The Boyd Group: Understanding the balance sheet

For the past few weeks we have been talking about The Boyd Group, one of the largest collision and glass repair business in the world. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, Boyd operates under three main trademarks; Boyd Auto Body and Glass in Canada, Gerber Collision and Glass in the U.S. and Gerber National Glass Services, a network of over 3,000 independently owned glass repair and replacement businesses across the U.S.  Boyd is the largest pure-play collision repair business in the world by number of locations, and one of the largest in terms of sales.

This week we are going to look at Boyd’s fiscal year 2014 Balance Sheet, or more formally the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. The balance sheet, unfortunately, is one of the more overlooked financial statements in the industry. For many, it is a statement relegated to year-end tax planning and rarely, if ever, analyzed throughout the year. But understanding and managing a balance sheet is one of the core tenets of corporate finance.

Regardless if your goal is to grow, sell, or stand pat, balance sheet management is critical to your business. For the company looking to sell, a well-managed and efficient balance sheet will demonstrate the strength and success of your business in a financial way, increasing the value you bring to a potential buyer and thus increasing the value of your business. If you are looking to grow, your bank and your investors will demand, often contractually, that you manage you balance sheet to very specific metrics. Even if you plan to stand pat, your balance sheet provides key insight into the health and operations of your business in a way that the cash flow statement and an income statement never can.

Read more here.