In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset. Simply stated, assets represent ownership of value that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

The balance sheet of a firm records the monetaryJ. G. Siegel, N. Dauber & J. K. Shim, "The Vest Pocket CPA", Wiley, 2005.

There are different methods of assessing the monetary value of the assets recorded on the Balance Sheet. In some cases, the ''Historical Cost'' is used; such that the value of the asset when it was bought in the past is used as the monetary value. In other instances, the present fair market value of the asset is used to determine the value shown on the balance sheet.

value of the assets owned by the firm. It is money and other valuables belonging to an individual or business. Two major asset classes are tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets.J. Downes, J.E. Goodman, "Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms", Baron's Financial Guides, 2003 Current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment.J. Downes, J.E. Goodman, "Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms", Baron's Financial Guides, 2003; and J. G. Siegel, N. Dauber & J. K. Shim, "The Vest Pocket CPA", Wiley, 2005.

Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

Formal definition

An asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity(Framework Par 49).

Asset characteristics

It should be noted that - other than software companies and the like - employees are not considered as assets, like machinery is, even though they are capable of producing value.

The probable present benefit involves a capacity, singly or in combination with other assets, in the case of profit oriented enterprises, to contribute directly or indirectly to future net cash flows, and, in the case of not-for-profit organizations, to provide services;

The entity can control access to the benefit;

The transaction or event giving rise to the entity's right to, or control of, the benefit has already occurred.

In the financial accounting sense of the term, it is not necessary to be able to legally enforce the asset's benefit for qualifying a resource as being an asset, provided the entity can control its use by other means.

It is important to understand that in an accounting sense an asset is not the same as ownership. Assets are equal to "equity" plus "liabilities."

The accounting equation relates assets, liabilities, and owner's equity:

:Assets = Liabilities + Stockholder's Equity (Owner's Equity)

The accounting equation is the mathematical structure of the balance sheet.

Assets are listed on the balance sheet. Similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held.

Probably the most accepted accounting definition of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board . The following is a quotation from the IFRS Framework: "An asset is a resource controlled by the enterprise as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the enterprise."

Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools. These monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc., of both physical and non-physical assets.

In a company's balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which vary from country to country.

Current assets

Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash, sold, or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle (whichever is shorter), without disturbing the normal operations of a business. These assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets: # Cash and cash equivalents — it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, and negotiable instruments (e.g., money orders, cheque, bank drafts). # Short-term investments — include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences (trading securities). # Receivables — usually reported as net of allowance for uncollectable accounts. # Inventory — trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the balance sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value, whichever is lower. This is known as the "lower of cost or market" rule. # Prepaid expenses — these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed (a common example is insurance). See also adjusting entries. Marketable securities Securities that can be converted into cash quickly at a reasonable price

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.

Long-term investments

Often referred to simply as "investments". Long-term investments are to be held for many years and are not intended to be disposed of in the near future. This group usually consists of three types of investments: # Investments in securities such as bonds, common stock, or long-term notes. # Investments in fixed assets not used in operations (e.g., land held for sale). # Investments in special funds (e.g. sinking funds or pension funds).

Different forms of insurance may also be treated as long term investments.

Fixed assets

Also referred to as PPE (property, plant, and equipment), these are purchased for continued and long-term use in earning profit in a business. This group includes as an asset land, buildings, machinery, furniture, tools, and certain wasting resources e.g., timberland and minerals. They are written off against profits over their anticipated life by charging depreciation expenses (with exception of land assets). Accumulated depreciation is shown in the face of the balance sheet or in the notes.

These are also called capital assets in management accounting.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets lack of physical substance and usually are very hard to evaluate. They include patents, copyrights, franchises, goodwill, trademarks, trade names, etc. These assets are (according to US GAAP) amortized to expense over 5 to 40 years with the exception of goodwill.

Websites are treated differently in different countries and may fall under either tangible or intangible assets.

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are those that have a physical substance and can be touched, such as currencies, buildings, real estate, vehicles, inventories, equipment, and precious metals.

Other related meanings

Information asset

In Information technology, chiefly in Information security, data needed to conduct the organization business and the technical equipment to manage (input, store, display, print) are called information asset.

They can represent a large portion of intangible and tangible asset of an organization.

If these assets become unavailable, business operations can be disrupted. Confidential information disclosure can represent a huge liability.

While evaluating the potential loss tied to an asset or a group of assets, the value tied to the largest sum between the related asset and their value should be considered.

References

Category:Accounting terminology

af:Bate ar:أصول ca:Actiu (comptabilitat) cs:Aktivum (účetnictví) da:Aktiv de:Aktiva es:Activo (contabilidad) eu:Aktibo fa:دارایی fr:Actif (finances) ko:자산 hr:Aktiva id:Aset it:Cespite lt:Aktyvas hu:Eszköz (számvitel) ms:Aset nl:Activa ja:資産 no:Aktiva pl:Aktywa pt:Ativo ro:Active ru:Актив sq:Aset simple:Assets sr:Aktiva sv:Tillgång ta:சொத்து uk:Актив vi:Tài sản zh:资产

{{BTCC alumnus| Name = Eoin Murray | Image = | Nationality = | Team = Quest Racing | Championships = 0 | Wins = 0 | Podiums = 0 | Poles = 0 | Fastest laps = 0 | First year = 2006 | First win = - | Best position = 18th (2006) | Last season = 2007 | Last position = 18th (9 points) | }} Eoin Murray is an Irish auto racing driver, born 9 December 1982. After winning the European Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge in 2005, he made his BTCC debut in the middle of 2006.

Early years

Murray had a successful career in karts, culminating in victory in the Formula A championship of 1999. He dabbled in rallycross that winter, winning 6 races. In 2000 he raced Fiats and Ford Fiestas in one-make championship, doing well enough to be nominated for the Young Irish Racing Driver of the Year award. In 2001 he did the full Fiesta UK Championship winning the Newcomers Cup and collecting 2 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps & 8 Podium finishes. He crowned that achievement by winning the Jimmy Millard Trophy. He switched to Clio’s for 2002 competing in the Elf Renaultsport UK Clio Cup where he scored 2 podium finishes and took 7th overall in the championship which was no mean achievement in his rookie year. Eoin stuck with the Clio’s for 2003 and had 4 race wins, 4 second places, & 2 third places and came third overall in the Elf Clio UK Championship. During this time he continued to compete in British & Irish Rallycross in the Stockhatch class, in a self run Peugeot 205 GTI, where he enjoyed considerable success and took several race wins and podium finishes. He was awarded the Dunlop/ Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for 2003. This accolade together with a substantial boost to his budget from Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council launched his move to Europe where he competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge.

European Alfa Challenge

For 2004 he switched to racing in mainland Europe, in the Alfa Romeo 147 challenge. He lacked circuit knowledge in his rookie season, but still won 2 races to come 4th overall. In 2005 he converted all this into a title winning season. He only won one race, but took 4 pole positions, 9 podiums and 4 lap records. However his efforts did not go unnoticed in Ireland where he again won the Dunlop/Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the year for the second time. Eoin competed in the European Alfa Romeo Challenge again in 2005 and started as one of the favourites. Eoin did not disappoint and won the championship in Valencia along with 9 podium finishes, 5 fastest laps, 4 pole positions and 3 lap records. And in the process winning a 05 spec Alfa 156 S2000 worth 200,000 euro, the biggest prize an Irish driver has ever won. He also won the 05 Rallycross Stockhatch Championship and these achievements won him the accolade as Ireland international driver of the year.

BTCC

This earned him a factory-prepared WTCC-spec Alfa 156, although not the funding or team to run it. He contacted Quest Racing, which was essentially the GA team minus its former boss Gary Ayles and they sought funding. This arrived in time for round 5 at Croft, just days after team boss Ian Blackman died in a motorcycle accident. Despite the weight penalty for mid-season entrants in their first round, he finished 10th in race one to score his first championship point. At Donington Park he was more competitive, running 6th in race one until contact, before finishing 6th in race 2, and running third in race 3 before going off in slippery conditions.

Murray continued to drive his Quest Racing Alfa in the BTCC in 2007. He qualified 12th at round one, but an engine failure prevented them taking part in the races. After a 9th-place finish in race one at Thruxton, he had an engine failure in race 2, leaving the team unable to start round 3 . The misfortune continued at Brands Hatch meeting 2 in October, when he was one of 11 drivers involved in a shunt triggered by Mat Jackson. The car was not fully repairable and a lack of parts causes him to miss the next round at Knockhill . The team did not continue for 2008, leaving Murray without a drive, although he participated in the SEAT León Eurocup, finishing third in the standings.

Seat Leon Eurocup

In 2008 Eoin was reunited with the Italian team PRS Group in which he won the 2005 European Alfa Challenge with. Although it was a rookie year for Eoin and his team with the Seat Leon Supercopa they enjoyed a very successful year fighting for overall championship victory until the final round at Monza. Eoin finished 3rd in the standings and won races at Valencia and Brands Hatch.

Seat Leon Supercopa

In 2009 Eoin signed with Oasis Motorsport to compete in the Spanish Seat series with the opportunity of winning considerable prize money. Although Eoin fought for the championship up until the final race, a collision in the final race in Barcelona resulted in him finishing 4th.

External links

Official site

Profile from btcc.net

Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers Category:Irish racecar drivers Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:SEAT León Eurocup drivers

Name	Robert Kiyosaki
Birth date	April 08, 1947
Birth place	Hilo, Hawaii, United States
Occupation	Investor, Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Spouse	Kim Kiyosaki
Website	}}

Robert Toru Kiyosaki, born April 8, 1947) is an American investor, businessman, self-help author and motivational speaker. Kiyosaki is best known for his ''Rich Dad Poor Dad'' series of motivational books and other material published under the Rich Dad brand. He has written 15 books which have combined sales of over 26 million copies. Although beginning as a self-publisher, he was subsequently published by Warner Books, a division of Hachette Book Group USA. His new books appear under the Rich Dad Press imprint. Three of his books, ''Rich Dad Poor Dad'', ''Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant'', and ''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing'', have been on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''USA Today'' and the ''New York Times''. ''Rich Kid Smart Kid'' was published in 2001, with the intent to help parents teach their children financial concepts. He has created three "Cashflow" board and software games for adults and children and has a series of "Rich Dad" CDs and disks.

Personal life

A fourth-generation Japanese American, Kiyosaki was born and raised in Hawaii. He is the son of the late educator Ralph H. Kiyosaki (1919–1991). After graduating from Hilo High School, he attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, graduating with the class of 1969 as a deck officer. He later served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Air Medal.

Kiyosaki left the Marine Corps in 1975 and got a job selling copy machines for the Xerox Corporation. In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company that brought to market the first nylon and Velcro "surfer" wallets. The company was moderately successful at first but eventually went bankrupt. In the early 1980s, Kiyosaki started a business that licensed T-shirts for Heavy metal rock bands. In 1997, he launched Cashflow Technologies, Inc. which owns and operates the ''Rich Dad'' and ''Cashflow'' brands.

Family

He is married to Kim Kiyosaki. He has one sister, Emi Kiyosaki, a Tibetan Buddhist nun known by the name Ven. Tenzin Kacho. He has co-authored one book with her.

Teachings

A large part of Kiyosaki's teachings focus on generating passive income by means of investment opportunities, such as real estate and businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone. In tandem with this, Kiyosaki defines "assets" as things that generate cash inflow, such as rental properties or businesses—and "liabilities" as things that use cash, such as houses, cars, and so on. Kiyosaki also argues that financial leverage is critically important in becoming rich.

Kiyosaki stresses financial literacy as the means to obtaining wealth. He says that life skills are often best learned through experience and that there are important lessons not taught in school. He says that formal education is primarily for those seeking to be employees or self-employed individuals, and that this is an "Industrial Age idea." And according to Kiyosaki, in order to obtain financial freedom, one must be either a business owner or an investor, generating passive income.

Kiyosaki often refers to "The CASHFLOW Quadrant," a conceptual tool which he developed to categorize the four major ways income is earned. Depicted in a diagram, this concept entails four groupings, split with two crossed lines (one vertical and one horizontal). In each of the four groups there is a letter representing a way in which an individual may earn income. The letters are as follows.

E: Employee — Working for someone else.

S: Self-employed or Small business owner — Where a person owns his own job and is his own boss.

B: Business owner — A person owns a business to make money; typically where the owner's physical presence is not required.

I: Investor — Investing money in order to receive a larger income in the future.

Books

Kiyosaki is best known for his book ''Rich Dad, Poor Dad''. Kiyosaki followed with ''Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant'' and ''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing''. He has now had at least a dozen books published, including:

''Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (2000)''

''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!'' (2000)

''Rich Kid, Smart Kid'' (2001)

''Rich Dad's Prophecy'' (2002)

''Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich'' (2002)

''Rich Dad's Guide to Becoming Rich...Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards'' (2003)

''Rich Dad's Who Took My Money: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins!'' (2004)

''Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins!'' (2004)

''The Business School'' (2005)

''Before You Quit Your Job'' (2005)

''Why We Want You To Be Rich'' (2007, with Donald Trump)

''Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money'' (2008)

''Conspiracy Of The Rich'' (2009)

''The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life.'' (2009)

''Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education'' (2011)

''Midas Touch'' (2011, with Donald Trump)

Games

Kiyosaki stresses the value of games, particularly ''Monopoly'', as tools for learning basic financial strategies such as "trade four green houses for one red hotel." Kiyosaki has created several games to reinforce the information in his book

Appearances

Several local stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including WTTW of Chicago, KAET of Phoenix, KOCE of Orange County, California, WLIW of the New York/New Jersey area, and WGBH of Boston, have featured Kiyosaki during fund-raising drives. During this television special, ''Rich Dad's Guide to Wealth with Robert Kiyosaki'', he provides viewers with financial education, as opposed to academic or professional education.

Kiyosaki has been seen giving financial advice on various network television news channels.

This speech was the subject of a CNN story.

Financial advice

Mutual funds

Kiyosaki wrote in one column that investors in any mutual fund with a 2.5% annual fee would, over a long time period, surrender 80% of the earnings to the fund. Kiyosaki expanded on his criticism of mutual funds in another column by stating they are for "losers." Despite the fact that most mutual funds actually charged less than 1.1%. He has drawn much criticism for comparing investing in mutual funds to playing the lottery, and for discouraging 401(k) investing, contrary to the advice of most professional financial advisers. In contrast to these statements, Kiyosaki wrote in his book ''Prophecy'' that while mutual funds are not great investments, they remain one of the few acceptable investment vehicles available to those who will not educate themselves financially.

Kiyosaki's criticisms are supported by the founder of the mutual fund Vanguard, John C. Bogle. In a ''Frontline'' episode titled "401(k)s: The New Retirement Plan, For Better or Worse", Bogle stated that management fees and trading costs gobble up approximately 2.5% of an investor's annual returns and approximately 80% of an investor's long term gains. He says management costs reduce the value of a $1,000 investment over 65 years from approximately $140,000 at 8% compounded annually to a mere $30,000 at 5.5% compounded annually. Bogle's solution is to utilize index funds, which charge as little as 0.09%, to substantially reduce or eliminate management fees.

Criticism and controversy

Kiyosaki's books and teachings have been criticized for focusing on anecdotes and containing little in the way of concrete advice on how readers should proceed. Kiyosaki responds that his material is meant to be more of a motivational tool to get readers thinking about money rather than a step-by-step guide to wealth. He also says the books are supposed to be "interesting" to people, which precludes involving a lot of technical material.

ABC ran a 20/20 segment on May 19, 2006 in which Kiyosaki was to advise three entrepreneurs on how to make money. They were given $1000 and 20 days to try to make the most money possible. One earned a return of 24%, the second earned a return of 54% and gave it all to charity, and the third lost 100% because she invested in machines that could not be delivered in 20 days. The contestants alleged that Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice. "All he [Kiyosaki] does is, I guess, is open your mind to the possibility. He doesn't tell you how to do it." Kiyosaki responded that failure is important to learning. At the end, 20/20 asks, "Does anyone really need 18 books to learn to fail?"

The Wall Street Journal criticized ''Why We Want You To Be Rich'' by Kiyosaki and Trump as did Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

There are also those who claim that some of the things he teaches are incorrect, and based on false claims including those working for Robert Kiyosaki.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation consumer affairs program Marketplace ran an investigative piece on Kiyosaki's questionable business practices on Jan 29, 2010. It includes interviews with Kiyosaki.

Partial bibliography

''If You Want to Be Rich & Happy: Don't Go to School? : Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children'' (1992). ISBN 0-944031-38-2.

''Rich Dad Poor Dad - What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!'' (first published in 1997) Warner Business Books. ISBN 0-446-67745-0.

''CASHFLOW Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom'' (2000). ISBN 0-446-67747-7.

''Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!'' (2000). ISBN 0-446-67746-9.

''The Business School for People Who Like Helping People'' (March, 2001). ISBN 9-992-26742-9 - endorses multi-level marketing

''Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart'' (2001). ISBN 0-446-67748-5.

''Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich'' (2002). ISBN 0-446-67843-0.

''Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming… and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It!'' (October, 2002). Warner Books, Incorporated. ISBN 0-641-62241-4.

''Rich Dad's The Business School: For People Who Like Helping People'' (2003) ISBN 9-796-86729-X.

''You Can Choose to be Rich'' (2003) 12-CD Audio series with three books.

''Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins!'' (May 1, 2004)ISBN 0-446-69182-8.

''Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money--That You Don't Learn in School!'' (2004) ISBN 0-446-69321-9.

''Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job : 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business'' (2005). ISBN 0-446-69637-4.

''Rich Dad's Escape from the Rat Race - Comic for children'' (2005)

''Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money'' (2008). ISBN 0-446-50936-1.

''Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money'' (September 21, 2009). ISBN 0446559806 (free online edition)

''The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life.'' (May, 2010). ISBN 1-458-77250-0.

''Midas Touch'' (November, 2011), by Donald J. Trump & Robert T. Kiyosaki. ISBN 1-612-68095-X.

Notes

References

External links

''Hawaii Business Magazine'' June 2002 cover story on Kiyosaki

Why the Rich Get Richer Robert Kiyosaki's regular column at Yahoo! Finance

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American business writers Category:American finance and investment writers Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American businesspeople Category:American investors Category:Businesspeople in real estate Category:American motivational speakers Category:American motivational writers Category:American self-help writers Category:People from Hilo, Hawaii Category:Writers from Hawaii Category:Businesspeople from Hawaii Category:Stock traders Category:Currency traders Category:American writers of Japanese descent Category:United States naval aviators Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:United States Merchant Marine Academy alumni Category:American military personnel of Japanese descent Category:People associated with Direct Sales

ca:Robert Kiyosaki cs:Robert Kiyosaki da:Robert Kiyosaki de:Robert Kiyosaki et:Robert Kiyosaki es:Robert Kiyosaki fa:رابرت کیوساکی id:Robert Kiyosaki it:Robert Kiyosaki he:רוברט קיוסאקי lt:Robert Kiyosaki hu:Robert Kiyosaki nl:Robert Kiyosaki ja:ロバート・キヨサキ pl:Robert Kiyosaki pt:Robert Kiyosaki ro:Robert Kiyosaki ru:Кийосаки, Роберт sah:Роберт Кийосаки fi:Robert Kiyosaki sv:Robert Kiyosaki uk:Роберт Кійосакі vi:Robert Kiyosaki zh:羅伯特·清崎