long-term debt

An item on a corporate balance sheet in the liabilities section. Long-term liabilities are obligations that have maturities that are more than one year away. Long-term debt includes bonds and pension obligations. The majority of long-term debt that firms accrue comes from issuing bonds that have periodic interest expense payments. A company using long-term debt properly can generate value for shareholders. However, the amount of long-term debt on a company’s books should be reasonable.