Items owned by a business. They include non-current assets (or fixed assets) which may be tangible (eg buildings), non-tangible (eg trade marks) and financial (eg shares in other businesses), as well as current assets, which consist of inventories (stock), trade and other receivables (debtors), prepayments, and cash and cash equivalents. See current and non-current assets. The value of assets should always equal capital and liabilities. This is known as the accounting equation. See accounting equation.