In other countries, we use other currency. The general group of resources owned by the firm represents the firm's assets. An asset is defined as anything with economic value owned by the firm. Assets are considered to be either tangible or intangible. Tangible assets have physical form and substance and are generally valued and shown on the financial statements.
Intangible assets have no physical form.
They consist of such items as the company's credit standing, patents and copyrights, the quality of its products, and its relationship to its customers. It is difficult, if not impossible, to precisely measure the value of intangible assets. Consequently, accountants generally do not allow these assets to be recorded on the financial statements unless the intangible asset has a clearly measurable value. Frequently on financial statements one might see an intangible asset called goodwill. This may be an indication that a merger has occurred at some time in the past in which the firm paid more for the company it acquired than could be justified based on the value of the tangible assets of that company.