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Paychex key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, Paychex had return on equity of 44.8%, an operating margin of 38.6%, debt equal to 123.2% of equity and a current ratio of 1.26. 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 year2010May 20102011May 20112012May 20122013May 20132014May 20142015May 20152016May 20162017May 20172018May 20182019May 20192020May 20202021May 20212022May 20222023May 20232024May 20242025May 20252026May 2026LTMAug 2026
Gross margin————————69.9%68.8%68.3%68.7%70.6%71.0%72.0%72.4%74.3%74.4%
Operating margin36.2%37.7%38.3%38.9%39.0%38.5%38.8%39.8%38.2%36.3%36.1%36.0%39.9%40.6%41.2%39.6%38.6%39.2%
Net margin23.8%24.7%24.6%24.5%24.9%24.6%25.6%26.2%29.4%27.4%27.2%27.1%30.2%31.1%32.0%29.7%27.0%27.4%
Free-cash-flow margin27.5%29.5%27.7%24.8%31.6%28.9%31.2%27.5%33.2%30.4%32.5%28.1%31.6%31.2%32.9%30.7%35.7%30.5%
Return on equity34.0%35.6%35.3%33.7%35.3%37.9%40.9%39.9%43.4%41.6%40.7%38.3%46.2%47.3%46.3%41.8%44.8%48.5%
Return on assets9.1%9.7%9.2%9.0%10.0%10.5%11.7%12.4%13.5%12.5%12.7%12.3%14.8%15.4%16.2%12.3%10.8%11.3%
Asset turnover0.380.390.380.370.400.430.460.470.460.450.470.460.490.500.500.410.400.41
Current ratio1.111.121.071.131.131.111.111.121.111.171.231.251.251.301.371.281.261.28
Debt to equity0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%30.5%28.8%27.3%26.1%23.1%21.5%121.1%123.2%123.0%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)—————————77.9x37.6x40.8x50.3x55.4x58.3x20.9x9.3x9.7x
Effective tax rate34.6%35.0%36.3%37.6%36.5%36.3%34.3%34.4%23.5%24.4%23.6%23.5%23.7%24.0%23.8%23.8%23.8%24.1%
SG&A as % of revenue31.1%31.0%31.7%32.2%31.9%32.0%32.1%31.1%31.6%32.4%32.2%32.7%30.7%30.4%30.8%32.7%35.7%35.2%
Capital spending as % of revenue3.1%4.8%4.0%4.2%3.3%3.8%3.3%3.0%4.6%3.3%3.1%2.9%2.9%2.9%3.1%3.4%3.6%3.6%
Free cash flow ÷ net income115.2%119.3%112.6%101.3%127.0%117.4%121.6%104.8%112.9%111.0%119.7%104.0%104.5%100.4%102.7%103.1%131.9%111.7%
Dividends ÷ net income94.0%87.1%84.0%83.8%81.4%81.8%80.1%80.2%74.4%79.9%81.0%82.8%71.8%75.5%77.8%87.4%90.3%90.0%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow81.6%73.0%74.6%82.7%95.4%92.7%77.6%95.7%78.7%77.0%80.8%93.2%78.6%75.2%85.5%90.9%94.8%102.9%

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

4 of 7 checks passed · August 31, 2026
What it owns · $15.7bn
Short-term assets $8.1bnLonger-term assets $7.6bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $15.7bn
Short-term liabilities $6.3bnLonger-term liabilities $5.6bnShareholders' equity $3.7bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $8.1bn of assets due within a year against $6.3bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $8.1bn short-term assets against $5.6bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $601m of cash against $4.6bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 123% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 24% to 123% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $2.3bn of operating cash flow against $4.6bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $2.6bn against $266m of interest.

From Paychex'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

82 /100

Strong moat

How hard Paychex'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 20 / 20

    Net income has been a median 12.8% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 20 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 71.3%, moving by 1.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 7 years.

  • Durability 20 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 38.8%; its worst year was 35.1%.

  • Cash conversion 20 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 30.4% of revenue.

  • Discipline 17 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 1.0% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.2% 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 (97 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

Head to head: NSP vs PAYXPAYX vs RHIPAYX vs TNET

More: Human Resource & Employment Services stocks compared, Industrials sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Paychex's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Paychex.