assets n : anything of material value or usefulness [ant: liabilities]

Assets \As"sets\, n. pl. [OF. asez enough, F. assez, fr. L. ad + satis, akin to Gr. ? enough, Goth. saps full. Cf. Assai, Satisfy.]
1. (Law) (a) Property of a deceased person, subject by law to the payment of his debts and legacies; -- called assets because sufficient to render the executor or administrator liable to the creditors and legatees, so far as such goods or estate may extend. --Story. --Blackstone. (b) Effects of an insolvent debtor or bankrupt, applicable to the payment of debts.
2. The entire property of all sorts, belonging to a person, a corporation, or an estate; as, the assets of a merchant or a trading association; -- opposed to liabilities. Note: In balancing accounts the assets are put on the Cr. side and the debts on the Dr. side.

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In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset. Simply stated, assets represent ownership of value that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

The balance sheet of a firm records the monetary

Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

It should be noted that - other than software companies and the like - employees are not considered as assets, like machinery is, even though they are capable of producing value.

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