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Barrett Business Services Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Barrett Business Services Inc had return on equity of 23.6%, an operating margin of 5.0%, debt equal to 0.0% of equity and a current ratio of 1.29. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMJun 2026
Gross margin11.4%16.4%13.8%16.6%15.4%5.2%17.5%17.3%17.2%19.8%22.1%20.8%21.4%22.3%22.7%22.1%21.0%20.0%
Operating margin−3.5%2.9%1.2%4.7%3.9%−6.8%4.9%3.4%3.3%3.9%5.4%4.1%4.6%5.6%5.7%5.2%5.0%4.1%
Net margin−1.7%2.7%4.5%3.3%2.9%−4.0%3.4%2.2%2.7%4.0%5.1%3.8%4.0%4.5%4.7%4.6%4.4%2.8%
Free-cash-flow margin0.9%6.0%9.6%10.4%12.3%10.2%13.2%8.7%11.9%6.8%7.0%−4.1%−2.3%1.1%5.2%−0.4%3.8%1.2%
Return on equity−4.2%7.7%14.5%17.5%27.5%−52.1%58.4%30.3%31.8%36.6%33.2%18.2%18.7%24.5%26.9%25.2%23.6%15.8%
Return on assets—3.9%7.0%5.8%5.8%−6.7%5.4%3.5%4.0%5.3%6.0%4.1%5.0%6.6%7.2%7.2%7.1%4.7%
Asset turnover—1.451.531.781.981.661.561.561.461.311.171.081.261.471.521.561.631.70
Current ratio—1.761.631.251.440.810.960.860.960.981.241.401.291.361.301.321.291.14
Debt to equity0.0%0.0%0.0%20.6%8.1%137.3%0.0%6.3%4.7%3.3%2.2%1.8%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)——157.4x—88.3xn/m18.5x35.9x95.7x35.2x28.2x29.1x118.1x—————
Effective tax rate—25.9%5.5%32.5%26.5%—27.5%26.5%26.8%15.0%21.0%20.7%24.8%27.6%26.6%25.2%23.7%42.0%
SG&A as % of revenue14.2%13.0%12.1%11.5%11.1%11.6%12.2%13.5%13.4%15.5%16.3%16.1%16.3%16.1%16.3%16.2%15.4%15.2%
Capital spending as % of revenue0.4%0.6%0.4%0.9%0.8%0.7%0.4%0.8%0.4%0.6%1.1%1.0%0.7%1.5%1.1%1.2%1.5%1.7%
Free cash flow ÷ net income—222.2%210.3%319.4%421.7%—383.0%389.4%433.7%168.4%137.4%−108.2%−58.5%25.0%109.5%−7.7%86.6%44.3%
Dividends ÷ net income—46.3%26.8%27.0%25.9%—24.8%33.8%28.9%19.3%17.0%27.0%23.8%18.0%16.0%15.3%15.0%22.8%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow297.0%41.7%28.6%69.1%6.1%14.0%6.5%8.7%6.7%11.5%12.4%——471.8%76.3%—106.3%439.0%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

3 of 3 checks passed · June 30, 2026
What it owns · $711m
Short-term assets $466mLonger-term assets $245m
What it owes, and who funded it · $711m
Short-term liabilities $408mLonger-term liabilities $100mShareholders' equity $204m
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $466m of assets due within a year against $408m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $466m short-term assets against $100m of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $52m against $167,000 of interest.

From Barrett Business Services Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

33 /100

Weak moat

How hard Barrett Business Services's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 3 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 3.8% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 9 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 21.8%, moving by 1.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 8 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 5.1%; its worst year was 3.0%.

  • Cash conversion 9 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 7 of 10 years, at a median 2.9% of revenue.

  • Discipline 20 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 16.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (48 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from Barrett Business Services Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Barrett Business Services Inc.