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Are liabilities always a bad thing?

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Question added by Rehan Qureshi , Financial Consultant , Self Employeed
Date Posted: 2014/01/10
Fazal Ebrahim Dawood
by Fazal Ebrahim Dawood , Chief Executive Officer , Stardist Ltd

So some liabilities are good, especially the ones that have a very low interest rate. Too many liabilities could cause financial hardships.

Rehan Qureshi
by Rehan Qureshi , Financial Consultant , Self Employeed

Liabilities are obligations and are usually defined as a claim on assets. However, liabilities and stockholders' equity are also the sources of assets. Generally, liabilities are considered to have a lower cost than stockholders' equity. On the other hand, too many liabilities result in additional risk. Some liabilities have low interest rates and some have no interest associated with them. For example, some of a company's accounts payable may allow payment in30 days. With those payables it is better to have the liability and to keep your cash in the bank until they become due. In our personal lives, our first house was probably purchased with a down payment and mortgage loan. That mortgage loan was a big liability, but it allowed us to upgrade our living space. I viewed my mortgage loan liability as a good thing because it allowed me to own a nice home in a beautiful neighborhood. So some liabilities are good—especially the ones that have a very low interest rate. Too many liabilities could cause financial hardships

Mohammad Tohamy Hussein Hussein
by Mohammad Tohamy Hussein Hussein , Chief Executive Officer & ERP Architect , Egyptian Software Group

Not necessarily.

Mohamed Esam Mohamed Kamel
by Mohamed Esam Mohamed Kamel , Financial Analyst , Egyptian Water & Wastewater Regulatory Agency (EWRA)

Of course not. Capital financing by liabilities is better than financed by investors for several reasons, such as reducing the risk on investors

Aziz ur Rehman ur Rehman
by Aziz ur Rehman ur Rehman , Assistant Manager Finance , Central Power Puchasing Agency (CPPA)

 I don't think that it is always bad.

Depending on what they are doing with the money. If it was used to buy back stock or give a huge bonus to the CEO, that would be bad.

Investing in new R&D or new stores might be good.

 

debt-to-equity ratio to see if it is rising or falling.

Rising debt-to-equity with rising revenues would concern me and I would want to know if maybe they are juicing their revenues with the debt,

Falling debt-to-equity with rising revenues AND earnings would make me feel better, (rising revenues being very important to this consideration), as I think it would lead me to believe that they are using their debt wisely to grow the company and their earnings. 

Khaled Abdelrehim ACCA DipIFR CMA
by Khaled Abdelrehim ACCA DipIFR CMA , Financial Analysis Assistant General Manager , Khalda Petroleum Company

Liabilities may arise from payment float, loans(which is a option of finance and decreases the cost of capital).

Karen Marutyan
by Karen Marutyan , Country Finance Manager , Fawaz Abdullaziz Al Hokair & Co.

No, they are not. Especcialy when you are working in financial sector. Here liabilities (loans, obligations and so on) are one of the main instruments to get profit (e. g. getting low rated loans and giving them in a higher rates). At the same time shares are also liability and nobody can say that share is a bad thing.

Jose Miguel Lucas Martins
by Jose Miguel Lucas Martins , IT Director - Robotic Process Automation (RPA) , Novo Banco

In western cultures liabilities are not a bad thing "per se", as they are a way of leveraging the business and achieving hiogher returns with the same invested capital. Liabilities become a bad thing when the risk they bring into the business does not compensate for the increased value (through leverage) they generate.

 

I would like to know more about this question when it comes to islamic culture.

Srinivas Kotni ACA CMA
by Srinivas Kotni ACA CMA , Finance Controller , Ecolab

Not always.

Amr Ebeid
by Amr Ebeid , Financial controller , Majan University College SAOG www.majancollege.edu.om

Liabilities are generally a cheaper source of finance than equity.Some times a free source.Credit risk depends on the ability of the entity to generates profits and operating cash flows for repayment.So it all depends on the use of funds.

Mohammed Hussain Shah
by Mohammed Hussain Shah , Finance Manager , Al-Naba Contracting Co. Ltd

Liabilities both current and non-current are good as long as these do not pose any liquidity or leverage problems.

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