Working Capital Calculator
Measure your short-term financial health in seconds. Enter your current assets and current liabilities, then press Calculate to get working capital plus the current and quick ratios.
Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026
Current asset mix
Share of current assets by type- Cash$60,000 · 21%
- Receivables$85,000 · 30%
- Inventory$120,000 · 43%
- Other$15,000 · 5%
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How the working capital calculator works
Working capital is one of the quickest reads on a company's financial health. The tool adds up your current assets — cash, receivables, inventory and other short-term assets — then subtracts your current liabilities such as payables, short-term debt and accrued expenses. A positive result is the buffer left over to fund day-to-day operations.
Alongside the dollar figure, the calculator reports two liquidity ratios. The current ratio divides current assets by current liabilities, while the quick ratio does the same after removing inventory. The donut chart then breaks your current assets into their parts, since a balance heavy on slow-moving inventory is riskier than one rich in cash.
A worked example
Suppose a shop holds 60,000 dollars in cash, 85,000 in receivables, 120,000 in inventory and 15,000 in other assets, against 135,000 dollars of current liabilities. Current assets total 280,000, so working capital is 145,000 dollars and the current ratio is about 2.1, comfortably above one but not so high that cash looks idle.
Things to keep in mind
Working capital is a snapshot, so a single number can be misleading if your receivables are slow to collect or your inventory is hard to sell. Track the trend over several periods and compare it with peers in your industry; the U.S. Small Business Administration offers helpful cash-flow guidance. To dig into how fast cash moves through the business, try our cash conversion cycle calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is working capital?
Working capital is a business's short-term financial cushion, found by subtracting current liabilities from current assets. Current assets are things expected to turn into cash within a year, and current liabilities are bills due within a year, so the difference shows whether a company can cover its near-term obligations.
What is a good working capital ratio?
Analysts usually look at the current ratio, which is current assets divided by current liabilities. A ratio above one means assets exceed liabilities, and many businesses aim for somewhere between 1.5 and 3. Much higher can signal idle cash or excess inventory, while below one points to liquidity strain.
How is the quick ratio different?
The quick ratio strips inventory out of current assets before dividing by current liabilities, because inventory can be slow or hard to sell at full value. It is a stricter test of whether a company could pay its short-term bills using only its most liquid assets such as cash and receivables.
Can working capital be negative?
Yes. Negative working capital means current liabilities exceed current assets, which often signals cash-flow pressure. For some fast-turnover businesses that collect from customers before paying suppliers it can be normal, but for most companies a persistent negative balance is a warning sign worth investigating.
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