What does business debt refer to?

• A. When the business owes other people money
• B. The total value of assets
• C. Owner's equity
• D. Revenue from sales

Answer: (A)

Debt in a business refers to obligations the company must repay to others. It’s money the business owes to external parties—bank loans, money owed to suppliers, or other borrowings. This is a liability, a claim against the business that represents future outflows of resources to settle.

This concept sits on the balance sheet as liabilities and helps explain why assets equal liabilities plus owner's equity. It’s different from assets (the resources the business owns and uses), from owner’s equity (the owner’s claim after liabilities), and from revenue (the income earned from selling goods or services).

So the description that the business owes other people money best captures what debt is. The other statements describe assets, equity, or revenue, which are not debt.