How to Read and Interpret Financial Statements

3

The Balance Sheet: Assets

Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter, you should be able to: • Identify the components of each asset group. • Identify the valuation methods for each asset group.

INTRODUCTION

An asset is a probable future economic benefit obtained or controlled by a particular entity as a result of past transactions or events (FASB, 1980). A simplified definition of an asset would be: a thing of value, physical or otherwise, that will probably give future economic value to the entity. Future may be taken to mean any time from now until the end of the entity’s existence. Assets are subdivided into four major categories: ...