Tangible vs intangible assets: what’s the difference?

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Tangible assets are physical, while intangible assets include concepts and brand reputation. Intangible assets are the most valuable but difficult to value. Counters use methods like comparing revenue to determine the value of intangible assets.

Each individual and company generally has certain tangible and intangible assets, and these generally combine to estimate the general value of the entity. Tangible assets are basically physical things, such as money, buildings and machines. Intangible assets are not physical and may include things as concepts, brand popularity and licenses. Instead, the intangible assets are the most important thing that a company has, but their values ​​can change constantly and this can make it difficult to trust them. Tangible and intangible assets are generally crucial to the survival of an enterprise, but intangible assets are essentially the most distinctive part of an enterprise and, therefore, the most valuable.

The most basic tangible assets are things like money, homes and equipment. Virtually all businesses and individuals will tend to be sufficient for these. If a person had a house and a computer, these things could be versed as his tangible assets. For a business, tangible assets may include things like factories, escapes, inversions, and other similar properties.

The intangible assets include ideas, concepts and the client’s position. For example, a franquicia de comida rápida can develop a certain reputation of having good hamburguesas. If the public mayor has the sensation that the company has the best hamburgers, this reputation is converted into an important intangible asset. Without that, the company could be worth significantly less, but it’s not algo with physical presence.

Counters take the plunge to find forms of valuing companies, and a large part of this comes from the dificultades to determine the general values ​​of the different active tangibles and intangibles. In general, intangible assets tend to be much more difficult to value. For example, if a counter intended to make a valuation of the previously mentioned quick order hipothetic article, he could have problems to determine exactly how to value the company’s reputation. It may be difficult to decide exactly what is worth now and what will be worth in the future. At the same time, it may be relatively easy to assign a value in dollars to tangible assets, such as restaurants, actual food processing and installations.

In an attempt to face this common disparity in the evaluation of various tangible and intangible assets, some counters have devised some methods. One of the most common information is to use a reference number and determine which part of the company’s current revenue comes from intangible assets. For example, the hipothetic counter of the previous example could determine what the majority of fast food restaurants are doing in hamburgers and compare it with the average of his company. He would then attribute the difference in value to the asset of «reputación estelar de hamburguesas». Determining how this active can change over time can be more difficult and depend on simple methods that are not specific to the real active in question.

Active smart.




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