should all of its debts be called immediately by lenders the company would be unable to pay all its debt even if the total debt to total assets ratio indicates it might be able to 
as with all other ratios the trend of the total debt to total assets ratio should be evaluated over time this will help assess whether the company s financial risk profile is improving or deteriorating for example a trend of increasing leverage use might indicate that a business is unwilling or unable to pay down its debt which could signify issues in the future 