The Southwest Environmental Finance Center has created a web-based tool to help water and wastewater utilities evaluate the financial health of their systems. We call this tool WUFA (Water Utility Financial Analysis). It employs an easy-to-use format in which utility managers (or anyone, for that matter) can enter financial data, including revenues, expenses, and assets and liabilities and see five key financial health indicators. The tool can be used for utilities to understand their current financial health, or to predict the results of future activities. The tool has several important features that make it informative, easy to use and flexible.
Definitions and Explanations
The tool includes definitions of most financial components (e.g. revenue, assets, liabilities, depreciation, etc.) and explanations of key financial ratios that are commonly used as indicators of financial health (current ratio, operating ratio, debt service coverage ratio, debt ratio and sales ratio). These ratios are calculated automatically when financial information is entered into the various tabs available.
Easy to Use
No registration or identifying information is required, and the financial data is not saved outside the browser where the tool is used. The data is saved in the browser (via cookies) and can only be accessed on the same machine in the same browser. Or the user can choose not to save the data in the browser when they leave the site.
Flexible
A user can return as many times as they want to modify information or start over with another set of information. The user can also play “what if” to see the effect of changes in revenues, expenses, or liabilities. The tool is free and available for anyone to use on our website here.
Contact us at: swefc@unm.edu
Written by: Sandra Blanton
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