Total-debt-to-total-assets is a leverage ratio that defines the total amount of debt relative to assets owned by a company. Using this metric, analysts can compare one company's leverage with that of other companies in the same industry. This information can reflect how financially stable a company is. The higher the ratio, the higher the degree of leverage (DoL) and, consequently, the higher the risk of investing in that company.

• The total-debt-to-total-assets ratio shows the degree to which a company has used debt to finance its assets.

• The calculation considers all of the company's debt, not just loans and bonds payable, and considers 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.

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The total-debt-to-total-assets ratio analyzes a company's balance sheet by including long-term and short-term debt (borrowings maturing within one year), as well as all assets—both tangible and intangible, such as goodwill. It indicates how much debt is used to carry a firm's assets, and how those assets might be used to service debt. It, therefore, measures a firm's degree of leverage.

Debt servicing payments must be made under all circumstances, otherwise, the company would breach its debt covenants and run the risk of being forced into bankruptcy by creditors. While other liabilities such as accounts payable and long-term leases can be negotiated to some extent, there is very little “wiggle room” with debt covenants.

A company with a high degree of leverage may thus find it more difficult to stay afloat during a recession than one with low leverage. It should be noted that the total debt measure does not include short-term liabilities such as accounts payable and long-term liabilities such as capital leases and pension plan obligations.

\begin{aligned} &\text{TD/TA} = \frac{ \text{Short-Term Debt} + \text{Long-Term Debt} }{ \text{Total Assets} } \\ \end{aligned}​TD/TA=Total AssetsShort-Term Debt+Long-Term Debt​​

Total-debt-to-total-assets is a measure of the company's assets that are financed by debt rather than equity. When calculated over a number of years, this leverage ratio shows how a company has grown and acquired its assets as a function of time.

Investors use the ratio to evaluate whether the company has enough funds to meet its current debt obligations and to assess whether the company can pay a return on its investment. Creditors use the ratio to see how much debt the company already has and whether the company can repay its existing debt. This will determine whether additional loans will be extended to the firm.

A ratio greater than 1 shows that a considerable portion of the assets is funded by debt. In other words, the company has more liabilities than assets. A high ratio also indicates that a company may be putting itself at risk of defaulting on its loans if interest rates were to rise suddenly.

A ratio below 0.5, meanwhile, indicates that a greater portion of a company's assets is funded by equity.

Let's examine the total-debt-to total-assets ratio for three companies—The Walt Disney Company, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., and Sears Holdings Corporation—for the fiscal year (FY) ended 2017 (December 31, 2016, for Chipotle).

Debt to Assets Comparison*(data in millions)*DisneyChipotleSearsTotal Debt$50,785$623.61$13,186Total Assets$95,789$2,026.10$9,362Total Debt to Assets0.53020.30781.4085

Debt to Assets Comparison

From the example above, Sears is shown to have a much higher degree of leverage than Disney and Chipotle and, therefore, a lower degree of financial flexibility. With more than $13 billion in total debt, it is easy to understand why Sears was forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018. Investors and creditors considered Sears a risky company to invest in and loan to due to its very high leverage.

One shortcoming of the total-debt-to-total-assets ratio is that it does not provide any indication of asset quality since it lumps all tangible and intangible assets together. For example, assume from the example above that Disney took on $50.8 billion of long-term debt to acquire a competitor and booked $20 billion as a goodwill intangible asset for this acquisition.

If the acquisition does not perform as expected and results in the entire goodwill asset being written off, the ratio of total debt to total assets (which would now be $95.8 billion - $20 billion = $75.8 billion) would be 0.67.

As with all other ratios, the trend of the total-debt-to-total-assets ratio should be evaluated over time. This will help assess whether the company’s financial risk profile is improving or deteriorating. For example, an increasing trend indicates that a business is unwilling or unable to pay down its debt, which could indicate a default in the future.

The Fundamentals of Corporate Finance and Accounting

Whatever your learning style, understanding corporate finance and accounting is easy when you can choose from 183,000 online video courses. With Udemy, you’ll be able to learn accounting terminology and how to prepare financial statements and analyze business transactions. What’s more, each course has new additions published every month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about Udemy and

Total-debt-to-total-assets is a leverage ratio that defines the total amount of debt relative to assets owned by a company. Using this metric, analysts can compare one company's leverage with that of other companies in the same industry. This information can reflect how financially stable a company is. The higher the ratio, the higher the degree of leverage (DoL) and, consequently, the higher the risk of investing in that company.

• The total-debt-to-total-assets ratio shows the degree to which a company has used debt to finance its assets.

• The calculation considers all of the company's debt, not just loans and bonds payable, and considers 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.

0 seconds of 1 minute, 42 secondsVolume 75%

1:42

The total-debt-to-total-assets ratio analyzes a company's balance sheet by including long-term and short-term debt (borrowings maturing within one year), as well as all assets—both tangible and intangible, such as goodwill. It indicates how much debt is used to carry a firm's assets, and how those assets might be used to service debt. It, therefore, measures a firm's degree of leverage.

Debt servicing payments must be made under all circumstances, otherwise, the company would breach its debt covenants and run the risk of being forced into bankruptcy by creditors. While other liabilities such as accounts payable and long-term leases can be negotiated to some extent, there is very little “wiggle room” with debt covenants.

A company with a high degree of leverage may thus find it more difficult to stay afloat during a recession than one with low leverage. It should be noted that the total debt measure does not include short-term liabilities such as accounts payable and long-term liabilities such as capital leases and pension plan obligations.

\begin{aligned} &\text{TD/TA} = \frac{ \text{Short-Term Debt} + \text{Long-Term Debt} }{ \text{Total Assets} } \\ \end{aligned}​TD/TA=Total AssetsShort-Term Debt+Long-Term Debt​​

Total-debt-to-total-assets is a measure of the company's assets that are financed by debt rather than equity. When calculated over a number of years, this leverage ratio shows how a company has grown and acquired its assets as a function of time.

Investors use the ratio to evaluate whether the company has enough funds to meet its current debt obligations and to assess whether the company can pay a return on its investment. Creditors use the ratio to see how much debt the company already has and whether the company can repay its existing debt. This will determine whether additional loans will be extended to the firm.

A ratio greater than 1 shows that a considerable portion of the assets is funded by debt. In other words, the company has more liabilities than assets. A high ratio also indicates that a company may be putting itself at risk of defaulting on its loans if interest rates were to rise suddenly.

A ratio below 0.5, meanwhile, indicates that a greater portion of a company's assets is funded by equity.

Let's examine the total-debt-to total-assets ratio for three companies—The Walt Disney Company, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., and Sears Holdings Corporation—for the fiscal year (FY) ended 2017 (December 31, 2016, for Chipotle).

Debt to Assets Comparison*(data in millions)*DisneyChipotleSearsTotal Debt$50,785$623.61$13,186Total Assets$95,789$2,026.10$9,362Total Debt to Assets0.53020.30781.4085

Debt to Assets Comparison

From the example above, Sears is shown to have a much higher degree of leverage than Disney and Chipotle and, therefore, a lower degree of financial flexibility. With more than $13 billion in total debt, it is easy to understand why Sears was forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018. Investors and creditors considered Sears a risky company to invest in and loan to due to its very high leverage.

One shortcoming of the total-debt-to-total-assets ratio is that it does not provide any indication of asset quality since it lumps all tangible and intangible assets together. For example, assume from the example above that Disney took on $50.8 billion of long-term debt to acquire a competitor and booked $20 billion as a goodwill intangible asset for this acquisition.

If the acquisition does not perform as expected and results in the entire goodwill asset being written off, the ratio of total debt to total assets (which would now be $95.8 billion - $20 billion = $75.8 billion) would be 0.67.

As with all other ratios, the trend of the total-debt-to-total-assets ratio should be evaluated over time. This will help assess whether the company’s financial risk profile is improving or deteriorating. For example, an increasing trend indicates that a business is unwilling or unable to pay down its debt, which could indicate a default in the future.

The Fundamentals of Corporate Finance and Accounting

Whatever your learning style, understanding corporate finance and accounting is easy when you can choose from 183,000 online video courses. With Udemy, you’ll be able to learn accounting terminology and how to prepare financial statements and analyze business transactions. What’s more, each course has new additions published every month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about Udemy and