Liability Definition

A liability is a financial debt that an individual or organization owes. In the end, liability is discharged by the transfer of economic advantages like money, goods, or services.

The balance sheet's right side is usually occupied by liabilities, which are made up of debts, including loans, accounts payable, mortgages, deferred income, bonds, warranties, and cumulative expenses.

Liabilities and assets can be contrasted. Liabilities are things you owe money to or that you possess, whereas assets are things you own or have borrowed.

Workings of Liabilities

In general, a liability is an obligation between two parties that hasn't been met or settled. However, it is more specifically defined by past commercial dealings, occasions, sales, trades of goods or services, or anything else that will provide income in the future. Due to the fact that they are expected to endure longer than a year, non-current liabilities are sometimes seen as long-term obligations (12 months or greater).

Liabilities can be categorized as either current or non-current depending on their temporality. They can be obligations to deliver services in the future (such as a short- or long-term loan from a bank, an individual, or another entity) or obligations from a previous agreement that have not yet been fulfilled. Typically, the biggest liabilities-like accounts payable and bonds payable-are the most common. Most organizations will include these two line items on their balance sheet because they are a part of their current and long-term operations.

Liabilities are a vital part of any organization because they help to pay for operations and large expansions. Additionally, they can enhance the efficiency of contracts between businesses. For instance, while delivering a case of wine to a restaurant, a wine distributor normally won't ask for payment. Instead, it sends the eatery an invoice to make payment easier and hasten drop-off.

In this scenario, an obligation is an unpaid balance the restaurant owes to its wine supplier. On the other hand, the wine supplier views the money it owns as an asset.

Additional Defined Terms of Liability

Liability can refer to any amount of money or service owing to another party and generally relates to being accountable for anything. Tax responsibility, for instance, can apply to the federal income tax a homeowner owes or the property taxes he owes to the local government. A business that receives sales tax from a customer has a sales tax liability on its books before forwarding the money to the county, city, or state. In a civil action, one's prospective damages are another example of liability.

Liabilities Types

Businesses divide their responsibilities into current and long-term obligations. Obligations that must be paid over a longer time frame than current liabilities are referred to as long-term liabilities. A 15-year mortgage, for instance, a company takes out, is a good illustration of long-term debt. Short-term liabilities of the balance sheet are where mortgage payments due this year are recorded because they constitute the current element of long-term debt.

Near-Term (Current) Liabilities

Ideally, analysts seek to confirm that a company will have enough cash on hand to pay its present responsibilities in the upcoming year. Payroll costs and accounts payable, which comprise money owing to vendors, common utilities, and similar expenses, are a few instances of short-term liabilities. Other examples include:

• Wages Payable: It is the entire amount of accrued income that employees have earned but have not yet received. Since most companies pay their workers every two weeks, this obligation is continuously changing.
• Interest Payable: Businesses regularly use credit to make short-term purchases of goods and services, just like individuals do. On such purchases made using short-term credit, the interest must be paid.
• Dividends Payable: This represents the amount due to shareholders by companies that have issued investor shares and paid remuneration after the bonus was declared. Four times a year, in the final two weeks before the dividend distribution, this duty frequently comes up.
• Unearned Revenues: This is the obligation a business has to provide products and services later after receiving an upfront payment. After the product or service is delivered, this amount will be reduced in the future by an offsetting entry.
• Discontinued Operations Liabilities: This is a particular liability that most people overlook but should carefully examine. Any operations, divisions, or entities that are up for sale or have already been sold must be taken into account from a financial perspective by businesses. This also includes the financial effects of a product line that is now being discontinued or that has recently been discontinued.

Long-Term (Noncurrent) Liabilities

Given the name, it should be obvious that any debt that isn't due right away belongs in the category of non-current liabilities, which are expected to be paid off in a year or more. Using AT&T as an example once more, you can see that there are more products offered there than at a typical company, which might just feature one or two. The largest burden and first on the list are normally the bonds payable, often known as long-term debt.

Companies of all sizes borrow money to fund a portion of their long-term operations from the parties that purchase their bonds. This line item is ever-changing as bonds are issued, mature, or are called back by the issuer. Analysts want evidence that long-term obligations may be settled with assets acquired from upcoming revenues or financing deals. Companies may have other long-term liabilities besides bonds and loans. Long-term liabilities can include commitments for rent, deferred taxes, salaries, and pensions. Other illustrations include:

• Warranty Liability: Some liabilities must be estimated since they are not as precise as AP (accounts payable). It estimates how much time and money would be required to fix things after a warranty is accepted. Given that most automobiles have lengthy contracts that can be expensive, this is a frequent liability in the automotive sector.
• Evaluation of Contingent Liabilities: A contingent obligation is a liability that could materialize if the outcome of a future event is unclear.
• Deferred Credits: This broad category can be categorized as current or non-current depending on the specifics of the transaction. These credits represent revenue that has already been received but has not yet been recorded on the income statement as earned income. This can include customer advances, deferred revenue, or transactions where credits are owed but not yet considered to be revenue. Once the money is no longer being deferred, this item is reduced by the amount earned and added to the company's revenue stream.
• Unamortized investment tax credits (UITC): These credits are the difference between an asset's historical cost and its current depreciation. Although this credit type is simply a preliminary estimate of the asset's fair market value, the unamortized component is a liability. An analyst can use this to determine whether a corporation uses aggressive or conservative depreciation practices.
• After-Employment Benefits: Benefits received by an employee or their dependents after retirement are considered post-employment benefits and accounted for as long-term liability when incurred. In the AT&T example, this accounts for half of all non-current debt, which is second only to long-term debt. Due to increased healthcare expenses and deferred compensation, this responsibility should be taken into account.

Assets vs Liabilities

The things a corporation possesses or is due are referred to as its assets. These consist of both tangibles like buildings, machinery, and equipment as well as intangibles like unpaid bills, accrued interest, patents, or other forms of intellectual property. The difference left over after subtracting a company's liabilities and assets is its owner's or stockholders' equity. This connection can be stated as follows:

Assets - Liabilities = Owner's Equity

However, this accounting equation is typically expressed as follows:

Liabilities + Equity = Assets

Liabilities vs Expenses

An expense is a business's operational cost incurred to produce income. Unlike assets and liabilities, expense payments are linked to revenue, and both are displayed on an organization's income statement. Essentially, net income is determined with the help of expenses. The net income is calculated as revenues minus expense costs.

For instance, if a business has been losing money for the last three years and its expenses have exceeded its revenues, this may indicate insufficient financial stability.

Liabilities and expenses should not be conflated. The first appears on a company's balance sheet, whereas the second is on its income statement.

Example Liabilities

Let's look at a historical example utilizing AT&T's (T) 2020 balance sheet to illustrate how to grasp a company's liabilities.

Suppose the balance sheet separates current and short-term liabilities from long-term and non-current liabilities. Under current liabilities, AT&T identifies the bank debts with a maturity of less than a year. For a business of this size, operating capital is commonly employed for ongoing expenses rather than long-term debt for financing more significant purchases.

Liabilities are often carried at cost rather than market value and, as long as they are categorized, can be listed in the order of preference under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The AT&T sample has a relatively high debt amount under current obligations. Smaller businesses will have higher current debt commitments due to additional line items like accounts receivable and various future responsibilities like wages.

Since they cover daily operations, AP often has the greatest balances. Services, raw materials, office supplies, and any other classes of goods and services for which no promissory note is issued can be included in AP. AP is comparable to a pile of unpaid bills because most businesses do not pay for goods and services as they are purchased.

How can I tell whether a specified action is a Liability?

A liability is something that is owed to, borrowed from, or bound to another party. It can be real (like an outstanding bill) or fictitious (e.g., a possible lawsuit).

It's not necessary for liability to be a bad thing. For instance, a company may take on debt (a liability) to grow and prosper. Or, someone could obtain a mortgage to purchase a home.

How do Long-Term (Noncurrent) Liabilities differ from Current Liabilities?

Companies usually separate their liabilities according to their time horizon when they become due. Current liabilities are represented as the due within a year and are frequently paid for through the current assets. Non-current liabilities are due for more than one year and mostly involve debt repayments and deferred payments.

How do Assets and Equity relate to Liabilities?

According to the accounting formula, assets equal liabilities plus equity. The equation can also be written as liabilities = assets - equity. A company's total liabilities will equal the difference between its total assets and shareholders' equity. An increase in obligations without a similar asset increase must cause a decline in the company's equity position.

Understanding the Contingent Liability

A contingent liability is a liability that may occur but only needs to be paid in the future because of unresolved issues, which makes it a possibility but not a certainty. Litigation and lawsuit threats, including unused gift cards, product warranties, and recalls, are the most frequent contingent liabilities.

What kinds of liabilities can people or households have?

Like corporations, a person's or a household's net worth is calculated by weighing their assets and liabilities. Liabilities for the majority of households will include money owed in taxes, bills that must be paid, rent or mortgage payments, money owed for loan interest and principal, and so forth. If you receive advance payment for providing a service or performing work, the job owing could also be considered a liability.