By JULIA KAGAN

Reviewed by MARGARET JAMES

Fact checked by SUZANNE KVILHAUG

编写人：JULIA KAGAN

审核人：MARGARET JAMES

事实核查人：SUZANNE KVILHAUG

What Is an Interest Expense?

什么是利息费用？

An interest expense is the cost incurred by an entity for borrowed funds. Interest expense is a non-operating expense shown on the income statement. It represents interest payable on any borrowings—bonds, loans, convertible debt or lines of credit. It is essentially calculated as the interest rate times the outstanding principal amount of the debt. Interest expense on the income statement represents interest accrued during the period covered by the financial statements, and not the amount of interest paid over that period. While interest expense is tax-deductible for companies, in an individual's case, it depends on their jurisdiction and also on the loan's purpose.

利息费用是企业因借入资金发生的成本，作为营业外支出在利润表列示，表示债券、贷款、可转换债务或信用额度等借款的应付利息。计算公式大体上为利率乘以未偿债务本金。利润表上的利息费用表示财务报表所涉期间的应计利息，而非该期间已支付的利息数额。对公司而言，利息费用可以享受税收减免，但就个人来说，需取决于其司法管辖区和贷款目的。

For most people, mortgage interest is the single-biggest category of interest expense over their lifetimes as interest can total tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage as illustrated by online calculators.

对于大多数人来说，抵押贷款利息是他们一生中需要支付的最大一类利息费用，通过在线计算器可算出，在抵押贷款期限内，该利息总计可达数万美元。

How Interest Expenses Work

了解利息费用

Interest expense often appears as a line item on a company’s balance sheet since there are usually differences in timing between interest accrued and interest paid. If interest has been accrued but has not yet been paid, it would appear in the “current liabilities” section of the balance sheet. Conversely, if interest has been paid in advance, it would appear in the “current assets” section as a prepaid item.

利息费用常作为公司资产负债表的一个项目进行列示，因为应计利息与已付利息之间通常存在时间差。如果利息应付但尚未支付，利息就会在资产负债表的“流动负债”部分列示。相反，如果提前支付利息，利息就会在资产负债表的“流动资产”部分作为预付项目列示。

While mortgage interest is tax-deductible in the United States, it is not tax-deductible in Canada. The loan's purpose is also critical in determining the tax-deductibility of interest expense. For example, if a loan is used for bona fide investment purposes, most jurisdictions would allow the interest expense for this loan to be deducted from taxes. However, there are restrictions even on such tax deductibility. In Canada, for instance, if the loan is taken out for an investment that is held in a registered account—such as a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), or Tax-Free Savings Account—interest expense is not permitted to be tax-deductible.

抵押贷款利息在美国可以享受税收减免，但是在加拿大不可以。贷款目的对于确定利息费用是否可以享受税收减免来说同样至关重要。比如，贷款是出于善意投资目的，大多数司法管辖区会允许从税款中扣除该贷款的利息费用。但是，这种税收减免也设有限制。比如，在加拿大，如果贷款用于注册退休储蓄计划（RRSP）、注册教育储蓄计划（RESP）或免税储蓄账户等注册账户中持有的投资，利息费用不得享受税收减免。

The amount of interest expense for companies that have debt depends on the broad level of interest rates in the economy. Interest expense will be on the higher side during periods of rampant inflation since most companies will have incurred debt that carries a higher interest rate. On the other hand, during periods of muted inflation, interest expense will be on the lower side.

公司负债的，其利息费用取决于宏观利率水平。若通货膨胀居高不下，大多数公司的债务利率较高，利息费用也会偏高。另一方面，若通货膨胀率较低，利息费用也会偏低。

The amount of interest expense has a direct bearing on profitability, especially for companies with a huge debt load. Heavily indebted companies may have a hard time serving their debt loads during economic downturns. At such times, investors and analysts pay particularly close attention to solvency ratios such as debt to equity and interest coverage.

利息费用与盈利能力有直接关系，尤其对于债务负担巨大的公司来说有直接影响。在经济低迷时期，公司负债累累，可能很难偿还债务。在这种时候，投资者和分析师会特别关注债务股本比和利息覆盖率等偿债能力比率。

KEY TAKEAWAYS

关键要点

·An interest expense is an accounting item that is incurred due to servicing debt.

利息费用是因偿还债务而产生的会计项目。

·Interest expenses are often given favorable tax treatment.

利息费用常常享有税收优惠。

·For companies, the greater the interest expense the greater the potential impact on profitability. Coverage ratios can be used to dig deeper.

对于公司而言，利息费用越高，对盈利能力产生的潜在影响越大。那么，可通过覆盖率进行更深入的研究。

Interest Coverage Ratio

利息覆盖率

The interest coverage ratio is defined as the ratio of a company’s operating income (or EBIT—earnings before interest or taxes) to its interest expense. The ratio measures a company’s ability to meet the interest expense on its debt with its operating income. A higher ratio indicates that a company has a better capacity to cover its interest expense.

利息覆盖率是公司营业利润（或息税前利润）与利息费用之间的比率，用于衡量公司通过营业利润支付债务利息费用的能力。比率越高，即表示公司越有能力支付利息费用。

For example, a company with $100 million in debt at 8% interest has $8 million in annual interest expense. If annual EBIT is $80 million, then its interest coverage ratio is 10, which shows that the company can comfortably meet its obligations to pay interest. Conversely, if EBIT falls below $24 million, the interest coverage ratio of less than 3 signals that the company may have a hard time staying solvent as an interest coverage of less than 3 times is often seen as a "red flag."

比如，一家公司负债1亿美元，利率为8%，一年的利息费用为800万美元。如果一年的息税前利润为8000万美元，其利息覆盖率即为10，表示这家公司有能力履行支付利息的义务。相反，如果息税前利润低于2400万美元，其利息覆盖率即小于3，表示这家公司难以保持偿付能力。通常情况下，利息覆盖率小于3，视为一种“危险信号”。