What Is An Intangible Asset?

If you're a small business owner in the UK, you may be wondering what an intangible asset is. Here's a quick overview: an intangible asset is any non-physical asset that has a value to your business. This can include things like copyrights, contracts, and goodwill. Intangible assets are important because they can give your business a competitive edge—provided they are managed properly.

 
Types of Intangible Assets
There are many different types of intangible assets.

Some of the most common include:

Copyrights: These protect creative works like paintings, books, music, and software. In the UK, copyrights last for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years.

Contracts: Contracts can take many forms, but they all represent an agreement between two or more parties. Common examples include leases, employment agreements, and supplier contracts.

Goodwill: Goodwill is the value of your business's reputation. It takes into account things like customer loyalty and name recognition. Goodwill can be very valuable—just think about how much it would cost to launch a new business from scratch!—but it can also be very difficult to quantify.

 
Intangible assets are important because they can give your business a competitive edge—provided they are managed properly. There are many different types of intangible assets, including copyrights, contracts, and goodwill. If you want to make the most of your intangible assets, it's important to have a clear understanding of what they are and how they can be used to benefit your business.

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