What are intangible assets: examples, classification, account in accounting

Each working enterprise should be well versed in the situation that is observed in it. It is necessary to ensure accounting and rational use of assets, to prevent possible abuse, to show high performance. All this is needed. But it is difficult to provide at least something if there is no basic understanding of the fundamental points. So what are intangible assets? What can they be used for? What operations are carried out with their participation?

general information

Let's first deal with the terminology and find out what intangible assets are. Such a designation is used for objects that are created or acquired by organizations and which are used in ongoing business activities for a period exceeding a period of twelve months, have a monetary value, have the ability to alienate and create income, although they are not tangible assets. When working with them, you must be guided by the "Regulation on accounting." This is what intangible assets are in general terms. By what parameters is it decided what to relate to them?

How to classify intangible assets?

What are the conditions to accept an object for accounting? This is a serious question. Care must be taken to ensure that the following requirements are met at the same time:

1. An object may bring future economic benefits to the structure. So, there should be potential for the production of goods, the performance of work, the provision of services, and the use in managerial needs.
2. The structure has the right to economic benefits, which may bring the object in the future. That is, it must possess all the necessary documentation (correctly executed), which confirms the existence of the asset, as well as the organization’s right to it - a patent, certificate, agreement on the alienation of exclusive rights, and other security papers.
3. It should be possible to identify the object and its allocation among other assets.
4. The object should be intended for long-term use, so the useful life of intangible assets is at least twelve months.
5. The organization does not plan to sell it in the coming year (365/366 days).
6. You can reliably determine the actual (initial) value of the object.
7. The lack of material form of embodiment.

Intellectual Property

Among all intangible assets, there is one very important component. Its name is intellectual property. It includes the exclusive right:

1. The patent holder for a utility model, industrial design, invention.
2. The author of the program for electronic computers, databases.
3. Owner of a trademark, name.
4. The author on the topology of microcircuits.
5. On selection achievements.
6. On works of literature and art.
7. Secrets of production.
8. Business reputation.

It should be noted that an important fact is that the asset is not recognized as the result of intellectual activity, but only the exclusive right to use it. Also, in order to avoid confusion, it should be noted that does not apply to them:

1. Not completed, not yielding a useful result, and also not completed in the required order results of scientific research.
2. Financial investments.
3. Costs associated with the creation of a legal entity.
4. Things where there are results of intelligent developments (for example, storage media).
5. Business and intellectual qualities of the staff, their qualifications and ability to work.

IP in terms of law

When people talk about intangible assets (what applies to them), then often they mean exclusively intellectual property. This, admittedly, is not entirely correct. Therefore, to avoid misinterpretation and subsequent use of information, let's turn to the law.

What are intangible assets from a legal point of view? If we turn to article 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, we can find out that this is a type of object of civil rights. The definition of intellectual property is contained in Art. 138 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It states that IP refers to the exclusive right of a legal entity or citizen to the results of mental activity, as well as equivalent means of individualization of work, services, products or the legal entity itself. Their use is possible by a third party, but only with the consent of the copyright holder. And what are these means of individualization? Most probably this is not entirely clear, so a small digression is necessary. By this is meant a trademark, company name, etc.

Business reputation

Speaking about the objects of intangible assets, it is difficult to get around this rather unusual (at least that recognized in the legal field) moment. Nevertheless, the "Accounting Position" considers business reputation, which is associated with the enterprise as a property complex. And precisely from the point of view of classification as an intangible asset.

So, business reputation is understood as the excess of the current price of the organization over the value of all its liabilities and assets on the balance sheet. It can be both positive and negative. In the first case, a price premium is fixed, which is paid by the buyer in anticipation of the economic benefits of the future period. It can be amortized for a period of twenty years. Operations with intangible assets in this case are carried out in accounting and represent a uniform decrease in the initial cost. Negative business reputation is a discount on the price that is offered to the buyer. It is accounted for as other income. Although there is one point - for example, the Tax Code does not consider it an intangible asset.

Questions and Challenges

When the fixed assets and intangible assets of enterprises are considered, often thoughts arise as to what and where to relate and whether certain aspects should be given general attention. But let's talk about everything in order.

When an intangible asset is capitalized by an organization, it is difficult to determine precisely the probability of use and meeting deadlines. Also raises questions and the condition according to which the organization does not involve the sale. When studying this issue, articles 132 and 559 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation are of interest. According to them, under the sale contract, the owner of the organization must transfer to the buyer the property complex, as well as the rights to the objects of individualization of the company, its products, services, works.

Reporting

How is the movement of intangible assets? They are accounted for by account 04 “Intangible assets”. Depreciation and amortization are shown at line 1110. There are a number of specific points. So, if the initial cost of intangible assets is more than forty thousand rubles, then this property is recognized as depreciable. If the amount is less than the specified amount, then the costs that go into creation or acquisition can be taken into account at the same time as material costs.

How to evaluate them?

Now let's talk about one of the most difficult and controversial issues. Namely, about the valuation of intangible assets.Why is this relevant? A number of reasons can be given as an answer, namely:

1. Purchase and sale of rights to intellectual property.
2. Business Valuation.
3. Selling a license to use intellectual property.
4. Contribution to the authorized capital.
5. Compulsory licensing and determination of the amount of damage in case of violation of intellectual property rights.
6. In carrying out the processes of privatization, corporatization, mergers and acquisitions.
7. Valuation of intangible assets of the enterprise, which is carried out in order to adjust the financial statements.

In this case, the final monetary equivalent is affected by:

1. Scope of transferred rights.
2. Availability level for commercial use.
3. Possibility of unauthorized use.

How is the assessment carried out?

This process includes the following steps:

1. Initially, an examination is carried out directly of the intellectual property itself. At this stage, make sure that they exist and are used. For this, primary documents are studied. This can be design drawings, a program, and more.
2. Then the security documents (certificates and patents) are checked. Most attention is paid to the territory and validity period. It should be noted that the protection documents may be prematurely terminated due to non-payment of the fee.
3. And the last stage is the examination of intellectual property rights. The appraiser checks the documents, which confirms the rights of the enterprise to the intellectual property. This can be as patents, licenses and certificates, as well as acts of acceptance, transfer into operation and registration.

Conclusion

In general, rather twofold specific points should be noted. On the one hand, the registration of intangible assets is necessary in order to avoid abuse. If there is a patent, then it is easy to stop abuses if similar products started to be produced in the neighboring area. But with access to the international arena, not everything is so easy.

Each patent is now available on a worldwide network. Therefore, if you wish, you can create an analogue of it in another state. And the copyright owner is quite problematic to stop the abuse and get compensation. But on the other hand, nothing can be done either. After all, competitors can bribe an employee, he will transfer the drawings, and then try to prove that it was created by the scientific development department of this particular enterprise, and not otherwise. In general, it should be concluded that the system is pretty good, but requires significant refinement.

So we examined intangible assets, what applies to them and how to work with them.