Interactive tool

Leverage Ratio Calculator

Leverage is not one ratio. A bank looks at debt-to-equity, a real estate lender at debt-to-assets, and a sponsor at net debt to EBITDA — and the same balance sheet can look conservative on one and stretched on another. Enter your numbers once to see all three.

Net debt: $5,100,000 — total debt less cash.

Your leverage

Debt-to-equity

Total debt ÷ total equity

Typical comfort: under 2.0x

1.50x

Debt-to-assets

Total debt ÷ total assets

Typical comfort: under 60%

50.00%

Net debt / EBITDA

(Total debt − cash) ÷ EBITDA

Typical comfort: under 3.0x

2.13x

Benchmarks are general middle-market comfort zones, not covenant levels. Capital-intensive businesses carry more leverage than asset-light ones, and a credit agreement will define debt and EBITDA on its own terms.

Net debt to EBITDA is the ratio most credit agreements actually test, and the one a buyer will price off. For how the three ratios differ and what each one is really telling you, read Leverage Ratio & Debt-to-Equity, Explained. To test the same leverage against your actual covenant and see how far EBITDA could fall before it binds, run the Covenant Headroom Calculator or the DSCR Calculator. Book a working session to have it run on your own numbers.

Book a working session.

A 20-minute call, a clear read on your numbers, and a straight answer on whether a fractional CFO is the right call right now.