Find Financial Benchmarks

Published: June 10, 2020
Updated: June 19, 2020

One thing you will need to do in the financials section of your business plan is discuss how you will price your products and/or services, and how this compares to your competitors. You will need to develop a financial plan that includes your projected revenues and net income. The following resources will help you find financial information on competitors in your industry.

Free Tools For Finding Financial Info

EDGAR
Filings with the US Securities & Exchange Commission by companies listed on US exchanges. 10-K Forms include detailed information on company history, structure, financial statements, and other relevant data.

SEDAR
A collection of corporate filings that are required by securities regulators, from companies operating in Canada. This website is an excellent source for information about a company's plans, competitive environment, markets, products, and assets. SEDAR is the Canadian equivalent of EDGAR.

Finding Benchmarks & Ratios

Ratios are tools that allow you to plan and assess your company's progress over time, and to compare it to other companies in the same industry. There are diferent kinds of ratios, including operating ratios, financial ratios, performance indicators, and benchmarks.

Financial Performance Data (formerly SME Benchmarking Tool)
Tool for benchmarking your financial reports with others in your sector. Website also includes a collection of financial data and annual reports of various Canadian companies. For instructions on using the Financial Performance Data click here. To create a report using Financial Performance data click here.

TIP: Remember to search using your NAICS code (eg. 541410)

Financial Performance Indicators for Canadian Business
Offers current financial ratios by industry, based on data provided by Statistics Canada. The indicators are designed to serve as financial performance benchmarks against which individual firms and industries can be compared. Affiliates of UBC, UNBC, UVic and SFU have access through Abacus Dataverse. If you are visiting, please contact your local library about access.

 

Proprietary Tools For Finding Financial Info

UBC Company Research Guide
This research guide was created by UBC business librarians. Follow this link to go directly to the section of the guide that features various UBC Library electronic resources that are recommended for searching for financial information on competitors, such as credit rankings, stock prices and investment analyst reports. You can explore the navigation on the right-hand side to find more recommended research sources on the general topic of company research.

Media Coverage Can Reveal A Lot About Your Industry and Competitors

New articles can be great sources for understanding what your competitors are planning, what new products they are launching, and important information on how they structure their organization. A librarian can help you find relevant online news articles. Don't forget that you can also use media sources to research business and industry trends.

TIP: It is easy to set up a Google Alert to track information about your industry or competitors. Here are some instructions.

Home Staging News Wire
A website that features all the latest news regarding the home staging and related industries.

CanadaNewsWire
A free news database that is searchable by company name, keyword, or industry sector.

NewsLink
Links to local and international news source websites. Provides access to both current and archived news stories, which allows you to track trends over time.

YAHOO! Finance Canada
Excellent source for current Canadian business news. The website also features an extensive business news archive section.

Library Resources

Access to the following sources may be available through your local public or academic library. For information on how to obtain a library card, and for additional information on using libraries in BC, please visit our Getting Access to Library Resources page.

Mergent Online
Provides access to detailed information on US and international companies. Data can be compared and exported into software applications such as Excel. Affiliates of UBC can learn more and get access.

Canadian Newsstream

How to access: If you are a UBC student, staff, faculty or in-person library visitor you can access this resource. Otherwise, contact your local library to see if they provide access.

Canadian Newsstream

Provides full-text access to many Canadian national and regional newspapers. Content is updated daily, following a two-day embargo period. Some content dates back to 1985. You can easily set up an article alert service and receive email updates on your search results. All you need to do is complete your search and click on the Save search/alert link near the top of your results. Provide your email address and then set the notification frequency and you're good to go! Try searching your industry, track information on your competitors or any other topic of your choice.

Tools For Calculating Your Own Financials