assets

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Under assets ( singular asset, from the Latin agere , be active, 'act ) is the sum of a company available assets , which on the left side of a balance can be found. They show which assets a company's sources of capital were used for. These are listed on the right-hand side of the balance sheet and form the liabilities .

General

The assets side of the balance sheet shows the use of the financial resources or the property of the economic subject , while the right side of the balance sheet (liabilities side) shows the source of funds . Of activation occurs when a balance sheet item is recorded on the asset side. A distinction must be made here as to whether the assets are subject to an activation obligation, an activation option or an activation ban.

The bookkeeping merges the final balances of the asset and liability accounts , the comparison of assets with liabilities to form an account-based unit is called the balance sheet. Here the sums of assets and liabilities ( balance sheet total ) are formally identical, this is an essential feature of the balance sheet. The balance sheet term so defined differs from the account term only in that one speaks of debit and credit in the account .

The three balance sheet principles of balance sheet truth , balance sheet clarity and balance sheet continuity apply to both assets and liabilities. For reasons of the principle of prudence and the associated protection of creditors , certain parts of the assets (in particular fixed assets , raw materials , consumables and supplies and receivables ) can be undervalued under the lowest value principle , while liabilities can be overvalued. Undervaluation means that the assets may be assigned a lower balance sheet value than corresponds to the actual market value within the framework of the lower of cost or market principle and reasonable commercial assessment . This is intended to adequately take account of the financial risks that exist in the risk of a total or partial loss in value of individual assets.

Subdivision of assets

The term asset side is a specific legal term that is mentioned in the structure of Section 266 (2) HGB . According to this, the assets side on the first level consists of fixed assets , current assets , prepaid expenses , deferred tax assets and the active difference from asset offsetting. When it comes to assets, a distinction is made between tangible and intangible assets. The binding nature of these bullet points and the specified further subdivision of the latter is based on certain criteria in accordance with Section 266 Paragraphs 1 and 2, Section 267 and Section 247a of the German Commercial Code (HGB), such as: B. the legal form or the size of the accounting company.

Assets side (use of funds)

Capital assets

In accordance with Section 247 (2) of the German Commercial Code (HGB), only those items are to be shown in fixed assets that are intended to be used continuously for business operations. Fixed assets thus include the company's medium and long-term funds. Fixed assets also include financial assets with a permanent character, such as long-term bonds and investments , loans or shares in other companies.

The fixed assets also include intangible assets. These are assets that are not physically tangible. This includes intangible assets acquired for a fee, such as licenses , industrial property rights and concessions . In the media industry, for example, intangible assets are one of the most important elements of the balance sheet, as this is where the expected future income from film or music rights is capitalized and listed. Intangible assets that were not acquired against payment are also assigned to fixed assets. However, under commercial law, under the requirements of Section 248 (2) HGB, there is only one option to capitalize on such internally generated intangible assets; For tax purposes, there is even a ban on capitalization in accordance with Section 5 (2) of the Income Tax Act.

Current assets

Current assets include those assets that the company owns for short-term use. These include, for example, cash on hand , bank balances and short-term financial assets. In addition, raw materials and intermediate products required for production, as well as stocks of finished products that can be sold at short notice, also form part of the current assets.

Prepaid expenses

Deferred items are used to allocate expenses and income to the period to which they have to be allocated economically. According to Section 250, Paragraph 1 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), expenses that were made before the balance sheet date but only later represent an expense are to be shown as prepaid expenses on the assets side of the balance sheet . These include B. Rent paid in advance that was paid in the current financial year but would not be due until the next financial year and only then represent an expense.

Deferred tax assets

Differences between commercial law and tax law valuations that lead to tax relief and are likely to be resolved in later periods can be capitalized as deferred tax assets in accordance with Section 274 (1) sentence 2 HGB.

Active difference from asset allocation

The active difference from the asset offset is the fair value of assets less the corresponding debts , provided that assets and debts are offset within the meaning of Section 246 (2) sentence 2 HGB and the result is positive.

Other items

Under certain circumstances, the assets side can or must be supplemented with additional items. According to Section 265, Paragraph 5 of the German Commercial Code, additional items can be added if their content is not covered by another, prescribed item. The structure and designation of the items must be changed in accordance with Section 265 (6) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) if this is necessary for the preparation of a clear and concise annual financial statement due to the company's special features. There is also the option of combining balance sheet items under the requirements of Section 265 (7) and (8) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) or of omitting them entirely.

Expenses for the start-up and expansion of business operations can, according to Section 67 (5) sentence 1 EGHGB, also under the Accounting Law Modernization Act (BilMoG), be shown as an accounting aid on the assets side in front of fixed assets, if this accounting aid for a financial year that began before 2010, was formed.

Balance sheet analysis

In the context of asset analysis , the balance sheet analysis is interested in the composition of assets, their relationship to other balance sheet items and determines economic key figures that deal with the vertical asset structure on the asset side, the ratio of individual asset items to the corresponding liability items and the relationship to income. This includes, in particular, the investment intensity , which relates parts of total assets to total assets. The horizontal capital structure deals with the relationship between the assets and liabilities of a balance sheet as part of asset coverage . The property, plant and equipment and receivables link enables statements to be made about the relationship between property, plant and equipment or the amount of receivables to sales .

The assets alone provide little information about liquidity and profitability, since only the connection between the use of capital and the raising of capital allows conclusions to be drawn about the company's developments and future prospects. In particular, the golden rule for assessing the financing of fixed assets is that long-term investments must not be financed with short-term borrowed capital. This is to avoid the obligation to repay the borrowed capital before the acquired assets are used successfully.

In particular, the intangible assets (IV) should be considered in detail. The value of this asset, which cannot be measured directly, can only be accounted for with clear rules. The rules should be clearly formulated, comprehensible and aim to implement the lowest value principle within the meaning of Section 253 Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the German Commercial Code.

National accounts

The national accounts “provide a comprehensive quantitative overall picture of economic activity”. Here, so-called balance sheets are created within the asset accounting, the assets side of which consists of tangible and monetary assets.

See also

literature

  • Adolf G. Coenenberg , Axel Haller, Gerhard Mattner, Wolfgang Schultze: Introduction to accounting: basics of bookkeeping and accounting. 8th edition. Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-7910-2808-8
  • Michael Griga, Raymund Krauleidis: Creating and reading balance sheets for dummies. 2nd edition, Wiley-VCH Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-527-70598-6
  • Gerhard Scherrer: Accounting according to the new HGB. 3rd edition, Vahlen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8006-3787-4
  • Jürgen Weber, Barbara E. Weißenberger: Introduction to accounting: accounting and cost accounting. 8th edition. Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-7910-2923-8

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Horst-Tilo Beyer: Finanzlexikon. 1971, page 18.
  2. ↑ Kurt Hesse / Ursula Fraling / Wolfgang Fraling: How do you assess a balance sheet? 2000, chapter 1.1.1.
  3. ^ Günter Wöhe / Heinz Kußmaul, Fundamentals of bookkeeping and accounting technology. 8th edition, Munich 2012, page 5.
  4. ↑ Dagobert Soergel / Joachim Fudickar, on the structure of the business balance sheet. 1971, p. 23.
  5. ^ Günter Himmelmann / Roland Heilmann, Fundamentals of accounting and tax law. 2nd edition, Berlin 2012, p. 20.
  6. ↑ Cord Grefe, Balance Sheets. 7th edition, Herne 2011, p. 75.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Hartmut Bieg / Heinz Kußmaul / Gerd Waschbusch, External Accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, p. 117.
  8. ^ Rainer Buchholz, Basic features of the annual financial statements according to HGB and IFRS. 8th edition, Munich 2013, p. 46.
  9. ↑ Martin glasses, media management. 2nd edition, Munich 2010, p. 510 ff.
  10. ^ Rainer Buchholz, Basic features of the annual financial statements according to HGB and IFRS. 8th edition, Munich 2013, p. 48.
  11. ↑ a b c Rainer Buchholz, Basic features of the annual financial statements according to HGB and IFRS. 8th edition, Munich 2013, p. 63.
  12. ↑ a b Cord Grefe: Balance sheets. 7th edition, Herne 2011, p. 95.
  13. ↑ a b Rainer Buchholz, Basic features of the annual financial statements according to HGB and IFRS. 8th edition, Munich 2013, p. 52.
  14. ↑ Hartmut Bieg, Heinz Kussmaul, Gerd Waschbusch: External accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, p. 85.
  15. ↑ Hartmut Bieg, Heinz Kussmaul, Gerd Waschbusch: External accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, pp. 111–112.
  16. ↑ Hartmut Bieg, Heinz Kussmaul, Gerd Waschbusch: External accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, pp. 130-131.
  17. ↑ a b c Hartmut Bieg, Heinz Kussmaul, Gerd Waschbusch: External accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, p. 123 f.
  18. ↑ Hartmut Bieg / Heinz Kussmaul / Karl Petersen / Gerd Waschbusch / Christian Zwirner, Accounting Law Modernization Act. Munich 2009, p. 65.
  19. ^ Adolf G. Coenenberg, Axel Haller, Gerhard Mattner, Wolfgang Schultze: Introduction to accounting. 4th edition, Stuttgart 2012, p. 582.
  20. ^ Adolf G. Coenenberg, Axel Haller, Gerhard Mattner, Wolfgang Schultze: Introduction to accounting. 4th edition, Stuttgart 2012, p. 572 ff.
  21. ^ A b Adolf G. Coenenberg, Axel Haller, Gerhard Mattner, Wolfgang Schultze: Introduction to accounting. 4th edition, Stuttgart 2012, p. 586.
  22. ^ Karlheinz Küting / Claus-Peter Weber, The balance sheet analysis. 10th edition, Stuttgart 2012, pp. 149f.
  23. ↑ Hartmut Bieg, Heinz Kussmaul, Gerd Waschbusch: External accounting. 6th edition, Munich 2012, p. 107.
  24. ↑ a b Federal Statistical Office - National Accounts . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  25. ↑ Federal Statistical Office - wealth calculation . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  26. ^ Federal Statistical Office - Publications . Retrieved October 26, 2013.