In business and accounting an asset is anything owned, whether in possession or by right to take possession, by a person or a group acting together, e.g. a company, the value of which can be expressed in monetary terms. Asset is listed on the balance sheet. It has a normal balance of debit.
Assets may be classified in many ways. The principal distinction normally made for business purposes is between:
fixed assets and
current assets.
Other business subdivisions include intangible assets, that is, those assets which, though not visible, add to the earning power of the business, e.g. goodwill, patents, copyrights, etc. (also called invisible assets); liquid assets, which are a subdivision of current assets and also categories labelled trade investments, quoted investments, etc.
In the balance sheet of a company certain divisions are required by law, which varies from country to country.
Those are assets continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. Examples: debtors, stock, cash and work in progress. The phrase net current assets (also called working capital) is often used and refers to the total of current assets less the total of current liabilities.
Fixed assets
Assets which are purchases for continued and long-term use in earning profit in a business. Examples: land, buildings, machinery, etc. They are written off against profits over their anticipated life by charging an annual amount calculated so as to eliminate the original cost (historical cost), less scrap value, over that period. (see depreciation).
There is no 10-year statute of limitation for this, so even those with “old and cold” asset protection trusts may be sadly disappointed in bankruptcy if their overall arrangement gives (direct or, as is the norm, indirect) control over the distribution of trust assets to the settlor/beneficiary.
This doctrine holds that since no sane person would transfer all of their assets to a foreign trustee and risk the assets disappearing, it then stands to reason that they still retain some hidden control over the assets whether they admit to such control or not.
An asset protection trust created initially as a domestic trust, with the idea that if a serious problem arises the trust will migrate to an offshore jurisdiction where its assets will be protected from creditors.
The Marshals Service administers the Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture Program by managing and disposing of properties seized and forfeited by federal law enforcement agencies and U.S. attorneys nationwide.
Asset forfeiture is a law enforcement success story, and the Marshals Service plays a vital role.
The proceeds from the sale of forfeited assets such as real property, vehicles, businesses, financial instruments, vessels, aircraft and jewelry are deposited into the AFF and are subsequently used to further law enforcement initiatives.
Feeds |
Contact