The purpose of this study is to identify variables that impact the financial distress of retail businesses in Indonesia. Moreover, the return on assets also serves as a moderator variable. The independent variables in the present study include the current ratio, the debt-to-asset ratio and the return on assets. The results of this study (i) Current ratio has no significant effect on financial distress, (ii) Debt to asset ratio has a significant and negative effect on financial ratio, (iii) Return on assets has no significant effect on financial distress, (iv) ROA moderates the effect of current ratio on financial distress, (v) ROA moderates the effect of debt to asset ratio on financial distress. The implication of this research is to provide information and references for stakeholders, academics and practitioners who have an interest in analyzing financial distress so that it can be used in supporting decision making and further research. The originality of this research is related to the research period, namely 2016 to 2021 and the industrial sector, namely the retail sector, which has an important role in a country's economy.