The five-way DuPont breaks ROE into tax burden, interest burden, EBIT margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage: (NI/EBT) × (EBT/EBIT) × (EBIT/Revenue) × (Revenue/Assets) × (Assets/Equity). It shows whether profitability, efficiency, or leverage is driving equity returns. The three-way version collapses tax and interest into a single profit margin. Mixing the stages or forgetting leverage is common under time pressure.