Cash Return on Assets (CRoA)
Calculate the cash return on assets (Cash ROA), a profitability ratio that measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate operating cash flow.
Unlike the return on assets, which uses accrual-based net income, the cash return on assets uses operating cash flow, making it less sensitive to non-cash accounting choices (e.g. depreciation method, revenue recognition timing, working capital accruals). Comparing cash ROA to ROA is a useful earnings-quality cross-check: a cash ROA that persistently trails ROA can indicate that reported profits are not being converted into cash.
The formula is as follows:
\[\text{Cash Return on Assets} = \text{Cash Flow from Operations} / \text{Average Total Assets}\]Also known as: cash ROA.
Cash Return on Assets (CRoA) in Python or via the MCP
Install the Finance Toolkit with:
pip install financetoolkit -U
Then call get_cash_return_on_assets as shown below.
from financetoolkit import Toolkit
toolkit = Toolkit(
["UPS", "FDX"],
api_key="FINANCIAL_MODELING_PREP_KEY",
start_date="2021-01-01",
end_date="2025-12-31",
)
toolkit.ratios.get_cash_return_on_assets()
Or, after setting up the Finance Toolkit MCP, ask:
How much operating cash flow did UPS and FedEx generate per dollar of assets from 2021 to 2025?
Which returns:
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDX | 0.1165 | 0.1018 | 0.0955 | 0.0806 | 0.0957 |
| UPS | 0.2277 | 0.2007 | 0.1442 | 0.1436 | 0.118 |
Parameters
get_cash_return_on_assets accepts the following parameters.
| Parameter | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
rounding | int | None | The number of decimals to round the results to. Defaults to None, which uses the rounding of the Toolkit (4 unless set otherwise). | 2 |
growth | bool | Whether to calculate the growth of the ratios. Defaults to False. | True |
lag | int | list[int] | The lag to use for the growth calculation. Defaults to 1. | 4 |
compound | bool | Whether the growth is the compound annual growth rate over the lag (e.g. lag=5 for the five-year CAGR) instead of the total change. Defaults to False. | False |
standardize | bool | Whether to standardize (Z-Score) the result. When combined with growth=True, standardizes the growth values instead of the raw values. Defaults to False. | True |
trailing | int | The number of periods to sum flows (income and cash flow statement items) over, with balance sheet items averaged over the same number of period ends. E.g. 4 with quarterly data gives the trailing twelve months (TTM) and 3 with annual data a three-year cumulative figure. Defaults to None, which uses single-period flows (per quarter and not annualized with quarterly data). | 4 |