What are Current Assets?

Assets are anything which the firm owns or has title to (in other words ownership of). Firms may have fixed assets which are long-term assets - plant, machinery and equipment, but they will also have assets which can be realised (cashed-in) in the short-term. This is generally taken in accounting terms to be less than a year.




The current assets are therefore ones that can be quickly realised and change frequently. The main current assets are stock, debtors and cash.



CURRENT ASSETS = Stock + Debtors + Cash



They are usually shown on the top half of the balance sheet, and the current liabilities are subtracted from them to show net current assets.