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Assets and Liabilities

The term “asset” means anything of value that is owned by a company and can be expressed in terms of money. Economic resources that provide a potential future service to the organization are called assets in accounting. A company’s total assets include such items as cash, buildings, equipment, any other property and accounts receivable, that is, money owned by its customers.

Assets are usually classified as current and long-term, both types consisting of tangible as well as of intangible items. Current tangible assets including cash, accounts receivable, stock-in-trade are usually converted into cash within one year and sometimes can be used as a means of payment. On the other hand, current intangible assets consist of short-term investments in stocks and bonds.

Long-term intangible assets are not really visible and include such items as goodwill, patents, trademarks, copyrights, these assets often being the most important factor for obtaining future incomes. For example, goodwill means an intangible asset which takes into account the value added to a business as a result of its reputation which cannot be really calculated. In contrast, the real estate (such as farm land, machinery, buildings and other physical objects) belongs to long-term tangible assets.

Liabilities are obligations that a company owes to another organization, to an individual (such as creditors and employees) or to the government. Like assets, liabilities are divided into current and long-term ones. Current liabilities are usually amounts that are paid within one year, including accounts payable, taxes on income and property, short-term loans, salaries and wages, and amounts of money owed to suppliers of goods and services. Noncurrent liabilities often called long-term are usually debts, such as bonds and long-term loans.

The amount by which the total assets exceed total liabilities is known as the net worth which is usually called the equity for companies. When the company is a corporation, the equity means the investment interest of the owners (that is, the stockholders) in the organization’s assets. The owners’ equity can be increased either by investing more money in the company or by earning a profit and can be decreased because of the company’s losses.

All companies keep proper accounting system in order to know whether or not they are operating profitably, each of the assets and the liabilities and the equity being shown in a company’s accounts separately. The balance sheet prepared by the company’s accountant is one of the important financial reports showing the value of the total assets, total liabilities and equity on a given date. The relationship of these main categories is represented by the fundamental accounting equation: assets (everything that is owned) are equal to liabilities (owed) plus equity (clear of debt).

ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY

As all three factors are expressed in terms of money, they are limited to items that can be given a monetary value. The accounting equation should always be in balance, so that one side must equal the other.

Active vocabulary

assets– актив, фонд; капитал, имущество

assets and liabilities – актив и пассив

capital assets– основные фонды, основной капитал, основные средства

term – термин, выражение; период

terms– условия

credit terms– условия аккредитива, условия ссуды

lending terms – условия выдачи кредита

accounting – учет, отчетность, бухгалтерское дело; анализ хозяйственной деятельности

accounting cycle – цикл учета; учетный период; syn. accounting period

item– отдельный предмет, вид товара, изделий; статья (в счете, балансе), пункт, позиция, параграф

account– финансовый отчет, запись финансовой операции

accounts – отчетность, деловые книги

accounts receivable– счета дебиторов, счета к получению; ожидаемые поступления

accounts payable– счета к оплате; ожидаемые выплаты

capital account – счет основного капитала, счет основных фондов; баланс движения капиталов

income account– счет доходов (прибылей) и убытков

current – текущий

current account – текущий счет

current assets – оборотные средства (фонды); текущие (легкореализуемые, ликвидные) активы

current liabilities – краткосрочные обязательства; текущие пассивы

ant. noncurrent liabilities, long-term liabilities – долгосрочные обязательства

tangible – осязаемый, материальный

tangible assets – материальные активы

tangible item– материальный предмет

intangible – неосязаемый, нематериальный

intangible assets – нематериальный актив

intangible item– нематериальный предмет

stock-in-trade– товарный запас, товарная наличность, остаток непроданных товаров

stock(s)– активы, запас(ы), фонд(ы)

in stock– в запасе, в наличии, в ассортименте

goodwill – гудвил, деловая репутация; ценность фирмы, определяющаяся ее клиентурой, репутацией, деловыми связями; престиж фирмы

trademark – торговая марка

copyright– авторское право

to take into account– принимать во внимание

real estate– недвижимое имущество

employee – служащий, рабочий, работающий по найму

salary – заработная плата, оклад

net worth– стоимость имущества за вычетом обязательств; собственный капитал (предприятия), чистая стоимость компании

equity– капитал компании, акционерный капитал; активы (предприятия) за вычетом задолженности

investment interest– процент инвестиций

stockholder– акционер, владелец акций, владелец государственных ценных бумаг

syn. shareholder

proper – правильный, надлежащий

properly – правильно, должным образом

operate – работать, управлять

balance sheet– балансовый отчет

balance sheet account – статья бухгалтерского баланса

to be in balance – быть сбалансированным

accountant – эксперт по анализу балансов и финансовой отчетности, квалифицированный бухгалтер; ревизор, контролер

equation– уравнение, равенство; правильное соотношение

accounting equation – бухгалтерская сбалансированность

clear of debt – без долга

Questions to the text:

  1. What does the term “asset” mean?

  2. How can the company’s assets be classified?

  3. How “goodwill” increase the company’s profits?

  4. What liabilities does the company usually have? How are they classified?

  5. How is the net worth calculated?

  6. What accounts should be kept by the company?

  7. What is the main accounting equation?

  8. Why is it important to keep the proper accounting system?