Forensic Analysis · Technology / Software · as of Aug 9, 2026
Paycom Software, Inc. (PAYC)
A forensic read on Paycom Software, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
A · High-quality compounder
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.7
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
21.9
P / E (ttm)
26.2%
ROE
$10.2B
Market cap
0.69%
Dividend yield
8.9%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Paycom Software, Inc. earns an A (High-quality compounder) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.7, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).
What the filings flag
+14.8%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +14.8% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by payables paid down 72% against +3% in cost of sales and inventory up +21% against +3% in cost of sales. This is the tenth straight fiscal year of building accruals — an even longer streak than the 3-year mark that already signals a materially stronger tell. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 18% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
101% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $410M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 101% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has been CLIMBING toward the limit — 41% of free cash flow a few years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $119M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 130%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$2.05B
Revenue Growth YoY+8.9%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+14.3%
Net Margin22.1%
Free Cash Flow$408.0M
Return on Equity26.2%
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Paycom Software, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?