what s considered useful life varies according to the type of asset for example under the general depreciation system gds the internal revenue service irs assigns office furniture and fixtures a useful life of seven years while cars and trucks get a useful life of five years 1
financial assets can include stocks corporate and government bonds and other types of securities unlike fixed assets they tend to be liquid and they are valued according to their current price on the relevant market intangible assets are economic resources that have no physical presence they include patents trademarks copyrights and goodwill similar to the depreciation process for fixed assets intangible assets can be amortized over their useful life for accounting and tax purposes assets vs liabilitieswhile an asset is something of economic value that s owned or controlled by a person company or government a liability is basically the opposite something that is owed to another person company or government examples of liabilities include loans tax obligations and accounts payable 