intangibles

Intangible Asset

In accounting, any asset that cannot be seen or touched. Intangible assets include things like patents and brand recognition, which add value to a company, but are difficult to price. Intangible assets explicitly do not include actual things, such as widgets, a widget factory, or the land upon which the widget factory is built. Because of the difficulty in pricing, intangible assets are sometimes not included in a company's valuation. However, not including them may not express the company's true value. See also: Tangible assets.

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intangibles

costs and benefits usually associated with an INVESTMENT project that either cannot be quantified or that can be quantified but cannot easily be valued in money terms. Examples of the former include the scenic effects of projects such as airport runways in rural areas; examples of the latter might include reductions in accident deaths associated with road-building projects, which give problems setting a money value per life saved. Such intangibles are important although they cannot easily be incorporated into an investment appraisal. See COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005