Analysis of Long-Term Assets
Refresher reading access
Introduction
Long-term assets such as property, plant, and equipment and intangibles typically account for most issuers’ assets and are employed to generate economic benefits for many years. While an “economic” balance sheet would include a wide range of assets such as a company’s reputation and its trained, experienced workforce, “accounting” balance sheets prepared under IFRS and US GAAP permit the recognition of a narrow range of assets. Once a long-lived asset is recognized, either the cost or revaluation models are used for measurement, while US GAAP requires the cost model. The choice of different methods and varying accounting policies for long-lived assets can create challenges for analysts comparing companies.
Learning Outcomes
The candidate should be able to:
- compare the financial reporting of the following types of intangible assets: purchased, internally developed, and acquired in a business combination
- explain and evaluate how impairment and derecognition of property, plant, and equipment and intangible assets affect the financial statements and ratios
- analyze and interpret financial statement disclosures regarding property, plant, and equipment and intangible assets
1 PL Credit
If you are a CFA Institute member don’t forget to record Professional Learning (PL) credit from reading this article.