Total Current Liabilities

Category

Balance Sheet

Units

Currency

US-GAAP elements

LiabilitiesCurrent

Reference

Regulation S-X Rule 5-02.21 (Total current liabilities)

Source

Reported in SEC EDGAR filings (US-GAAP XBRL taxonomy)

Total current liabilities is the sum of the obligations a company expects to settle within one year or its normal operating cycle, whichever is longer. It typically includes accounts payable, accrued expenses, short-term borrowings, the current portion of long-term debt and lease liabilities, income taxes payable, deferred revenue, and other current liabilities.

Current liabilities are the claims that current assets are expected to pay, which is why the two totals are compared in nearly every liquidity measure.

Regulation S-X Rule 5-02 sets out the current liability captions a commercial company uses: accounts and notes payable (5-02.19) and other current liabilities (5-02.20), with the total under Rule 5-02.21 "when appropriate." In XBRL the total is tagged LiabilitiesCurrent. Long-term debt due within the next year is reclassified here, as are the current portions of finance and operating lease liabilities under ASC 842. Deferred revenue for goods or services to be delivered within the year is also current, even though it will be settled by performance rather than by cash.

The total does not exist for every filer. Banks and insurers use unclassified balance sheets under Regulation S-X Articles 9 and 7, so a current-liability subtotal does not apply to them. Classification can also move a large amount at once. A bond maturing within a year shifts into current liabilities, and a covenant breach can require debt to be reclassified as current if lenders could demand repayment, sometimes turning working capital negative overnight.

Analysts divide current liabilities into operating items, such as payables, accruals, and deferred revenue, and financing items, mainly short-term debt. The distinction matters: a retailer or software company funded by supplier credit or customer prepayments can run with current liabilities above current assets without strain, while a large near-term debt maturity with little cash is a genuine refinancing risk. Current liabilities feed the current ratio, quick ratio, cash ratio, and working capital.