Any owned physical object (tangible) or right (intangible) having economic value to its owner; an item or source of wealth with continuing benefit for future periods, expressed, for accounting purposes, in terms of its cost, or other value, such as current or replacement cost, and reflected in a balance sheet ... Accounting conventionally recognizes certain sources of wealth as assets but not others. Typical examples of the former are cash, investments, claims against others (receivables), materials, supplies, goods in process of manufacture or held for sale, land, buildings, machinery, tools and other plant assets, prepaid expenses, purchased goodwill, patents, and trademarks.