What are assets?

Definition of assets

Assets are what a business owns.

Assets may be large items of equipment such as computers and cars. These are called ‘tangible fixed assets’.

They may also be large investments your business has made, which are of value but can’t be seen and touched, such as patents or franchise fees. These are called ‘intangible fixed assets’.

You may also have assets that can be quickly converted into physical cash, like goods that your business has in stock ready for sale (called ‘stock’ for short), money owed by your customers (‘trade debtors’) and cash in the bank account.

How to keep track of your assets

FreeAgent is a powerful double-entry accounting engine which can generate reports including Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Capital Assets, Aged Debtors and Creditors whenever you or your accountant need to take a look.