Assets are financially quantifiable items of property and rights owned by the accounting entity, categorized on the left side of the balance sheet based on liquidity—indicating how swiftly they can be converted or realized, i.e., sold. The more liquid assets a company has, the less is the likelihood of encountering payment difficulties or bankruptcy. However, assets with greater liquidity typically yield lower profits compared to less liquid assets.
Company's assets are divided into: 1) current assets and 2) fixed assets. Current assets typically have a shorter useful life and are the most liquid assets, such as cash, short-term financial investments, and inventories. Among current assets, inventories are the hardest to realize. Fixed assets, on the other hand, are long-term assets with lower liquidity and are further divided into tangible and intangible assets. Fixed assets are generally not sold to solve short-term cash problems. Tangible fixed assets include long-term financial investments, machinery and equipment, and real estate. Intangible fixed assets include trademarks, concessions, franchises, patents, licenses, and goodwill, also known as intellectual property.
$$ASSETS\equiv LIABILITIES+EQUITY$$
The triple bar sign means "identical to" i.e the total value of assets must be identical to the sum of liabilities and equity, maintaining a perpetual balance. In practice, equity is calculated by subtracting liabilities from assets, revealing the residual value available to shareholders after all obligations have been settled.