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liabilities

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,854 of 15,258leans written

Liabilities are everything a business owes. Total liabilities, current liabilities, assets and liabilities.

The whole of accounting rests on one equation: assets equal liabilities plus equity, so the books must balance by construction. Current liabilities fall due within a year and long-term ones later, and the split is what tells you whether a company can pay its way.

Definitions of liabilities

  1. 1nounliabilitiesEverything a business owes.C1

    “The company's liabilities were far greater than its assets, so it went bankrupt.”

liabilities is debts owed.

Where it comes from

liability comes from liable + -ity.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Business & Money

Practise this word

liabilities in the wild

  • In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be subject to debts or other liabilities.

    Equity (finance)

  • Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned.

    Equity (finance)

  • Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year.

    Balance sheet

  • A standard company balance sheet typically lists assets, then liabilities, then owner's equity.

    Balance sheet

  • Key examples of current liabilities include accounts payable, which are generally due within 30 to 60 days, though in some cases payments may be delayed.

    Current liability

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.