LCR Calculator (Liquidity Coverage Ratio)

This LCR calculator measures short-term liquidity coverage using the same arithmetic performed by the page’s form: cash and cash equivalents plus marketable securities, divided by expected 30-day cash outflows, expressed as a percentage. The result tells you whether the liquid asset pool you entered is enough to cover the stress outflow assumption you entered. It also reports the dollar surplus above, or shortfall below, a 100% coverage level.

The regulatory Liquidity Coverage Ratio was introduced through Basel III to make large banks hold a stock of high-quality liquid assets that can survive a 30-day stress period. In the formal standard, the numerator is high-quality liquid assets and the denominator is total net cash outflows over the next 30 calendar days. This calculator is deliberately narrower: it has inputs for cash and equivalents, marketable securities, and expected 30-day cash outflows. It does not apply official HQLA eligibility tests, haircuts, inflow caps, runoff rates, or jurisdiction-specific reporting rules. Use it as an educational calculator and scenario screen before moving to a supervisory template.

How to use the calculator

Enter cash and cash equivalents that can be used almost immediately. Include operating cash, reserve balances, or other instruments that you are comfortable treating as cash in the scenario. Enter marketable securities that you expect to convert to cash quickly. The calculator adds that amount at the value you type, so do not include securities that would require a haircut unless you have already reduced the input.

Next, enter expected 30-day cash outflows. The field should represent the stressed cash drain you want the liquid asset pool to cover. For a bank-style analysis, that denominator should be your net outflow estimate after applying the rules appropriate to your institution. For a corporate treasury stress test, it might be payroll, supplier payments, debt maturities, collateral calls, lease payments, and other cash uses expected over a severe month. The denominator must be greater than zero.

Formula used here

The calculator first defines highly liquid assets as the two asset fields added together:

$\text{highly liquid assets} = \text{cash and equivalents} + \text{marketable securities}$

It then divides that liquid asset total by expected 30-day cash outflows and converts the result to a percentage:

$\text{LCR} = \frac{\text{highly liquid assets}}{\text{expected 30-day cash outflows}} \times 100\%$

The 100% asset need shown in the result is simply the entered outflow amount:

$\text{100\% asset need} = \text{expected 30-day cash outflows}$

The surplus or shortfall is highly liquid assets minus that asset need. A positive number means the entered liquid assets exceed the outflow assumption. A negative number means additional liquid assets would be needed to reach 100% under the simplified calculation.

Worked example

Suppose the form inputs are the defaults: $1,000,000 of cash and cash equivalents, $750,000 of marketable securities, and $1,500,000 of expected 30-day cash outflows. The highly liquid asset pool is:

$\text{highly liquid assets} = \$1{,}000{,}000 + \$750{,}000 = \$1{,}750{,}000$

The liquidity coverage ratio is:

$\text{LCR} = \frac{\$1{,}750{,}000}{\$1{,}500{,}000} \times 100\% = 116.67\%$

The 100% asset need equals the outflow amount, or $1,500,000. The surplus is $1,750,000 - $1,500,000 = $250,000. The calculator therefore labels the ratio as liquidity coverage, shows highly liquid assets of $1,750,000, expected 30-day outflows of $1,500,000, a 100% LCR asset need of $1,500,000, and a $250,000 surplus above 100%.

If the same liquid assets were tested against $2,000,000 of outflows, the ratio would fall to 87.50% and the shortfall to 100% would be $250,000. The result changes because the denominator is the stress cash need, not normal monthly spending.

Interpretation and benchmarks

For Basel III purposes, 100% is the key reference point: a bank should hold enough high-quality liquid assets to meet total net cash outflows over a 30-day stress scenario. In this calculator, a result of 100% means the entered liquid assets exactly equal the entered 30-day outflow assumption. A result of 120% means the liquid asset pool is 20% larger than the modeled drain. A result of 75% means the pool covers three quarters of the outflow and leaves a quarter uncovered.

The ratio is most useful when paired with scenario discipline. A comfortable LCR against a mild outflow assumption may be less informative than a lower LCR against a severe but plausible scenario. Analysts often run a base case, a stressed customer-withdrawal case, a market-disruption case, and a combined stress case. To understand the longer-term funding side, compare this result with the NSFR calculator. To evaluate immediate cash on the balance sheet, use the cash ratio calculator. For broader short-term asset coverage, check the quick ratio calculator and current ratio calculator.

Limitations

The biggest limitation is classification. Official LCR reporting is not a simple sum of any liquid-looking asset. Basel and U.S. rules distinguish asset quality, market liquidity, central-bank eligibility, operational requirements, monetization constraints, and caps on certain categories. This calculator does not make those judgments. It also does not compute inflows separately, so if you need the Basel denominator, calculate net cash outflows first and enter that figure as expected 30-day cash outflows.

The ratio also says little about profitability, solvency, capital adequacy, or funding maturity. A bank can have a high LCR because it holds a large low-yield liquid portfolio, while still facing earnings pressure. A company can show strong 30-day coverage but still have debt maturities just outside the window. Treat LCR as a short-term survival metric, then review capital, leverage, asset quality, and structural funding before drawing a credit conclusion.

Sources

Source version: Basel III LCR material and issuer pages current when accessed July 9, 2026; jurisdiction-specific implementation is not inferred.

• Bank for International Settlements, Basel III: The Liquidity Coverage Ratio and liquidity risk monitoring tools — Basel Committee standard for the LCR and the 30-day stress horizon.
• Federal Reserve, Liquidity Coverage Ratio FAQs — U.S. supervisory questions and answers on LCR method.