Tangible vs Intangible

The primary difference between tangible and intangible is that tangible is something which a person can see, feel or touch and thus they have the physical existence, whereas, the intangible is something which a person cannot see, feel or touch and thus do not have any of the physical existence.

Assets are anything that has some value stored in it and which is also owned by a firm or an individual and is expected to provide future economic benefit. It is the most basic requirement of the business, which is needed by the company or an organization for its smooth functioning. It is broadly classified as current assets and non-current assets. Non-current assets are then further classified into intangible and tangible assets.

Tangible assets can be referred to as the long-term resources which are physical and that are owned by an organization or the corporation, which has some economic value. Corporation acquires those assets to carry out its business operations smoothly and is usually not for sale. Examples for the same would be plants & machinery, buildings, vehicles, tools & equipment, furniture & fixtures, land, computers, etc. These assets mostly suffer from the risk of loss due to theft, fire, accident, or any other such disaster. Tangible assets do have a useful economic life, after which it has the risk of becoming obsolete. Depreciation is the common method that has been incorporated by the firms to spread the part of that asset's expense over its economic life.

These assets are the long-term resources that are incorporeal that is also owned by the organization, which have a specific commercial value. In this list, we can include trademark, goodwill, copyright, patent, brand, blueprint, Internet domains, intellectual property, licensing agreements, etc.

• Assets that are acquired by the organization, which is having some monetary value and is materially present is known as tangible assets. Incorporeal assets that have a particular useful life, as well as economic value, are known as intangible assets.
• Tangible assets are the assets that are present with the organization or say with the company in their physical existence. On the other hand, intangible assets are the assets that do not exist physically; instead, they are stated as abstract.
• While the value reduction for the tangible assets occurs depreciation, and for intangible assets, it happens through amortization.
• Due to the significant material presence in tangible assets, those can be readily convertible into cash when required or in case of emergency. Still, conversely, it would be a bit difficult to sell those intangible assets, namely trademark or goodwill, etc.
• Salvage value or the scrap value is the residual value of the asset after it has been completely depreciated. Tangible assets have scrap or salvage value, but intangible assets, as stated earlier, do not have any kind of scrap or salvage value.
• Tangible assets, as mentioned in the above table that those are accepted by the lenders or creditors while granting a loan to the firm, for example, granting property loans and mortgaging that property against that, such kinds of loans are called as secured loans. As opposed to this, the organization or firm cannot use intangible assets as collateral value to raise loans.
• The Cost of tangible assets can be easily determined, whereas the cost of intangible assets involves complications as and is harder to determine.

Both intangible and tangible assets are and must be recorded by the company as those are required by law and per accounting standards. In comparison, tangible assets are very much vital for the organization, as it helps company in the production of services and goods. On the contrary, intangible assets assist the organization in creating their future worth.For example, if a company has a patent in creating a certain product then its revenue will not be affected soon as it will face less competition and thus this creates value for shareholders.

When comparing these assets, both have their cons and pros, but there is one more fact which is also true that intangible assets are much worthier as compare to the tangible ones.

They both have a similarity that they both have an existence at the face of a balance sheet. The Organization cannot survive without the tangibles. If those went for sale or liquidation, it is almost as good as its nearing bankruptcy take an example of IL&FS (Infra Structure and Leasing company) that has been defaulting on its debt payment in the year 2018 is in trouble as its selling its tangible assets to survive. Further Intangibles also are important as stated above like patents, trademarks, etc. those help the organization is keeping the competition around it lesser. Customers' loyalty is also one kind of intangibles like most of the sophisticated consumers see value in Apple, which Apple admires and sees them as their value. 

This article has been a guide to the Tangibles vs. Intangibles. Here we discuss the top differences between Tangible and Intangible Assets along with infographics and comparison table. You may also have a look at the following articles –

• Negative Goodwill
• Does Land Depreciate
• Opex vs. Capex
• Accumulated Depreciation – An Asset or Liability