Core Financial Terms
Every business needs to know what it owns and what it owes. Assets are simply the valuable items a company has - think cash, equipment, or buildings. On the flip side, liabilities represent all the debts the company owes to others.
The timing of these assets and liabilities matters enormously. Current assets and current liabilities involve money or debts that need sorting within a year - like cash in the bank or an overdraft that needs paying back quickly. Non-current assets and non-current liabilities stick around much longer, such as buildings or mortgages.
Assets come in different forms too. Tangible assets are physical things you can actually touch, whilst intangible assets like patents or trademarks add value but aren't physical objects. Your business's inventory - all that stock, raw materials, and finished goods - represents a crucial current asset.
Quick Tip: Think of current vs non-current as short-term (under a year) vs long-term (over a year) - this distinction appears constantly in exams!