Assets and Liabilities

The term "asset" means anything of value that is owned by a company and can be expressed in terms of money. Economic resources that provide a potential future service to the organization are called assets in accounting. A company's total assets include such items as cash, buildings, equipment, any other property and accounts receivable, that is, money owned by its customers.

Assets are usually classified as current and long-term, both types consisting of tangible as well as of intangible items. Current tangible assets including cash, accounts receivable, stock-in-trade are usually converted into cash within one year and sometimes can be used as a means of payment. On the other hand, current intangible assets consist of short-term investments in stocks and bonds.

Long-term intangible assets are not really visible and include such items as goodwill, patents, trademarks, copyrights, these assets often being the most important factor for obtaining future incomes. For example, goodwill means an intangible asset which takes into account the value added to a business as a result of its reputation which cannot be really calculated. In contrast, the real estate (such as farm land, machinery, buildings and other physical objects) belongs to long-term tangible assets.

Liabilities are obligations that a company owes to another organization, to an individual (such as creditors and employees) or to the government. Like assets, liabilities are divided into current and long-term ones. Current liabilities are usually amounts that are paid within one year, including accounts payable, taxes on income and property, short-term loans, salaries and wages, and amounts of money owed to suppliers of goods and services. Noncurrent liabilities often called long-term are usually debts, such as bonds and long-term loans.

The amount by which the total assets exceed total liabilities is known as the net worth which is usually called the equity for companies. When the company is a corporation, the equity means the investment interest of the owners (that is, the stockholders) in the organization's assets. The owners' equity can be increased either by investing more money in the company or by earning a profit and can be decreased because of the company's losses.

All companies keep proper accounting system in order to know whether or not they are operating profitably, each of the assets and the liabilities and the equity being shown in a company's accounts separately. The balance sheet prepared by the company's accountant is one of the important financial reports showing the value of the total assets, total liabilities and equity on a given date. The relationship of these main categories is represented by the fundamental accounting equation: assets (everything that is owned) are equal to liabilities (owed) plus equity (clear of debt).

ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY

As all three factors are expressed in terms of money, they are limited to items that can be given a monetary value. The accounting equation should always be in balance, so that one side must equal the other.

Intangible Assets

Being intellectual property, trademark, copyright and patents are known to belong to company's intangible assets. As for trademarks, they are used to distinguish goods of a certain company, thus easily identifying the one in question. Trademarks of some famous companies are known by customers all over the world, such as trademarks of some automobile-producing companies (Mercedes, Toyota, BMW), food production companies (McDonald's, Coke), computer-producing corporations (Microsoft, IBM) etc. Being a form of property and identifying either a product or a service, each of these symbols belongs to the company that uses it. According to the adopted laws a trademark can consist of words, letters, numbers, names, colours, signs or any other combinations, a company's name often being used as a part of a trademark, for example IBM Personal Computer. The law prohibits to use trademarks for either direct or indirect sale of goods by other companies. Some competing companies trying to use famous trademarks for selling their own goods, there exists a law prohibiting counterfeiting or using the original trademarks. Thus, the law ensures an exclusive right of the trader to use an individual mark and protects this right in the same way as other forms of private property.

Unlike trademarks copyright only protects the words, notes or images that the creator used, but it doesn't protect any ideas or concepts described by the work. Having published his new investigation, for example a new method for synthesizing chemical substances, a scientist uses the copyright to prevent others from copying the words of his article. Anybody is able to use the described method, so to protect the process the scientists must apply for a patent. Nowadays copyright law is of great importance for many industries, especially in book publishing, film production, music recording and computer software, as it protects the rights of the authors of the creations. Although every country is interested in copyright protection and several important agreements dealing with international copyright protection were signed, some countries have a large market of counterfeit goods available at very low prices and copyright owners suffer great losses.

Like trademark or copyright, a patent is recognized as a kind of personal property, a patent holder having the exclusive right to make, use or sell an invention usually for a limited period. Patents are given by the government for new and useful machines, manufactured products, new chemical compounds, foods, medical products, industrial processes or significant improvements of the existing ones. It is important that patents are seldom granted for simple improvements or modifications of the existing products. With the development of commerce and international business, there is a need for bilateral patent agreements between nations. These treaties can facilitate the process of obtaining patents by inventors in a foreign country where they are going to manufacture, use or sell their inventions.

One should know how long he can use his right for these forms of intellectual property. Most countries demand that the right to a trademark should be registered with the proper government agency and one can lose the right by failing to renew the registration. The copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years, but if a work is created by the employee at his job, the copyright belongs to the employer and lasts 75 years from publication or 100 years from its creation. The duration of patents varies from 16 to 20 years in most countries.

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Marketing (Маркетинг)

Marketing is the performance of business activities connected with movement of goods and services from producers to consumers. The basic function of marketing is to determine and satisfy customer's needs, bringing a mutual benefit to a customer and to the firm. Customers benefit by having what they want, when and where they want it. Firms benefit by making a profit.

Marketing operations include product planning, buying, storage, pricing, promotion, selling, credit-granting, transportation and marketing research. Marketing research provides producers with information on coming trends, changes in consumer wants, supply and demand and new market developments. Thus, marketing research helps the producer to predict what the people will want to buy.

Promotion means economic and political publicity, advertising, personal selling, fairs, exhibitions.

Personal selling means personal contacts between the seller and prospective buyer. In other words it means collecting contacts.

Advertising informs people about the new product, gives its characteristics, persuades people to buy it.

Marketing is the Four P: the product, the place, the price, and the promotion. But most of all, marketing is research: finding out who the customers are and what they need.

Wholesaling

Wholesalers are the institutions which stand between the manufacturer and the retailer. Wholesaling provides channels of distribution which help to bring goods to the market. Wholesalers act as middlemen between manufacturer and retailers. They buy goods in bulk and sell them in small quantities to retailers. Wholesaling simplifies the process of distribution. As wholesaler handles a large assortment of goods from many manufactures, he reduces the problem of both manufacturers and retailers.

Wholesalers are used for information and advice. Suggestions which customers make to the retailer are passed to the wholesaler who conveys them to the manufacturer. Thus, the producer can improve his product.

The wholesaler keeps stock. Shoppers like to obtain goods immediately. This requires stock. Neither the producer, nor the retailer has extensive storage facilities and responsibility falls on the wholesaler. More over, the wholesaler arranges imports from abroad. Foreign manufacturers can rarely ship parcels to individual retailers abroad. They prefer to deal with a wholesaler, an import merchant with established trade connections.

Retailing

Retailing is selling goods and services to the ultimate consumer. There are four types of retail institutions: 1) specialty stores; 2) supermarkets; 3) general merchandise stores; 4) non-store retailing.

Often specialty stores sell one type of product, such as clothing, jewelry, furniture, books. These stores compete against giant department stores. They can adjust more quickly to market conditions.

Big supermarkets are usually well located. All the goods are arranged on trays and shelves. All the prices are clearly marked. The goods are ready-weighed and beautifully packed. There you can find everything you need.

General merchandise stores (GMS) carry a wide variety of products. There are three types of GMS: a) department stores; b) discount stores; c) hypermarkets. Big department stores started in America more than 50 years ago, and then the idea was brought to European countries. These stores are wonderful places. People can do all their shopping under one roof. All the things for sale are displayed so that they can be easily seen, and the customers walk around and choose what they want.

Low price is the major attraction of the discount stores. These stores sell the most popular items, colors and sizes. The stores keep long hours and usually open on Sundays. Hypermarket is a type of discount store that was developed in Germany. They are a very large stores with low-price and high-turnover products. Hypermarkets achieves cost savings by simplifying their unpacking and display.

There are three major types of nonstore retailing: a) vending machines; b) door-to-door sales; c) catalogue sales.

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Marketing (Маркетинг)

Types of Products

Products can be grouped in different ways (One approach is to distinguish between goods and services. Goods are basically objects, they can be touched, stored, transported and mass-produced. Services, consisting primarily of actions, have opposite characteristics. In general, services require different pricing, distribution and promotion techniques than goods do.).

The most widely spread one to categorize products is to look at who is doing the buying - individual consumers or industrial / organizational buyers. According to that approach all consumer goods can be divided into three subgroup: convenience goods, shopping goods and specialty goods.

Convenience goods are products that are readily available, low prices, and heavily advertised and that consumers buy quickly and often. They are inexpensive items like toothpaste, soda and razor blades. Because the buyer is already familiar with these things, habit is a strong influence in the purchase decision. People buy the same old brand or go to the same old shop because it is easy to do so. To cultivate these strong buying habits, many sellers of convenience goods use advertising and packaging to create an easily recognizable image.

Shopping goods are products for which a consumer spends a lot of time shopping in order to compare prices, quality and style. These are fairly important things that a person doesn't buy every day, like a stereo, a washing machine, a good suit. One reason a purchase requires more thought is the difference among brands in terms of price or features. The existence of these differences prompts comparison shopping. The shopping process is a form of education; the more unusual and expensive the product, the more the buyer checks around to compare models, features and prices. Various sources of information are used advertisements, sales people, friends and relatives.

Specialty goods are products that a consumer will make a special effort to buy. These are things like luxury items, channel perfume, Brooks Brothers suits, cars.

There are two basic types of industrial products: expense items and capital items.

Expense items come in two basic types: support consumables and industrial process consumables.

Support consumables includes inexpensive items used to support business - rubber bands, paper, file folders.

Industrial process consumables includes goods that are used in the basic operations of business, such as raw materials and component parts required in a manufacturing process.

Capital items are relatively expensive industrial goods that have a long life and are used in the operations of a business. They are: trucks, major pieces of equipment. If a capital item is very expensive, the purchase decision is often based on written competitive bids. These bids are evaluated by a team of top managers and technical people.

An introduction to law

Every day of our lives we are restrained and guided by law. It protects us while it restricts us. Sometimes it punishes us. It determines the registration of our birth and the distribution of our possession at death. It tells us how fast we can drive and how long must attend school. Through gambling and drinking laws it regulates the life we lead. Through the Federal Trade Commission it helps to protect us from unfair commercial practices. There is no end to the ways in which the law significantly affects our life.

The scope of the law necessarily makes it complex, and complexity has created the need for specialists, namely lawyers. This puts the practice of law well beyond the reach of the laymen. For legal assistance in specific circumstances, the services of a competent professional usually are advisable.

Basically, law is a system of rules. Members of a society establish these rules in order to live in relative harmony. To achieve this end, the individual relinquishes certain rights for the good of the group.

Law can also be defined as a standard of conduct which regulates the relation of the individual to the central government, the relation of the government to the individual, and the relations among individuals. If there is a conflict in these relations, the law also provides an institution, the court system, through which the respective sides can litigate a problem and reach a solution.