"Simply put, the debt-to-equity ratio is found on a company's balance sheet with two simple figures - their total liabilities and shareholder equity. Financial and banking industries often have to consider debt-to-equity ratios higher than 2.0 common and acceptable because of the large amounts of loaned money and high financial leverage by those institutions. Ratios lower than 1.0 are desirable and considered firm and financially stable. Any time I've worked with ratios exceeding 1.0, I've surveyed the organization to determine their overall risk and hopefully provide a win-win situation."