Everyday net debt problems come down to one relationship between accounts payable, cash, cash equivalents, current part of leases, current portion of the long term debt, non-current part of leases, non current long term debt, other payables or accrued items and other payables or accrued items. This calculator turns those numbers into cash and cash equivalents, short term debt and short-term debt, with the working shown so you can check the result rather than simply trust it.
What Is the Net Debt Calculator?
The net debt calculator takes accounts payable, cash, cash equivalents, current part of leases, current portion of the long term debt, non-current part of leases, non current long term debt, other payables or accrued items and other payables or accrued items and turns them into cash and cash equivalents, short term debt and short-term debt.
It is the kind of calculation you would otherwise do on the back of an envelope: mechanical, repeatable and easy to get subtly wrong without noticing.
How the Net Debt Figure Is Built
Each result is calculated from the ones before it, so the working is fully visible. That matters when the answer is going to be quoted to somebody else and you need to be able to explain where it came from.
The figures are exactly as good as the assumptions underneath them. Check the rates, the periods and the tax treatment before you rely on the result.
Reading the Result Sensibly
A small change in an input can move the result by much more than you would expect, particularly where the calculation divides by one of the figures you supplied. That is worth understanding before you rely on a figure.
For anything that will be committed to, write the inputs down beside the result. A number you can reproduce is worth far more than one you cannot explain.
A Worked Example
Working through an example, with accounts payable set to 10, cash set to 5, cash equivalents set to 2, the calculator returns cash and cash equivalents of 7, and short term debt of 220, and long term debt of 17. Substitute your own figures and the same steps produce the same kind of answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to work out cash and cash equivalents?
Enter accounts payable, cash, cash equivalents, current part of leases, current portion of the long term debt, non-current part of leases, non current long term debt, other payables or accrued items and other payables or accrued items. The calculator then works through the relationship and reports cash and cash equivalents, short term debt and short-term debt.
What does the net debt actually calculate?
It takes accounts payable, cash, cash equivalents, current part of leases, current portion of the long term debt, non-current part of leases, non current long term debt, other payables or accrued items and other payables or accrued items and converts them into cash and cash equivalents, short term debt and short-term debt using the standard relationship for this problem. Each step is applied in turn, so every output is traceable back to the numbers you typed in.
How should I enter accounts payable?
Use the value you actually have, in the unit shown next to the field. Enter every value in the same unit system. The calculator assumes the figures you supply are consistent, so it cannot correct a mistake that happens before the calculation starts.
Does anything you type get stored?
No. The whole calculation runs inside your browser, and nothing you enter is uploaded, logged or sent anywhere.
Why does a small change in one value move the answer so much?
That happens when an output depends on a ratio, because dividing by a small number magnifies any change in it. Check the units first, then check whether the value you entered is in the range the relationship was designed for.