Cost of Debt Formula: What It Means and How To Calculate It

The question here is, “Would it correct to use the 6.0% annual interest rate as the company’s cost of debt? For example, a bank might lend $1 million in debt capital to a company at an annual interest rate of 6.0% with a ten-year term. Let’s say you want to take out a loan that will allow you to write off $2,000 in interest for the year. If the cost of debt is less than that $2,000, the loan is a smart idea. But if it’s more, you might want to look at other options with lower interest cost.

These events all affect a company’s weighted average cost of capital. Let’s imagine a publicly traded company that only operates in the U.S. with a market cap (market value of equity) of $15,000,000. Using the capital asset pricing model, we found that the company’s cost of equity is 16.5%, and based on the yield to maturity of the company’s Virtual Accounting Making the Switch debt, its cost of debt is 8%. Since the company only operates in the U.S., the corporate tax rate is a flat 21%. Cost of capital largely depends on how the company finances its operations. Most companies have a mix of debt and equity — some of the company is funded by loans, while the rest is funded by selling stocks or bonds to shareholders.

Why this matters for your small business

The degree of the cost of debt depends entirely on the borrower’s creditworthiness, so higher costs mean the borrower is considered risky. You can also use WACC on its own to determine if an investment is worth it. If the proposed https://simple-accounting.org/bookkeeping-payroll-services/ investment has a lower rate of return than the company’s weighted average cost of capital, it may not be worth undertaking. Not only are you paying the principal balance, but you’re also responsible for the interest.

• For example, a bank might lend $1 million in debt capital to a company at an annual interest rate of 6.0% with a ten-year term.
• In the calculation of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), the formula uses the “after-tax” cost of debt.
• The cost of debt (Kd) is the cost that a company has to develop its activity or an investment project through its financing in the form of credits and loans or debt issuance (see external financing).
• They also use it to analyze the potential risk of future business decisions.
• These funding sources need to be weighted in WACC because debt and equity have different rates of return or different costs of capital.
• A high debt cost also indicates a higher level of financial risk for a company.

Much of this information can be found in local libraries in such publications as Moody’s Company Data; Standard & Poor’s Descriptions, the Outlook, and Bond Guide; and Value Line’s Investment Survey. In the United States, the FINRA TRACE database also is an excellent source of interest rate information. However, when conditions have changed, the analyst must estimate the cost of debt reflecting current market interest rates and default risk. Exhibit 18.6 illustrates the calculation of WACC in cross-border transactions. Note the adjustments made to the estimate of the cost of equity for firm size and country risk.

Understanding WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital)

Based on the loan amount and interest rate, interest expense will be $16,000, and the tax rate is 30%. A free Google Sheets DCF Model Template to calculate the free cash flows and present values and determine the market value of an investment and its ROI. The reason why the after-tax cost of debt is a metric of interest is the fact that interest expenses are tax deductible. This means that the after-tax cost of debt is lower than the before-tax cost of debt. The YTM refers to the internal rate of return (IRR) of a bond, which is a more accurate approximation of the current, updated interest rate if the company tried to raise debt as of today.