LiabilitiesLiabilitiesCurrentLiabilitiesNoncurrentTotal liabilities is the sum of every obligation a company has recognized on its balance sheet at a given date, both those due within a year and those due later. It includes debt, accounts payable, accrued expenses, deferred revenue, lease liabilities, deferred income taxes, pension obligations, and other liabilities.
Total liabilities is broader than debt. It captures everything the company owes to lenders, suppliers, employees, customers, tax authorities, and others, not just borrowed money.
In XBRL the total is tagged Liabilities. Regulation S-X Rule 5-02 lists individual liability captions for commercial companies, including payables, other current liabilities, long-term debt, other liabilities, and deferred credits, but it does not require a "total liabilities" subtotal. Many companies go straight from their last liability line to equity. When the total is not reported, it can be derived as current liabilities plus noncurrent liabilities, or as total liabilities and equity minus total equity. GeminIQ's debt ratio uses the reported figure when one exists and otherwise adds current and noncurrent liabilities as filed.
Temporary equity, such as redeemable preferred stock and redeemable noncontrolling interests, is reported between liabilities and equity and belongs to neither total. Derived totals need care here: subtracting equity from total liabilities and equity will include any temporary equity in liabilities unless it is removed. Commitments and contingencies that have not met the recognition criteria appear only in the notes, and are not part of the figure.
Total liabilities is the numerator of the debt ratio (total liabilities divided by total assets) and is used in net current asset value. Comparing it with total debt shows how much of a company's obligations are operating items rather than borrowings. For banks and insurers, liabilities consist mostly of deposits and policy reserves and are very large relative to equity, so their totals are not comparable with those of industrial companies.
A: Total debt counts only borrowings and debt-like obligations such as leases. Total liabilities also includes payables, accruals, deferred revenue, deferred taxes, and other operating obligations.
A: SEC rules list the individual liability captions but do not require a total. Many companies omit the subtotal, so it must be calculated from current and noncurrent liabilities.
A: No. Total liabilities and equity adds shareholders' equity, and any temporary equity, to total liabilities, and always equals total assets.
In the metrics library: Debt Ratio
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