Assets Companies own things, called assets. These things might be physical assets such as buildings, trucks, inventories of products, equipment, and cash . Or things might be intangible assets such as goodwill , trademarks, and patents. Assets are either current or noncurrent. Current assets are things a company expects to convert to cash within one year.
Examples are accounts receivable or inventories of products to sell.
Finally, current assets include cash and securities such as treasury bills and certificates of deposit the company expects to convert to cash within the year. Noncurrent assets are things a company does not intend to convert to cash or that would take longer than a year to convert. Companies use fixed assets to manufacture, display, store, and transport products. The amounts of fixed assets vary by company and industry. For example, manufacturing companies generally have a large investment in fixed assets because making things requires property, plant, and equipment.