Cash is the amount of cash actually in the companies bank accounts. Some companies also include highly liquid marketable securities such as money market instruments as cash. Companies usually use a reserve for bad debt that assumes they will not collect the total amount of this figure. Company's generally want this figure as low as possible because its very expensive to carry large inventories which ties up capital that could be used for more promising projects. The historical value is the price the company paid to purchase the building or equipment even if it has a higher or lower current market value at today's prices.
Payables are current liabilities that companies incur during the normal course of doing business .
It can include expenses for finished products or general operating expenses not related to the production of a product or service. Long Term Debt is the amount of bond financing or other long term loan financing that must be paid off over a time greater than one year. Equity is the total value of what shareholders own within a company. Shareholders own a companies retained earnings. Please look for our coninuing series on Analyzing Annual Report .