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Concept
Fixed asset
Summary
A fixed asset, also known as long-lived assets or property, plant and equipment (PP&E), is a term used in accounting for assets and property that may not easily be converted into cash. Fixed assets are different from current assets, such as cash or bank accounts, because the latter are liquid assets. In most cases, only tangible assets are referred to as fixed.
While IAS 16 (International Accounting Standard) does not define the term fixed asset, it is often colloquially considered a synonym for property, plant and equipment. According to IAS 16.6, property, plant and equipment are tangible items that:
(a) are held for use in the production or supply of goods or services, for rental to others, or for administrative purposes and
(b) are expected to be used during more than one period.
Fixed assets are one of two types:
Freehold Assets: assets which are purchased with legal right of ownership and used, and
Leasehold Assets: assets used by owner without legal right for a particular period of time.
A fixed asset can also be defined as an asset not directly sold to a firm's consumers or end-users.
In modern financial accounting usage, the term fixed assets can be ambiguous. Instead, the term non-current assets (used by the IFRS and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) XBRL reporting taxonomies) is preferred when referring to assets that will not be liquidated in the current fiscal period. Specific non-current assets (Property, plant and equipment, Investment property, Goodwill, Intangible assets other than goodwill, etc.) should be referred to by name.
A baking firm's current assets would be its inventory (flour, yeast, etc.), the value of sales owed to the firm from credit extended (i.e. debtors or accounts receivable), and cash held in the bank. Its non-current assets would be the oven used to bake bread, motor vehicles used to transport deliveries, and cash registers used to handle cash payments. While these non-current assets have value, they are not directly sold to consumers and cannot be easily converted to cash.
Official source
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