liabilities": 18000,
"total_equity": 127000
}
}
}
}
}- horizontal comparison
- immediately-preceding-period
- trend base
- first-period
- zero base percentage policy
- omit
Recomputed result
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| 2 horizontal net sales dollar change | 45,000 |
| 2 horizontal net sales percent change | 0.15 |
| 3 balance common size accounts receivable | 0.193 |
| 3 balance common size inventory | 0.2807 |
| 3 horizontal net sales dollar change | 35,000 |
| 3 horizontal net sales percent change | 0.1014 |
| 3 income common size cost of goods sold | 0.6184 |
| 3 income common size net income | 0.0658 |
| 3 trend net sales index | 126.6667 |