Assets

What are assets?

In accounting terms, an asset is something that a company owns and has control over and can derive benefits from in the future. Assets are included in the accounts under the balance sheet. An asset can be, for example, a car, furniture or a building. However, everything that is owned cannot always be described as an asset, as it must have a certain value before it must be registered as an asset in the accounts. Purchases under DKK 31,000 excluding VAT will not appear as an asset, but as a small acquisition.

Assets are divided into two:

• Fixed assets
• Current assets

Fixed assets

They have a long-term value and the period of use is over 1 year, such as buildings or patents. Fixed assets are divided into:

• Tangible fixed assets
  • The tangible assets the company owns such as cars, fixtures and buildings
• Intangible fixed assets
  • Non-physical assets such as goodwill and patents
• Financial fixed assets
  • Monetary assets such as securities and capital shares

Current assets

Here the period of use is less than 1 year and are therefore also called short-term assets. Current assets are something that the company expects to sell or use within a short time. Inventories, receivables from creditors and money in the bank are examples of current assets.

In the balance sheet, assets and liabilities must always have the same amount, due to rules for double bookkeeping. The assets, which are the company's wealth, are financed with the liabilities and therefore it must be the same.