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Finance & Banking vocabulary · Financial Statements

Asset

Meaning in finance & banking, with examples

/ˈæset/nounCore term

In finance & banking, asset means: Something of value that a person or company owns or controls, such as cash, buildings, receivables or investments.

In Turkish: varlık, aktif, kıymet

How it is used

Appears on the assets side of the balance sheet. Accountants divide assets into current and non-current; bankers talk about total assets, asset quality and liquid assets. For a bank, the loans it gives are assets.

Example sentences

  1. The bank's total assets grew to 2 trillion lira last year.

  2. A rise in bad loans is a sign of weak asset quality.

Common collocations

  • total assets
  • current assets
  • fixed assets
  • asset quality
  • liquid assets
  • liabilityMoney or another obligation that a company owes to others, such as loans, unpaid bills or, for a bank, its customers' deposits.
  • equityThe owners' share of a company: what is left when liabilities are taken away from assets. It includes paid-in capital and retained profits.
  • balance sheetA financial statement showing what a company owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities) and the owners' share (equity) on a specific date.
  • liquidityHow easily an asset can be turned into cash without losing value, or how much cash and easily sold assets a bank or company has to meet its payments.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Financial Statements

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.