Free EBITDA calculator
Work out a company's EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — from net income or from operating income, with the EBITDA margin updated live, as you type.
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Estimates only, based on the figures you enter. Not financial or accounting advice.
Results are estimates. Consult a professional.
What is EBITDA?
EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It measures a company's profit from its core operations before four costs that have little to do with how well the business runs day to day: the interest on its debt, its tax bill, and the two non-cash charges for wearing down assets — depreciation and amortization. What's left is a popular gauge of operating earning power. This EBITDA calculator returns that figure, plus the EBITDA margin, the moment you enter the numbers from an income statement.
Because EBITDA strips out financing, tax, and non-cash charges, it lets you compare two companies on operating performance alone — even if one carries heavy debt and the other none, or one owns its plant outright and the other rents. That neutrality is why private-equity buyers, lenders, and analysts reach for EBITDA. It is also why it is so easy to misread, a point this page returns to below.
How to calculate EBITDA: the two methods
There are two standard ways to calculate EBITDA, and they give the same answer. The net-income build-up starts at the bottom of the income statement and adds four items back. The EBIT build-up starts from operating income and adds back only the non-cash charges. Use whichever set of numbers you have in front of you — this calculator supports both, with a toggle.
Method 1: build up from net income
- Start with net income. The bottom line — profit after everything, including interest, taxes, and D&A.
- Add back interest expense. EBITDA is a pre-financing figure, so put back the interest paid on debt.
- Add back income taxes. EBITDA is a pre-tax figure, so put back the tax provision too.
- Add back depreciation and amortization. These are non-cash charges. Net income + interest + taxes + D&A = EBITDA.
Method 2: build up from operating income (EBIT)
- Start with operating income (EBIT). Earnings before interest and taxes, already free of financing and tax effects.
- Add back depreciation and amortization. EBIT keeps these non-cash charges in; EBITDA removes them. EBIT + D&A = EBITDA.
The two methods meet in the middle. Net income plus interest plus taxes equals EBIT; add depreciation and amortization to either side and you land on the same EBITDA. That identity — EBITDA = EBIT + D&A — is the cleanest way to remember what the metric is.
A worked example using the EBITDA calculator
Northwind Co. reported $1,000,000 in revenue this year and net income of $97,500. Its income statement shows $20,000 in interest, $32,500 in taxes, $30,000 of depreciation, and $20,000 of amortization. Its operating income (EBIT) was $150,000. Here is how the calculator works through it both ways.
Step 1 — From net income: add back four items
Start at the bottom line of $97,500. Add back the $20,000 of interest and the $32,500 of taxes to reach EBIT of $150,000. Then add back the $30,000 of depreciation and the $20,000 of amortization. The total is $200,000 of EBITDA.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net income | $97,500 |
| Add interest expense | +$20,000 |
| Add income taxes | +$32,500 |
| Add depreciation | +$30,000 |
| Add amortization | +$20,000 |
| EBITDA | $200,000 |
Method 1: EBITDA = net income + interest + taxes + depreciation + amortization = $200,000.
Step 2 — From EBIT: add back D&A only
Now check it the short way. Start with operating income (EBIT) of $150,000 and add back the $30,000 of depreciation and the $20,000 of amortization: $150,000 + $50,000 = $200,000. Same answer — which is exactly what should happen.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Operating income (EBIT) | $150,000 |
| Add depreciation | +$30,000 |
| Add amortization | +$20,000 |
| EBITDA | $200,000 |
Method 2: EBITDA = EBIT + depreciation + amortization = $200,000.
Step 3 — Divide by revenue for the EBITDA margin
Now see how that compares. A 20% EBITDA margin sits at the top of the 8–18% range typical for manufacturing, and in the band investors treat as strong across most sectors. But the dollar figure hides a trap: that $50,000 of depreciation reflects real machines that will need replacing. The sections below set out industry benchmarks, the related profit metrics, and why EBITDA is not the cash-flow number it is often mistaken for.
EBITDA margin and what counts as good by industry
The EBITDA margin turns the raw dollar figure into a percentage you can compare across companies of any size: it is EBITDA divided by revenue. A 20% EBITDA margin means 20 cents of every revenue dollar survives as EBITDA. Because it is size-neutral, the margin — not the dollar figure — is the number to compare between a small business and a multinational.
There is no universal 'good' EBITDA margin — it depends entirely on the industry. A 5% margin can be healthy in high-volume distribution yet weak in software. As a rough guide: low single digits suit thin-margin distribution and retail; double digits are solid for manufacturing and home services; and 20% or more is the territory of professional services, SaaS, and pharmaceuticals. The honest benchmark is always the company's own sector and its own history.
| Industry | Typical 'good' EBITDA margin |
|---|---|
| Distribution / wholesale | 3–8% |
| Restaurants & food service | 8–15% |
| Manufacturing | 8–18% |
| Home & field services | 10–20% |
| Professional services | 15–25% |
| SaaS / software | 20–40% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 30–35% |
General ranges drawn across financial-analysis sources — always compare against direct peers, not a universal threshold.
EBITDA vs EBIT vs operating income vs net income
EBITDA sits at the top of a ladder of profitability metrics, and it is constantly confused with the rungs below it. The four are best understood by what each one adds back or strips out as you move down the income statement.
| Metric | What it measures | vs EBITDA |
|---|---|---|
| EBITDA | Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortization | — |
| EBIT | Operating profit before interest and taxes | EBITDA − D&A — keeps non-cash charges in |
| Operating income | Profit from core operations only | EBIT minus non-operating items |
| Net income | The bottom line, after everything | EBITDA − interest − taxes − D&A |
Each metric differs from EBITDA by exactly which costs it includes or adds back.
EBITDA vs EBIT
The only difference is depreciation and amortization. EBITDA = EBIT + D&A. EBIT keeps the non-cash charges in, so it shows profit after the cost of using up capital assets; EBITDA adds them back, which is why it is treated as a rough proxy for operating cash flow. For a capital-intensive business with heavy depreciation, the gap between the two can be large — and that gap is exactly where EBITDA can flatter a struggling company.
EBITDA vs operating income
Operating income counts only profit from core operations. EBITDA starts from operating income (or EBIT, often the same figure) and adds back D&A. For most companies operating income and EBIT are identical; when a company has non-operating income or expenses, EBIT and operating income diverge, and EBITDA inherits whichever starting point the analyst uses.
EBITDA vs net income
Net income is what shareholders truly keep, after interest, taxes, and D&A. EBITDA adds all four back. That makes EBITDA useful for comparing operating performance across companies, but it also means a company can show healthy EBITDA while reporting little or no net income — because the costs EBITDA ignores are real.
Why EBITDA is not cash flow
Here is the most important thing this calculator can tell you: EBITDA is not a measure of cash flow. It is often sold as one — as a quick proxy for the cash a business throws off — and that shortcut is where investors get burned. EBITDA adds back depreciation, but it ignores the cash the company must spend to replace the assets being depreciated. It also ignores changes in working capital and the interest and taxes that genuinely leave the bank account.
- It ignores capital expenditure. Adding back depreciation pretends the assets never need replacing. A factory or a fleet does — and that capex is real cash out the door.
- It ignores working-capital changes. Cash tied up in growing inventory and receivables never appears in EBITDA, yet it can drain a fast-growing company dry.
- It ignores interest and taxes. For a leveraged or profitable company, both are unavoidable cash costs that EBITDA deliberately removes.
EBITDA is also a non-GAAP measure — it is not defined under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and the SEC regulates how public companies present it. That means two firms can compute "adjusted EBITDA" differently. Treat EBITDA as one lens on operating profit, then cross-check it against real operating cash flow and free cash flow before trusting it.
Why analysts and buyers still use EBITDA
If EBITDA has so many holes, why is it everywhere? Because, used with its limits in mind, it answers a useful question: how profitable are the core operations, before the distortions of financing, tax, and accounting policy? That neutrality makes it the workhorse of deal-making and credit analysis.
- Valuation multiples. Buyers price businesses on the EV/EBITDA multiple — enterprise value divided by EBITDA — because it is capital-structure-neutral and comparable across peers. EBITDA is the single most common basis for valuing private companies.
- Credit and lending. Lenders size loans against EBITDA and track the net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio, a standard covenant in debt agreements.
- Peer comparison. Because it removes financing and tax differences, EBITDA lets you line up competitors on operating profitability alone, regardless of how each is financed.
To turn an EBITDA into a valuation, pair this calculator with the enterprise value calculator and apply a sector multiple — but anchor the result against the cash-flow reality from the section above.
Where to find the numbers for this calculator
Every figure this calculator needs comes from a company's income statement and the depreciation and amortization line on its cash-flow statement, both published in quarterly (10-Q) and annual (10-K) filings with the SEC or summarised on any major financial website. Pick the method that matches the numbers you have.
- For the net-income method — net income (the bottom line), interest expense, the income tax provision, and depreciation and amortization (usually broken out on the cash-flow statement).
- For the EBIT method — operating income, which most income statements report directly, plus the same depreciation and amortization figures.
- For the margin — revenue, the top line, divided into the EBITDA you compute.
Formula and sources
This calculator uses the standard definitions of EBITDA set out in corporate-finance references: the net-income build-up EBITDA = net income + interest + taxes + depreciation + amortization, the equivalent EBITDA = EBIT + depreciation + amortization, and EBITDA margin = EBITDA ÷ revenue. Both methods reconcile to the same figure for a given period. EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure; the SEC regulates how public companies present it.
Corporate Finance Institute — What Is EBITDA? Definition, Formula & Examples.Investopedia — EBITDA: Definition, Calculation Formulas, History, and Criticisms.Wall Street Prep — Warren Buffett on EBITDA: Quote and Criticism.US Securities and Exchange Commission — Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations).Frequently asked questions about the free EBITDA calculator
About this EBITDA calculator
This EBITDA calculator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored. Enter the figures from an income statement using either build-up method and the EBITDA, the depreciation and amortization added back, and the EBITDA margin update instantly. It is a free, no-sign-up tool for owners, students, lenders, and analysts.
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