Business Functions

Introduction

An asset is an object of value. It could be a person, a car, a piece of jewelry, or a refrigerator, etc. Anything that has a value is an asset. In the accounting world, an asset is a piece of/or property whose life span can be projected, estimated, or evaluated. As days, months or years go by, the value of such an asset degrades.

When an item is acquired for the first time as “brand new”, the value of the asset is referred to as its Cost. The declining value of an asset is referred to as its Depreciation. At one time, the item will completely lose its worth or productive value. Nevertheless, the value that an asset has after it has lost all its value is referred to its Salvage Value. At any time, between the purchase value and the salvage value, accountants estimate the value of an item based on various factors including its original value, its lifetime, its usefulness (how the item is being used), etc.