Key figure reports use values from financial statement items just like financial statement analysis reports do.

They are different from financial statement analyses in that:

• In contrast to financial statement analyses, key figure reports only draw on those financial statement items that are needed for calculating certain key figures, rather than the entire financial statement version. You can, for example, keep track of balance sheet balances or net working capital (such as current assets minus current liabilities) as individual key figures. Profits, such as net income for the year, and cash flows are also useful key figures. Other key figures from the balance sheet are the equity ratio (stockholders’ equity to total capital), the debt-equity ratio (total liabilities to stockholders’ equity), and the capitalization ratio (fixed assets to total assets).
• In addition to the balance sheet items necessary for calculating the key figures, you can use constants in the reports of key figures. Constants are values that are not available in the financial statement (such as number of employees, sales area in square meters). To calculate ratios such as sales per employee, you must first define constants and certain values for these constants in the General Ledger Accounting Implementation Guide. For more information on this topic, refer to the documentation for the "Maintain and Valuate Constants" activity in the General Ledger Accounting Implementation Guide.

The standard system contains the following types of key figure reports:

• Reports with key figures that are calculated solely on the basis of values from the financial statement (without constants)
• Reports with key figures that are calculated on the basis of both values from the financial statement and from constants