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Instrument · nine criteria, nothing stored

Piotroski F-Score worksheet: score the nine criteria one at a time

Work through the nine tests in order, answering yes or no from two consecutive annual filings. The total appears as you go, along with which group each point came from — because the useful output of a composite score is the list of failures, not the number.

Written under the standing byline R. Devlin screening and filings

F-Score: one point per test passed

0123456789
Piotroski's own bands: 8–9 strong, 0–2 weak, and a wide middle the study found inconclusive. Most companies score in that middle, which is why the list of failed tests is the useful output and the total on its own is not.
  • ProfitabilityNet income is positive
  • ProfitabilityOperating cash flow is positive
  • ProfitabilityReturn on assets improved on last year
  • ProfitabilityOperating cash flow exceeds net income
  • LeverageLong-term debt to assets fell
  • LiquidityCurrent ratio improved
  • DilutionShare count did not increase
  • EfficiencyGross margin improved
  • EfficiencyAsset turnover improved
F-Score
0out of 9
Band
WeakPiotroski's own bands
Failed tests
9the lines worth reading

Without JavaScript the nine criteria are still listed above; score them on paper and add the points. The bands are 8–9 strong, 3–7 inconclusive, 0–2 weak.

Nothing is stored or transmitted. The nine criteria are those published by Joseph Piotroski in 2000; the scoring bands quoted below are his, from that study.

A blank nine-row tally sheet clipped to a dark board with a brass clip, a steel pencil laid across it
A blank tally sheet and a pencil. One mark per test, taken in a fixed order, which is what keeps the failures visible after the total has been written at the bottom.

How the scoring works

Each criterion awards one point or none, and the points are added with no weighting. Four cover profitability, three cover leverage, liquidity and dilution, and two cover operating efficiency. Seven of the nine are comparisons against the company's own prior year, which is why two filings are needed and why no peer group or industry average is involved anywhere.

Piotroski treated 8 and 9 as the strong band and 0 to 2 as weak, leaving the middle inconclusive. Those bands come from the original study and describe the signal it measured; they are not a general rating scale. The full explanation works through a complete example and covers where the criteria stop applying.

Where the inputs come from

Net income, gross margin and sales come from the income statement. Operating cash flow comes from the cash flow statement, and the accruals test compares it directly with net income. Total assets, long-term debt, current assets and current liabilities come from the balance sheet, and the share count is on the cover of the filing as well as in the equity note. Seven of the nine tests need the same figures from the prior year, which is why two filings are the minimum.

If a line is difficult to locate, that is usually a presentation difference rather than an absence: companies label the same items differently and reorder them freely. The statements page covers which figures connect to which, and the connections are the fastest way to confirm you have found the right line rather than a similarly named one.

Read the failures, not the total

A score of 4 is far less informative than knowing which four points were earned. Failing the accruals test, when operating cash flow is below net income, points at one part of the filing; failing the dilution test points at another entirely. The worksheet keeps the failed count visible for that reason: the number is the summary, and the list is the finding. The same argument applies to every composite: the Z-Score calculator shows each weighted term for it, and the screening section covers what a filter removes before any score is reached.

FAQ

Using the worksheet

What do I need to fill this in?

Two consecutive annual filings for the same company. Seven of the nine criteria are year-on-year comparisons, so a single year cannot produce a score. Everything needed is on the three main statements plus the share count.

Is a score of 9 a buy signal?

No. The score says the fundamentals improved on nine specific measures, and says nothing about price. In the original study the criteria were applied inside a universe already filtered for low price-to-book, so the score was a second stage rather than the whole test.

Why is the answer only yes or no?

Because the criteria were designed to be blunt on purpose. A binary test survives being applied by different people to thousands of filings; a graded one invites judgment and stops being reproducible. That robustness is the point of the framework.

Does this store what I enter?

No. The scoring happens in the page, nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved. Reloading clears it.