Off-balance-sheet describes obligations that are not recorded as debt on the balance sheet: operating leases, guarantees, special-purpose entities, or commitments disclosed only in the notes.
表外指没有作为负债记在资产负债表上的义务：经营租赁、担保、特殊目的实体，或只在附注中披露的承诺。
Off-balance-sheet is legal and common — lease accounting alone puts trillions of future payments in the notes. The danger is when the disclosure is thin and the trigger is correlated with stress: a guarantee called in exactly when the guarantor is weakest. Enron was an extreme case, but the pattern is ordinary.
表外安排合法且普遍——仅租赁会计一项，就有数万亿未来付款放在附注里。
危险出现在两处：披露太薄，以及触发条件与压力相关。担保往往在担保人最虚弱的时候被调用。安然是极端案例，但这个模式很平常。
| Move变动 | Where it appeared出现位置 | What it means这句话在说什么 |
|---|---|---|
| — | The AI trade meets a $20 billion reality check 「表外」 · 第 7 张术语卡 | Oracle would have investors set up a company that buys the chips and leases them to Oracle, bridging the gap "while limiting Oracle's own borrowing". 它解决的是「时间差」：芯片要现在付钱，云收入要几年后才到，如果全记在自己账上，资产负债率和信用评级立刻受压。但会计上并非随便就能出表：只要公司承担了实质风险或享有实质收益，规则要求并表。所以读这类结构，要找的是承诺（最低租约、担保、回购义务）—— 承诺比负债难藏。 |
| $3tn | Amazon seeks to offload $8bn of Nvidia chips to investors 「表外」 · 第 7 张术语卡 | Nine big US tech companies carried about $3tn of these commitments, most of them AI-related: roughly triple what they owe on existing leases and borrowings. 这不是造假，是会计规则允许的处理方式；但它会让「报表上看起来的杠杆」明显低于「真实承诺」。看一家重资产公司，除了资产负债表，一定要翻脚注里的三项：租赁承诺、采购承诺、对外担保。 |
Off-balance-sheet means hidden
It is disclosed in the notes; hidden means not disclosed.
It is always aggressive accounting
Leases and pensions are normal and required to be disclosed.
It does not affect credit
Rating agencies add it back when calculating adjusted debt.
· off-balance-sheet debt
· special purpose vehicle
· contingent liability
· lease obligations
· guarantees
off-balance-sheet debt 表外债务；special purpose vehicle 特殊目的实体；contingent liability 或有负债；lease obligations 租赁义务；guarantees 担保。
· off-balance-sheet vs undisclosed
· operating vs finance lease
off-balance-sheet 是表外但披露，undisclosed 是根本没披露；operating lease 经营租赁，finance lease 融资租赁。
Including off-balance-sheet liabilities, adjusted debt rises to $Xbn.
分析句：把表外负债算进来，调整后债务升至 X 亿美元——including 引出调整口径。
“Oracle would have investors set up a company that buys the chips and leases them to Oracle, bridging the gap…”
“Nine big US tech companies carried about $3tn of these commitments, most of them AI-related: roughly triple w…”