Liabilities, What Is liability? All about Liabilities!!
The fact that a person/someone is legally responsible for something.
- A liability is a debt that a person or business owes to another party, typically in the form of money.
- A liability is a term used in accounting to indicate any type of financial obligation that a company has to pay to a person or a company at the end of an accounting period.
- The transfer of economic benefits such as money, products, or services is used to settle liabilities.
- Liabilities, which include various types of loans, creditors, lenders, and suppliers, are recorded on the right-hand side of the balance sheet.
- liabilities can be Short-term and long-term.
- Short-term liabilities are due during an accounting period of 12 months,
- while long-term liabilities are due over a longer period of more than 12 months.
Depending on their timeliness, liabilities are classified as current or non-current. This includes A future service owed to others; short- or long-term borrowing from banks, individuals, or other entities; or a previous transaction that resulted in an unresolved obligation. Accounts payable and bonds payable are two of the most common liabilities. These two line items will appear on most organisations' balance sheets because they are part of ongoing current and long-term operations.
Liabilities are an important part of a business since they are utilised to fund operations and major expansions. They can also improve the efficiency of commercial transactions.
For example, in most cases, If a food supplier sells a box of vegetables or fruits to a restaurant, It does not demand payment when the goods are delivered. Instead, it invoices the restaurant for the purchase, simplifying the way of funding and making payment easier for the restaurant.
The restaurant's outstanding debt that is "payment" to its food supplier is classified as a liability. The food supplier, on the other hand, regards the money owing to it as an asset.
Types of Liabilities
Liabilities can be classified into three categories:
1. Current Liabilities
2. Non-current Liabilities
3. Contingent Liabilities
Current Liabilities:
Current liabilities are those liabilities that must be paid within a given accounting period (which is usually a year or 12 months).
Because of the short turnaround time, current liabilities are also known as short-term liabilities.
Current liabilities must be regularly monitored by a company's management because it requires sufficient liquidity in the form of current assets to pay off current liabilities.
Current liabilities have a direct impact on working capital as well as the business's liquidity.
The following are some examples of current liabilities:
- Accounts Payable
- Accrued Expenses
- Bank overdraft
- Interest Payable
- Short term loans
Non-Current Liabilities:
Non-current liabilities are Financial obligations due in more than a year which are also referred to as long-term liabilities.
Long-term liabilities play a significant role in the business's long-term financing.
By supplying the necessary capital, these liabilities assist businesses in acquiring capital assets.
Businesses can also use funds earned through long-term debts or liabilities to invest in new capital projects.
Long-term liabilities are an important indicator of a business's stability.
A business that is unable to pay off long-term liabilities as they become due is an indicator that business has a stability problem or is experiencing a crisis.
Before investing, investors do consider the company's long-term liabilities.
Some examples of long term liabilities are:
- Bonds payable
- Capital leases
- Debentures
- Deferred tax liabilities
Contingent liabilities:
Contingent liabilities are a form of liability that can arise throughout the course of a business and are based on the outcome of an event that may occur in the future.
according to accounting standards. Contingent liabilities are only recognised as potential or probable liabilities if they have a 50% chance of occurring and the amount of liability can be accurately calculated,
Listed below are some examples of contingent liabilities.
- Lawsuits
- Product warranties
- pending investigation
This is all we had today for the topic of Liabilities,
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