What is a debt ratio and how is it calculated?
A debt ratio 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.
A company's debt ratio can be calculated by dividing total debt by total assets. A debt ratio that's less than 1 or 100% is considered ideal, while a debt ratio that's greater than 1 or 100% means a company has more debt than assets.
By calculating the ratio between your income and your debts, you get your “debt ratio.” This is something the banks are very interested in. A debt ratio below 30% is excellent. Above 40% is critical. Lenders could deny you a loan.
What if the debt ratio was much higher, like 0.8, or 80%? A debt ratio this high would throw up a red flag to the bank. At this level, the company would appear to have most of their assets funded by debt and would be a high risk for the bank.
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.
Good debt-to-equity ratio for businesses
Many investors prefer a company's debt-to-equity ratio to stay below 2—that is, they believe it is important for a company's debts to be only double their equity at most. Some investors are more comfortable investing when a company's debt-to-equity ratio doesn't exceed 1 to 1.5.
Alternatively, a ratio above 0.6 or 0.7 (60% to 70%) may produce higher risk and may discourage investment. The ratio value of 1.0, indicated that the total debts equal the total amount of assets.
The bad debt to sales ratio represents the fraction of uncollectible accounts receivables in a year compared to total sales. For example, if a company's revenue is $100,000 and it's unable to collect $3,000, the bad debt to sales ratio is (3,000/100,000=0.03).
Let's say you have 600,000$ in total assets and 150,000$ in liabilities. To calculate the debt ratio, divide the liability (150,000$ ) by the total assets (600,000$ ). This results in a debt ratio of 0.25 or 25 percent.
Many of your monthly bills aren't included in your debt-to-income ratio because they're not debts. These typically include common household expenses such as: Utilities (garbage, electricity, cell phone/landline, gas, water)
What is too high for debt 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.
Low debt ratio: If the result is a small number (like 0.2 or 20%), it means the company doesn't owe a lot compared to what it owns. This is usually a good sign. A lower debt ratio indicates a healthier financial position.
How much debt should a small business have? As a general rule, you shouldn't have more than 30% of your business capital in credit debt; exceeding this percentage tells lenders you may be not profitable or responsible with your money.
50% or more: Take Action - You may have limited funds to save or spend. With more than half your income going toward debt payments, you may not have much money left to save, spend, or handle unforeseen expenses. With this DTI ratio, lenders may limit your borrowing options.
Debt-to-income ratio of 50% or more
At DTI levels of 50% and higher, you could be seen as someone who struggles to regularly meet all debt obligations. Lenders might need to see you either reduce your debt or increase your income before they're comfortable providing you with a loan or line of credit.
The debt-to-asset ratio, the debt-to-equity ratio, and the times-interest-earned ratio are three important debt management ratios for your business. They tell you how much of your company's operations are based on debt, rather than equity.
McDonald's Debt to Equity Ratio: -8.359 for Dec.
The optimal debt-to-equity ratio will tend to vary widely by industry, but the general consensus is that it should not be above a level of 2.0. While some very large companies in fixed asset-heavy industries (such as mining or manufacturing) may have ratios higher than 2, these are the exception rather than the rule.
The calculation considers all of the company's debt, not just loans and bonds payable, and all assets, including intangibles. If a company has a total debt-to-total assets ratio of 0.4, 40% of its assets are financed by creditors, and 60% are financed by owners' (shareholders') equity.
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. Some sources consider the debt ratio to be total liabilities divided by total assets.
What if the total debt ratio is zero?
A debt ratio of zero would indicate that the firm does not finance increased operations through borrowing at all, which limits the total return that can be realized and passed on to shareholders.
ROE is used when comparing the financial performance of companies within the same industry. It is a measure of the ability of management to generate income from the equity available to it. A return of between 15-20% is considered good. ROE is also used when evaluating stocks, as well as other financial ratios.
This compares annual payments to service all consumer debts—excluding mortgage payments—divided by your net income. This should be 20% or less of net income. A ratio of 15% or lower is healthy, and 20% or higher is considered a warning sign.
The bottom line. $15,000 can be an intimidating total when you see it on credit card statements, but you don't have to be in debt forever. If you're struggling to make your minimum payments every month and you don't see light at the end of the tunnel, sign up for a debt management program to get out of debt fast.
This means your total monthly debts, including your prospective mortgage and any other debts like car payments or credit card bills, shouldn't exceed 43% of your monthly income.
