# Current liabilities

> Obligations a company must settle within a year, on the balance sheet date.

Updated Oct 17, 2026.

Current liabilities are obligations due within a year, or within the operating cycle if that is longer: amounts owed to suppliers, wages and taxes payable, the current portion of long-term debt, short-term borrowings, and payments customers have made for things not yet delivered (deferred revenue).

## How Listed shows it

As reported, the total of the current section of the balance sheet: `LiabilitiesCurrent`, or `CurrentLiabilities` for IFRS filers. It is the denominator of the [current ratio](/glossary/current-ratio).

## Reading it

Deferred revenue is a liability, but it is settled by delivering a service, not by paying cash. A subscription business with large deferred revenue can have high current liabilities without a cash problem.

## When it says "not reported"

Banks, insurers and some other financial companies present an unclassified balance sheet with no current subtotal.

## Related terms

- [Current assets](/glossary/current-assets.md)
- [Current ratio](/glossary/current-ratio.md)
- [Total debt](/glossary/total-debt.md)

All terms: [/glossary.md](/glossary.md)