Source registry

Every claim, every citation

Industry-band data traces back to the Damodaran NYU Stern Working Capital dataset. Formula traces back to Corporate Finance Institute plus three named textbooks.

Primary dataset

Working Capital Requirements by Industry Sector (US)

Publisher: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern School of Business

Dataset page: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datacurrent.html
Direct download: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pc/datasets/wcdata.xls
Full update: January 2026
Verified: 2026-06-17 low risk

Damodaran does not publish a direct quick ratio file. Industry quick ratio expectations on this site are inferred from the working capital structure (high-inventory industries score lower acid-test ratios than low-inventory industries) and triangulated with academic textbook benchmarks listed below. Per-industry quick ratio values without that triangulation are NOT published as fact on this site. Damodaran publishes month-level update precision; no day-level update stamp is claimed.

Formula and band sources

, Quick Ratio Definition

low risk

Corporate Finance Institute

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/quick-ratio-definition/

Quick Ratio = (Cash and Equivalents + Marketable Securities + Accounts Receivable) / Current Liabilities
Quick Ratio = (Current Assets - Inventory - Prepaid Expenses) / Current Liabilities

Verified on 2026-06-17

K. R. Subramanyam, Financial Statement Analysis, 11th Edition

low risk

McGraw-Hill Education (2014) , ISBN 978-0078110962 , Chapter 10: Credit Analysis, pp. 499-505

Quick ratio (acid-test ratio) defined as quick assets divided by current liabilities. A ratio of 1.0 has historically been considered the minimum acceptable level for many industries, though acceptable levels vary by industry sector and operating cycle.

Verified on 2026-06-17

Gerald I. White, Ashwinpaul C. Sondhi, Dov Fried, The Analysis and Use of Financial Statements, 3rd Edition

low risk

John Wiley and Sons (2003) , ISBN 978-0471375944 , Chapter 4: Analysis of Cash Flows, pp. 111-118

Acid-test ratio focuses on near-cash assets and is preferred over current ratio when inventory is slow-moving or hard to value. Quick assets typically exclude inventory and prepaid expenses.

Verified on 2026-06-17

Stephen H. Penman, Financial Statement Analysis and Security Valuation, 5th Edition

low risk

McGraw-Hill Education (2013) , ISBN 978-0078025310 , Chapter 19: The Analysis of Profitability, pp. 718-720

Liquidity ratios should be read alongside operating cycle and cash conversion cycle, not in isolation. A grocery retailer with negative working capital can operate safely with a quick ratio below 0.5; a heavy-equipment manufacturer with long receivable cycles may need 1.5 or more.

Verified on 2026-06-17

, Basel III: The Liquidity Coverage Ratio and liquidity risk monitoring tools

low risk

Bank for International Settlements, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2013)

https://www.bis.org/bcbs/basel3.htm

Bank liquidity is regulated under the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR, minimum 100%) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR, minimum 100%). These replace the quick ratio for banking analysis. Basel III also specifies the CET1 capital ratio at minimum 4.5% of risk-weighted assets.

Verified on 2026-06-17

Anti-citations

This site does not cite the following as primary sources, because they do not meet the verification bar:

"Based on observation" or similar undated, unattributed claims.
SEC filings without page reference (filings can be cited, but a page or note number is required).
Crowdsourced consensus figures (e.g. Investopedia "rule of thumb") without a primary-source backstop.
AI-generated content from any model without a human-verified source.