CMA data and financial analysis

What CMA data is

CMA data is the set of past, current and projected financial statements a bank asks for before it sanctions or renews a working capital limit such as cash credit or an overdraft. The name comes from the Reserve Bank of India's old Credit Monitoring Arrangement. RBI no longer prescribes a format, but almost every bank still asks for CMA data, because it shows in one place how the business has performed, what it expects next, and how much bank finance its current assets can support.

A typical CMA covers five years: two audited years, the current year (estimated) and two projected years. The credit officer reads it to answer three questions: is the business profitable and growing sensibly, is it sound on borrowed money, and how much working capital limit does it need?

How to use this tool

1. Company and years. Name the columns (FY'25, FY'26…) and mark each year as audited, provisional, estimated or projected.
2. Profit and loss. Enter sales, other income, purchases, direct and indirect expenses, opening and closing stock and tax. Gross profit, EBITDA, EBIT, PBT, PAT and cash accruals are worked out as you type.
3. Balance sheet. Enter capital, borrowings, current liabilities and assets. Closing stock comes across from the P&L, and the balance sheet difference row must show zero in every year.
4. Analysis. See the ratios, holding days, MPBF, break-even and cover ratios, with charts, the credit checks and the full analysis tables. Download the Excel file with your figures filled in, or save the analysis as a PDF.

The figures are saved in your browser only, so you can close the page and carry on later on the same device. Nothing you enter is sent to this website.

The formulas behind the analysis

The online tool uses the same formulas as the Excel format you can download, so the results match cell for cell.

• EBITDA = PBT + finance cost (bank, quasi-equity, capital and other interest) + exceptional expenses − non-operating income + all depreciation + other non-cash expenses
• Net operating cash accruals = PAT + depreciation + non-cash and exceptional expenses − non-operating income
• Adjusted tangible net worth (ATNW) = capital and reserves + quasi equity − loans and advances to family, friends and associate firms − sticky or non-recoverable assets
• Total outside liabilities (TOL) = long-term bank debt + other debt + other long-term liabilities + all current liabilities
• DSCR = EBITDA ÷ (finance cost + the year's loan repayment, taken as last year's short-term portion of long-term debt)
• Interest cover (ISCR) = EBIT ÷ finance cost
• Holding days: stock ÷ cost of goods sold × 365; debtors (including those over six months) ÷ sales × 365; creditors ÷ purchases × 365
• Cash break-even sales = fixed costs, including the year's loan repayment ÷ contribution margin
• MPBF: turnover method at 20% of sales; drawing power method at 75% of (debtors + stock + advances to suppliers − creditors − customer advances); operating cycle method; Tandon Method I at 75% of the working capital gap; and Tandon Method II, which needs net working capital of at least 25% of current assets

The benchmarks banks look at

These are common lending norms, not rules. Each bank applies its own policy, and trading, manufacturing and service businesses are read differently.

What the credit checks look for

The analysis page flags the points a credit officer usually raises: a balance sheet that does not tally, opening stock that does not match last year's closing stock, a current ratio below 1.33, short net working capital under Tandon Method II, high leverage, thin debt cover, projected growth or margins well above the audited trend, a sudden fall in debtor or stock days, bank borrowings above the drawing power method, and contingent liabilities larger than net worth. Fix or explain each one before the CMA goes to the bank.

Frequently asked questions

Is the CMA format here accepted by banks? Banks accept CMA data in any clear format that covers the past, current and projected years with the operating statement, balance sheet, ratios and MPBF. Some banks have their own templates; the figures from this tool fit into those directly.

Which figures go in the estimated year? The current financial year, built from the actual figures to date and a realistic estimate for the remaining months. Banks compare it closely with the provisional figures when they arrive, so keep it conservative.

Why does DSCR not show for the first year? DSCR uses the repayment falling due in the year, which is taken from the previous year's balance sheet (the short-term portion of long-term debt). The first column has no previous year, so DSCR starts from the second year.

Can I use the Excel file on my phone? Yes. The download opens in Excel, Google Sheets and most phone spreadsheet apps. The input cells are blue and the formulas are locked so they cannot be overwritten by mistake.