What refers to an asset. Enterprise assets

An organization's assets and liabilities are two components of any financial system, reflected in the sections of the balance sheet. Everyone knows these concepts, but not everyone can say with confidence what they mean. Let's talk about them, find out what unites them, how they differ and why they are inseparable in financial reports and ordinary everyday situations.

The balance sheet is the focus of assets and sources

Balance is balance in any environment - material, physical, financial. The balance sheet is also a balance between property and the sources of its receipt. It is a convenient tabular form for summarizing information about the financial and economic condition of the company and the main report of the company, consisting of two parts - assets and liabilities.

At its core, this is a table that provides answers to a lot of questions:

• the size of the property owned by the company;
• volume of turnover of the enterprise;
• sources and reserves of financing.

Based on balance sheet data, an analysis of assets and liabilities is carried out, the future activities of the company are planned, shortcomings in production management are identified and measures are taken to eliminate them.

Two parts of balance

The structure of assets and liabilities in the balance sheet is extremely simple. The assets of the balance sheet reflect the value of the property. It consists of two sections, each of which takes into account different types of property: money, material assets, and even those things whose material form cannot be seen.

The second part of the balance sheet is the liability. It also has several sections.

They take into account the sources that participated in the acquisition of property: the company's share (authorized) capital, various funds and reserves, profits and loan obligations.

This is how the balance sheet principle is observed - the value of property (assets) corresponds to the total amount of sources (liabilities) for its acquisition. The two parts of the balance sheet, i.e. assets and liabilities are always equal. It is impossible to buy property for an amount greater than what is available in the company.

Main characteristics of assets

There are several groups of enterprise property:

• Current assets are money available on hand or accumulated in settlement, current, currency and other bank accounts, as well as other working capital, the main quality of which is the ability to quickly turn into money. For example, accounts receivable from counterparties capable of repaying them within a year.

• Financial investments do not circulate in current operations. They are invested on long-term terms in construction projects, the purchase of securities, shares of various corporations, participate in investment projects and cannot be converted into cash throughout the year.

• Long-term and long-term assets or fixed assets (structures, equipment, machines and other objects).

• Intangible assets (trademarks, patents, brands, licenses, software products).

The cost of all listed groups of property is reflected in two sections of the first part of the balance sheet.

Organizational assets: first section of the balance sheet

The property of the company consists of objects owned by the enterprise. They are used in the activities of the company from which profit is planned.

The assets are heterogeneous in composition. The first section is entirely devoted to accounting for non-current assets, i.e. funds that do not circulate in the company, but are involved in the production process. Any product is manufactured on machines and production lines located in production buildings. These are the main assets.

In addition to facilities, structures and equipment, software products, trademarks and even the business reputation of the manufacturer are directly involved in the manufacturing process. Such intangible objects also belong to property and are defined as intangible assets.

Assets of the second section

The assets of the second section of the company’s balance sheet take into account current assets, i.e. those directly involved in the company’s turnover:

• productive reserves;
• goods purchased for resale;
• finished products;
• cash in the company's cash desk and bank accounts;
• accounts receivable, which is the debt of buyers for products that have already been exported, but have not yet been paid for.

So, in the second section of the balance sheet assets, all the company’s current assets are taken into account.

Liabilities of the enterprise: funds, reserves, liabilities

Assets do not appear out of nowhere, they are acquired from generated sources - liabilities, thus sources participate in the formation of property. In dry accounting language, liabilities are given the following definition: the totality of all sources and obligations of the company.

Here are some of them:

• Authorized or share capital, consisting of contributions from the co-founders of the company, is the start-up capital that forms almost any type of asset.

• Additional capital creates additional financial resources, which appear, as a rule, during the revaluation of fixed assets. They also increase the company's capital, which is used to increase assets.

• Retained earnings are the final financial result of the company's work in the reporting period and are used at the discretion of management: to expand production or pay dividends.

• Credits or borrowings also belong to the category of balance sheet liabilities - a source from which funds can be used to reconstruct production or repair existing facilities.

• Accounts payable arise periodically to personnel, suppliers or for the payment of taxes and show the size of a particular debt.

Distribution of liabilities in balance sheet sections

Liabilities also have a heterogeneous structure and are accounted for in different sections of the balance sheet.

The third section of the balance sheet and the first in its passive part accumulates information about the amount of authorized, additional, reserve capital and retained earnings received as a result of the company’s activities.

The fourth section reflects information about borrowed funds - credits, borrowings - short-term or long-term.

The fifth section of the balance sheet provides complete information about the presence and volume of the company's accounts payable.

The total amount of all liabilities of the second part of the balance sheet always corresponds to the amount of assets reflected in the first.

Interaction in balance

A company's assets and liabilities closely interact with each other. Any change in one part of the balance immediately entails a corresponding change in the other. Moreover, when liabilities increase by the same amount, the size of assets increases. The same goes for lower prices. That is why the balance of the parts of the balance is not disturbed.

It should be remembered that changes in the value of assets always occur from changes in the size of liabilities, because they are the sources of assets. Assets can be increased or decreased solely at the expense of liabilities. Both parts of the table are equal to each other, which is why it is called balance. When running a business properly, these two parts remain balanced.

Let's look at how the dynamics of assets and liabilities changes in practice. For example: a company takes out a loan in the amount of 1 million rubles. Accounting entries must be made twice:

• the amount of 1 million rubles is reflected in the current account in the balance sheet asset;
• the same amount is taken into account in the liability side of the balance sheet in the liability section (after all, the loan will have to be repaid).

It is the double entry of accounting transactions that ensures a reliable reflection of the transactions performed. In a similar way, balance is maintained between the parts of the balance sheet. Competent management of assets and liabilities is the art of great financiers and ordinary accountants.

The formula verified by international financial organizations accurately reflects the interaction of these two concepts:

Assets = Liabilities = Capital + Liabilities.

Having defined the concepts of “assets and liabilities” and “liabilities,” we will understand the usual, but not always clear, meaning of the word “capital”. Generally accepted rules establish that capital is the portion of a company's assets remaining after deducting all assumed liabilities.

Personal assets and liabilities

Understanding the basics of accounting helps you understand the relationship between liabilities and
assets at the everyday level in relation to personal finance and family budget, as well as correctly forming it. If we transfer the accepted accounting concept to personal finance, we get the following picture:

• assets are everything that a person owns and uses, regardless of whether it requires costs or generates income;
• liabilities are a person’s obligations: debts, taxes, insurance premiums, all expenses + retained earnings remaining after all payments.

There is no distributed profit as such. Once distributed, it ceases to exist and becomes an asset. Accumulated profit is capital. This is how accounting assets and liabilities are projected onto private life.

For a healthy and high-quality sexual life, it is important to determine the sexual role of each partner. It is known that there are several roles of partners, namely active, passive and generalist. First you need to figure out who is an asset and a liability in sex. It should be remembered that both roles are equal.

Assets

Let's consider what an asset is. The asset often acts as a partner from whom the initiative in sex comes. The active is called so because it produces active actions over the passive in sex. The assets themselves recognize the pleasure that comes from inducing the other partner into a passive role. However, the sexual role also manifests itself in everyday life. For example, an active person in sex will show clear dominance in oral communication with a person who manifests himself as a passive person in sex. When visiting a restaurant, the active will offer to pay the bill, and when entering the premises, the passive will be let in first. It is believed that assets dominate over liabilities in any situation, but in real life this is not entirely true.

Passive

Now we need to figure out who the passive is. A partner who plays a passive role in sex, takes on the actions of an active partner, and in other conditions often follows the lead of the active one, listens to his desires and rarely puts forward his own proposals. Often the younger partner plays a passive role. However, one should not think that people with low self-esteem or those who prefer to “stay back” in sex are passive. Passives are very often people who lead an active social life and have influence, but in sexual matters they prefer to relax and give an active role to their partner.

Station wagon

A universalist is considered to be a person who from time to time prefers to change his own role: to be either an asset or a liability. In this case, a pair for a station wagon can be either a station wagon, an asset or a liability. But pairs with two assets or two liabilities are quite difficult to come across. According to statistics, 57% of people consider themselves generalists in bed, 24% are inclined to take an active role and 19% to a passive role in sex. If partners often change roles in sex, then they should be considered generalists.

An asset is an economic resource, an item of tangible or intangible property that is owned by an individual or organization and generates income.

In an accounting system, assets are recorded on the balance sheet and are purchased or created to increase the value of a company or benefit from its activities. This is the part of the balance sheet opposite the liabilities (the sum of capital and liabilities). The difference between the book value of assets and liabilities is the value of equity, which is called “net assets.” The higher the net asset value, the stronger the financial condition of the company.

Types of assets

• Material and intangible. The first have a physical form (equipment, land, buildings, vehicles). The cost of tangible assets used for more than one year (except land) is subject to depreciation, i.e., the costs associated with their depreciation are distributed over their entire service life. Intangible assets are resources such as securities, trademarks, copyrights, patents, software, and goodwill.
• Long-term and short-term (current). The service life of the former exceeds one year (or one operating cycle). Current assets are operated for up to one year (or one operating cycle).
• Non-current and negotiable. All assets are divided into non-current and current. They are displayed in the first and second sections of the balance sheet (under similar names) at their original (book) value. Non-current assets are long-term resources that are involved in production and are not consumed in the course of daily business activities (fixed assets, intangible assets, capital investments). Current assets are short-term economic resources that are used in operating activities and include cash and cash equivalents (treasury bills, certificates of deposit, etc.), accounts receivable, and inventories.

Asset liquidity

• illiquid. Non-current assets (equipment, buildings, construction in progress) are considered illiquid, since the process of their sale (transforming property into money) requires a long period of time (more than one year);
• low liquid. Current assets converted into cash within one year (short-term accounts receivable, inventory);
• highly liquid. The greatest liquidity is characterized by cash and short-term financial investments used to pay current obligations.

Return on assets

The classification and types of assets of an enterprise are divided depending on the nature of ownership, form of use, composition, degree of liquidity and other basic characteristics. What are the company's assets? How are they reflected in the company's balance sheet? Let's analyze the structure of business property values ​​from the perspective of financial management - a detailed table of indicators with examples is given below.

Concept and classification of assets

All assets are divided into large groups, covering both tangible and intangible objects. At the same time, the property of an enterprise includes not only inventory items, fixed assets, intangible assets, but also cash and equivalents, as well as financial investments, that is, any valuables whose value can be expressed in monetary value. There are many types of assets that are reflected on the right side of the balance sheet, balancing the total capital of the enterprise (liabilities).

Asset classification:

1. By turnover rate– for long-term non-current (with a circulation rate in financial and economic activities of more than 12 months) and short-term current (continuously involved in the company’s activities).
2. By degree of liquidity– depending on the speed of transformation of the asset into free cash, they are divided into maximum liquid (A1), difficult to sell (A4) and medium - quickly sold (A2), as well as slowly sold (A3).
3. By substance or materiality– on tangible or real assets - This, for example, finished products, goods, raw materials, fuel and other physical assets. This group also includes intangible objects (business reputation, software, trademarks, etc.) and financial objects (investments, cash and non-cash funds, receivables).
4. By sources of formation– into general gross and net. The former are also called total total assets - in the balance sheet this is the final indicator of the “Assets” section. Net are calculated in accordance with the established procedure, based on the formed assets only at the expense of the company’s own funds. Receiving negative assets as a result of the indicator may be one of the main signs of the need for forced liquidation of the business.
5. By nature of ownership– rented, used free of charge or owned.
6. By type of tax calculations– for deferred assets accounted for in the account. 09, and deferred tax liabilities accepted under account. 77. The concepts are used by those firms that use the norms of PBU 18/02 for the purpose of legally reducing the tax base for profit tax.
7. According to the degree of conditionality of the assessment of obligations– for contingent liabilities and contingent assets in accordance with PBU 8/2010.
8. When working with various financial instruments– highlight the underlying assets.
9. When purchasing fixed assets using borrowed obligations– the term investment asset is used, that is, such a property object, work with which requires additional financing and a long time.
10. Other assets- This those objects that, according to the decision of the enterprise, do not represent primary value for it. This gradation is established by each company independently depending on the industry specifics of its activities, legal status, production characteristics and other economic factors.

Types of assets - table

For ease of perception of information, the main types of assets are collected in the table below. Specific examples are given separately in accordance with the mentioned classification.

Asset table:

Rare types of assets:

• Distressed assets – that is, those that are extremely difficult to sell due to various legal and financial encumbrances. For example, problem assets are property under arrest, pledged; monetary debts of companies refusing to fulfill their obligations; objects with a disputed title, etc.
• Reserve assets are those that are under the direct control of the state. Shares of large companies, international bank accounts, monetary gold, SDRs (special drawing rights), etc., are all reserve assets.
• Information assets are intangible objects that are important for the enterprise. For example, an information asset is a company’s database, business image, etc.
• Economic assets are those objects whose individual or joint ownership brings certain economic benefits to the owners.

The concepts of asset and liability are the main components of the balance sheet of an organization, which summarizes materials about the activities and economic situation of the enterprise. Let us consider in more detail what the sections and items of the balance sheet show, as well as what is reflected in the assets and liabilities of the balance sheet.

The sections of the enterprise's balance sheet are shown in tabular form: the left side is Asset, the right side is Liability.

To submit Form 1 of the financial statements to the Federal Tax Service, according to Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 2, 2016 N 66n, the balance sheet of the enterprise is detailed by item. Detailing by item allows you to highlight the main types of property and liabilities of the enterprise.

In essence, balance sheet items are indicators of assets and liabilities of the balance sheet, which characterize economic assets and sources of formation by individual types. Using the list of balance sheet items, you can always obtain summary indicators for the statements for analyzing the financial activities of the enterprise.

To fill out data on balance sheet items, enterprises use the balances in their accounting accounts as of the reporting date, in accordance with PBU 4/99.

An important rule when drawing up a balance sheet for an enterprise is that the amount of an asset should always be equal to the amount of a liability.

Get 267 video lessons on 1C for free:

The assets of the enterprise's balance sheet reflect the following economic assets:

• fixed assets on account 01;
• intangible assets on account 04;
• investments in non-current assets on accounts 07 and 08;
• accounts receivable on accounts 62; 76; 73, etc.;
• financial investments on account 08;
• inventories on accounts 10; 26; 41; 43, etc.;
• cash in accounts 50; 51; 52; 55, etc.

The liability side of the enterprise’s balance sheet shows the sources of formation of economic assets:

• profit on accounts 84 and 99;
• authorized capital on account 80;
• reserve capital on account 82;
• additional capital on account 83;
• long-term loans and borrowings on account 67;
• short-term loans on account 66;
• accounts payable on accounts 60; 76; 70; 68 and 69.

It is important to note that the assets and liabilities of the balance sheet reflect different aspects of accounting for economic assets; they are interrelated. That is, when an asset increases by a certain amount, it is necessary to increase the liability by the same amount. This principle of increasing amounts also applies to liabilities.

How are the assets and liabilities of the balance sheet formed?

Let's look at it in more detail using an example.

Example 1. Let's say an enterprise purchased a fixed asset worth 500,000 rubles. for the production of semi-finished products.

Fixed assets are reflected in the asset, that is, the amount of the enterprise’s asset increased by 500,000 rubles. The other side is that you need to pay the supplier 500,000 rubles for the fixed asset. The debt to the supplier is reflected in the liability, that is, the company's liability also increased by 500,000 rubles. Therefore, the main condition is met: Active = Passive

Example 2. Let’s say an enterprise has taken out a loan from a bank in the amount of 750,000 rubles.

The enterprise's debt to the bank is reflected in the liability, that is, the enterprise's liability increased by 750,000 rubles. The other side is that after transferring the received loan, the amount in the current account increased by 750,000 rubles. Cash in the company's current account is reflected in the asset, that is, the company's asset increased by 750,000 rubles. Therefore, the main condition is met: Active = Passive

Conclusion: Assets participate in the economic activities of the enterprise to generate profit, and liabilities are sources of increasing assets and must always be equal.