Net Debt Calculator

Enter total debt and cash & equivalents to get net debt.

Result

$640,000.00

How it is calculated

The formula is a single subtraction: net debt = total debt − cash and cash equivalents. Total debt means interest-bearing borrowings, such as bank loans, bonds and finance lease obligations, all in one currency; cash means cash in hand, bank balances and very liquid short-term holdings. The cash box is optional and counts as 0 if left empty, so the result then equals gross debt. Neither value may be negative, otherwise nothing is shown. When cash is larger than debt the answer is negative, which is a net cash position. The result is formatted as a US dollar amount with two decimals.

Worked example

A company owes 850000 in loans and bonds and holds 210000 in cash and equivalents. Subtract: 850000 − 210000 = 640000. The tool shows a net debt of $640,000.00. If the same company held 900000 in cash instead, the result would be negative (−50000), meaning it has more cash than debt.

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Common mistakes

  • Including restricted or trapped cash that cannot actually be used to repay debt, which makes net debt look smaller than it is.
  • Adding operating liabilities such as supplier payables to total debt; only interest-bearing borrowings belong in debt.
  • Mixing currencies or reporting dates for debt and cash.
  • Entering cash as a negative number to represent an overdraft; the tool rejects negatives, so put the overdraft in the debt figure instead.
  • Reading a negative result as an error; it simply means net cash.

About this calculator

This calculator computes net debt, total debt − cash and cash equivalents, showing the borrowing a company would still owe if it used every dollar of cash on hand to pay debt down immediately. A company can look highly leveraged on gross debt alone yet be conservatively financed once its large cash pile is netted out — or the reverse, if its "cash" is mostly restricted or tied up.

Credit analysts and M&A dealmakers rely on net debt because it feeds directly into enterprise value (EV = market cap + net debt) and into leverage ratios like net debt/EBITDA, which lenders use as a covenant to judge how much more borrowing a company can safely take on.

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