Total Assets

The sum of everything a business owns — cash, receivables, inventory, equipment, property, and investments. Found on the balance sheet.

Total Assets Definition

Total assets represents the complete value of everything a business owns or controls. It's the first major section on a balance sheet and equals liabilities plus equity (the accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity).

What's Included in Total Assets

Current assets — cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid expenses (convertible to cash within 1 year)

Fixed assets — equipment, vehicles, furniture, buildings (net of depreciation)

Intangible assets — patents, trademarks, goodwill

Other assets — long-term investments, security deposits

Why Total Assets Matter

Used to calculate key financial ratios (return on assets, debt-to-asset ratio)

Lenders evaluate total assets when considering loans

Growth in total assets often signals business expansion

Declining assets may indicate cash flow problems or asset liquidation

How Total Assets Show Up in QuickBooks

Run a Balance Sheet report. Total assets appears at the top — QBO automatically sums all asset accounts. Make sure fixed assets include accumulated depreciation entries.

FAQ

Q: Is a higher total assets number always better?

A: Not necessarily. Assets funded entirely by debt aren't as healthy as equity-funded assets. Look at the debt-to-asset ratio for context.

Related Terms

> Need help making sense of your books? Ketchup cleans up your QuickBooks in 3–7 business days — so your numbers actually make sense. Get your price →

Related Terms

Self-Employment Tax

The Social Security and Medicare tax that self-employed individuals pay on net earnings — currently 15.3% (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare).

Equity

Equity is the owner's claim on business assets after all liabilities are subtracted. In simple terms, it's what the business is worth to its owners—total assets minus total debts. You'll also hear it called owner's equity, stockholders' equity, or net worth depending on the business structure.

LIFO

LIFO stands for Last In, First Out—an inventory costing method where the most recently purchased items are assumed to be sold first. When calculating cost of goods sold (COGS), LIFO uses the cost of your newest inventory purchases before moving to older ones. It's the opposite of FIFO and generally

Debit

In bookkeeping, a debit is an entry on the left side of a journal entry or T-account that increases certain types of accounts and decreases others. Debits increase asset and expense accounts while decreasing liability, equity, and revenue accounts. Every transaction requires at least one debit and o

Need these terms applied to your books?

Accounting Ketchup catches up your QuickBooks so the glossary becomes your reality. Flat rate.

Get My Price →