Business assets that are not material in nature, which have been created through time and effort Some examples of intangible assets are patents, specialized mailing lists, and goodwill
An asset that has no physical substance, such as goodwill, trademarks, patents, or the protection provided by an insurance policy Even though they have no physical substance, intangible assets can and often do appear on the balance sheet Contrast with tangible asset
- non-physical assets (such as franchises, trademarks, patents, copyrights, goodwill, equities, mineral rights, securities and contracts as distinguished from physical assets) that grant rights, privileges, and have economic benefits for the owner
A legal claim to some future benefit, typically a claim to future expected cash inflows For example, goodwill, intellectual property, patents, copyright, and trademarks
The non-physical assets of a business E g , customer lists, customer contracts, proprietary software, skilled employees, proprietary processes, name familiarity, goodwill, etc Most of the value of a service business is contained in the intangible assets
Assets having no physical substance, such as patents, goodwill, copyrights and trademarks Because an intangible asset has no independent market or liquidation value (unlike, say, a factory, which can be sold for cash), it is subject to a lot of accounting manipulation Generally, accepted accounting principles require intangibles to be written off over a period of time - up to 40 years The process of writing off an intangible asset is called amortization Both depreciation and amortization expenses are subtracted from a company's operating revenues to calculate net income See "Margins " BACK TO TOP
Anything nonphysical, such as goodwill, trademarks, and patents, that have value for a company Listed in the assets category (sometimes as "Investments and sundry assets") on the statement of financial position See also asset, fixed assets, goodwill
Intangible assets are reflected at cost and are amortised on a straight-line basis over the anticipated useful lives of the assets up to a maximum of 20 years
Nonphysical items such as stock certificates, bonds, bank accounts, and pension benefits that have value and must be taken into account in estate planning
A sub-category of fixed assets in the balance sheet of a company Fixed assets which are not physical and cannot be touched, e g goodwill, brands Note that not all intangible assets are shown on the balance sheet on the basis that they are too difficult to measure reliably
Nonphysical assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and franchise fees, that have economic value but whose precise value is difficult to calculate
Non-physical items such as goodwill trademark patents, etc In computing a company’s net worth the value at which any intangible item is carried in the balance sheet is excluded
non-physical assets such as franchises, trademarks, patents, copyrights, goodwill, equities, mineral rights, securities and contracts as distinguished from physical assets that grant rights, privileges, and have economic benefits for that owner
As used in accounting, assets having legal rather than physical substance Intangible assets are those used in a business which have no material substance and represent nothing material, as compared to tangible or physical assets such as buildings and land Good will, brand names, trademarks, copyrights, and patent rights are examples of intangible assets Intellectual property, in general, is regarded as an intangible asset
are assets with a finite life that can be estimated with a reasonable degree of certainty on the date of their creation or acquisition, and have a low risk of being used in tax avoidance
The property of a business, but without physical substance, such as copyrights and patents Their value lies in their ability to generate profits Both goodwill and blue sky are intangible assets