Long-Lived Assets
In the preceding section, we examined working capital, which refers to the current assets and liabilities of a company. In this section, we take a closer look at the long-lived assets (a.k.a. non-current assets) carried on the balance sheet. Long-lived assets are those that provide the company with a future economic benefit beyond the current year or operating period. It may be helpful to remember that most (but not all) long-lived assets start as some sort of purchase by the company.
In fact, whenever a company purchases an asset, it will either expense or capitalize the purchase. Consider a simple example of a company that generates $150 in sales and, in the same year, spends $100 on research and development (R&D). In scenario A below, the entire $100 is expensed and, as a result, the profit is simply $50 ($100 – $50). In scenario B, the company capitalizes the $100, which means a long-lived asset is created on the balance sheet and the cost is allocated (charged) as an expense over future periods. If we assume the asset has a five-year life, only one-fifth of the investment is allocated in the first year. The other $80 remains on the balance sheet, to be allocated as an expense over the subsequent four years.
There are various technical terms for the allocation of capitalized assets, but each refers to the pattern in which the assets’ prices are allocated to future period expenses: depreciation is the allocation of plant, property, and equipment; amortization is the allocation of goodwill; and depletion is the allocation of natural resource assets, such as oil wells.
Taken From : Advanced Financial Statements Analysis