Noun

liabilities

1. Plural form of liability.
2. (finance) An amount of money in a company that is owed to someone and has to be paid in the future, such as tax, debt, interest, and mortgage payments.

In financial accounting, a liability is defined as an obligation of an entity arising from past transactions or events, the settlement of which may result in the transfer or use of assets, provision of services or other yielding of economic benefits in the future.

• All type of borrowing from persons or banks for improving a business or person income which is payable during short or long time.
• They embody a duty or responsibility to others that entails settlement by future transfer or use of assets, provision of services or other yielding of economic benefits, at a specified or determinable date, on occurrence of a specified event, or on demand;
• The duty or responsibility obligates the entity leaving it little or no discretion to avoid it; and,
• The transaction or event obligating the entity has already occurred.

Liabilities in financial accounting need not be legally enforceable; but can be based on equitable obligations or constructive obligations. An equitable obligation is a duty based on ethical or moral considerations. A constructive obligation is an obligation that can be inferred from a set of facts in a particular situation as opposed to a contractually based obligation.

The accounting equation relates assets, liabilities, and owner's equity:

Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity

The accounting equation is the mathematical structure of the balance sheet.

The Australian Accounting Research Foundation [1] defines liabilities as: "future sacrifice of economic benefits that the entity is presently obliged to make to other entities as a result of past transactions and other past events."

Probably the most accepted accounting definition of liability is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The following is a quotation from IFRS Framework:

A liability is a present obligation of the enterprise arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow from the enterprise of resources embodying economic benefits

– F.49(b)

Regulations as to the recognition of liabilities are different all over the world, but are roughly similar to those of the IASB.

Examples of types of liabilities include: money owing on a loan, money owing on a mortgage, or an IOU.