Nuevos métodos estadísticos composicionales para el análisis de ratios contables

The use of standard accounting ratios on single firms is a powerful tool for diagnostics of their financial health. However, statistical analyses of accounting ratios of a sample of firms lead to a series of problems that can invalidate the results obtained. The present article justifies the use of a new methodology based on compositional data to analyse the financial statements of an industry, improving analyses with conventional ratios since the new methodology enables statistical techniques to be applied without encountering skewness and outliers, and without the results depending on the arbitrary choice as to which of the accounting figures is the numerator and which is the denominator. A financial ratio analysis in the beer manufacturing industry is provided, which shows that different conclusions are obtained with standard accounting ratios and compositional accounting ratios.