What is the Debt Ratio? | Accounting Terms (2024)

Definition: The debt ratio is financial ratio used in accounting to show what portion of a business's assets are financed through debt.

To find the debt ratio for a company, simply divide their total debt by their total assets. Total debt includes a company's short and long-term liabilities (i.e. lines of credit, bank loans, and so on), while total assets include current, fixed and intangible assets (i.e. property, equipment, goodwill, etc.).

The debt ratio looks like this:

DEBT RATIO = TOTAL DEBT / TOTAL ASSETS

An example: if a business has $1,000,000 total assets and $300,000 total liabilities, it's debt ratio will be 3/10 or 30%.

What does the debt ratio indicate?

A company's debt ratio of a company offers a view at how the company is financed. The company could be financed by primarily debt, primarily equity, or an equal combination of both.

If a company has a high debt ratio (above .5 or 50%) then it is often considered to be"highly leveraged" (which means that most of its assets are financed through debt, not equity). Conversely, if a company has a low debt ratio (below .5 or 50%), this indicates that most of their assets are fully owned (financed through the firm's own equity, not debt).

In some instances, a high debt ratio indicates that a business could be in danger if their creditors were to suddenly insist on the repayment of their loans. This is one reason why a lower debt ratio is usually preferable. To find a comfortable debt ratio, companies should compare themselves to their industry average or direct competitors.

What is the Debt Ratio? | Accounting Terms (2024)

FAQs

What is the Debt Ratio? | Accounting Terms? ›

A debt ratio

debt ratio
The debt ratio, or total debt-to-total assets, is calculated by dividing a company's total debt by its total assets. It is also called the debt-to-assets ratio. It is a leverage ratio that defines how much debt a company carries compared to the value of the assets it owns.
https://www.investopedia.com › terms › totaldebttototalassets
measures the amount of leverage used by a company in terms of total debt to total assets. This ratio varies widely across industries, such that capital-intensive businesses tend to have much higher debt ratios than others. A company's debt ratio can be calculated by dividing total debt by total assets.

What is the debt ratio in accounting? ›

A debt ratio helps to determine how financially stable a company is and is expressed as the ratio of total debt to total assets. A company's debt ratio can be calculated by dividing total debt by total assets.

What is a good debt ratio range? ›

A debt ratio between 30% and 36% is also considered good. It's when you're approaching 40% that you have to be very, very vigilant. With a threshold like that, you're a greater risk to lenders. You may already be having trouble making your payments each month.

What does a 50% debt ratio mean? ›

These businesses will have a low debt ratio (below . 5 or 50%), indicating that most of their assets are fully owned (financed through the firm's own equity, not debt).

What does a debt ratio of 0.57 mean? ›

A firm has a total debt ratio of 0.57. This means that that firm has 57 cents in debt for every: A. $1.00 in equity.

How do you calculate your debt ratio? ›

How do I calculate my debt-to-income ratio? To calculate your DTI, you add up all your monthly debt payments and divide them by your gross monthly income. Your gross monthly income is generally the amount of money you have earned before your taxes and other deductions are taken out.

What are the 4 debt ratios? ›

Debt-to-Assets Ratio = Total Debt / Total Assets. Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt / Total Equity. Debt-to-Capital Ratio = Total Debt / (Total Debt + Total Equity) Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio = Total Debt / Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation & Amortization (EBITDA)

What is a bad debt ratio? ›

This ratio measures the amount of money a company has to write off as a bad debt expense compared to its net sales. In other words, it tells you what percentage of sales profit a company loses to unpaid invoices.

How to tell if a company has too much debt? ›

The debt-to-equity ratio measures how much debt a company has relative to its shareholders' equity. It indicates how much leverage a company is using to finance its assets and operations. A high debt-to-equity ratio means that a company has more debt than equity, which implies a higher risk of default and insolvency.

What is too high for debt to ratio? ›

Key takeaways. Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt obligations compared to your gross monthly income (before taxes), expressed as a percentage. A good debt-to-income ratio is less than or equal to 36%. Any debt-to-income ratio above 43% is considered to be too much debt.

Is a debt ratio of 75% bad? ›

Interpreting the Debt Ratio

If the ratio is over 1, a company has more debt than assets. If the ratio is below 1, the company has more assets than debt. Broadly speaking, ratios of 60% (0.6) or more are considered high, while ratios of 40% (0.4) or less are considered low.

Is a debt ratio of 70% good? ›

It suggests a smaller proportion of an entity's assets are financed through debt, which can be seen as a positive sign of financial stability and a lower risk of default. High debt ratio: If the result is a big number (like 0.7 or 70%), it means the company owes a lot compared to what it owns. This could be risky.

What does a debt ratio of 90% mean? ›

E.g., if a company's debt represents 90% of its assets, it's probably considered high risk. Debt creates leverage in the financial results, meaning that a doubling of EBIT will more than double earnings.

What is a healthy debt ratio? ›

35% or less: Looking Good - Relative to your income, your debt is at a manageable level. You most likely have money left over for saving or spending after you've paid your bills. Lenders generally view a lower DTI as favorable.

How to interpret debt ratio? ›

Key Takeaways

A debt ratio of greater than 1.0 or 100% means a company has more debt than assets while a debt ratio of less than 100% indicates that a company has more assets than debt.

What is the industry standard for debt ratio? ›

Generally, a good debt ratio is around 1 to 1.5. However, the ideal debt ratio will vary depending on the industry, as some industries use more debt financing than others. Capital-intensive industries like the financial and manufacturing industries often have higher ratios that can be greater than 2.

What does a debt ratio of 37 to 50% indicate? ›

Interpreting the Debt Ratio

If the ratio is over 1, a company has more debt than assets. If the ratio is below 1, the company has more assets than debt. Broadly speaking, ratios of 60% (0.6) or more are considered high, while ratios of 40% (0.4) or less are considered low.

How is a debt ratio of 0.45 interpreted? ›

A debt ratio of 0.45 means that a firm has $0.45 of equity for every dollar of debt. A debt ratio of 0.45 means a firm has $0.45 of current liabilities for every dollar of current assets.

What is the total debt formula? ›

You collect all your long-term debts and add their balances together. You then collect all your short-term debts and add them together too. Finally, you add together the total long-term and short-term debts to get your total debt. So, the total debt formula is: Long-term debts + short-term debts.

How do you calculate debt? ›

To find your total interest, multiply each loan by its interest rate, then add those numbers together. To calculate your total debt, add up all your loans. Then, divide total interest by total debt to get your cost of debt. The cost of debt you just calculated is also your weighted average interest rate.

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