DEBT RATIO measures the percent of total funds provided by creditors. Debt includes both current liabilities and long-term debt. Creditors prefer low debt ratios because the lower the ratio, the greater the cushion against creditors losses in liquidation. Owners may seek high debt ratios, either to magnify earnings or because selling new stock would mean giving up control. Owners want control while "using someone elses money." Debt Ratio is best compared to industry data to determine if a company is possibly over or under leveraged. The right level of debt for a business depends on many factors. Some advantages of higher debt levels are:
Some disadvantages can be:
Formula: Total Liabilities / (Total Liabilities + Stockholders Equity)
SALES is the total amount sold within a stipulated time period, usually 12 months. Sales is usually expressed in monetary terms but can also be in total units of stock or products sold.
ECONOMIC ENTITY accounting concept that provides context or 'point of view' for the economic events (i.e., transactions) captured by the financial statements. In short, it answers the questions, 'Whose asset is it?'; 'Whose liability is it?'
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