Fixed assets (also known as long-lived assets or property, plant and equipment; PP&E) is a term used in accounting for assets and property that may not easily be converted into cash. They are contrasted with current assets, such as cash, bank accounts, and short-term debts receivable. In most cases, only tangible assets are referred to as fixed.

While IAS 16 (International Accounting Standard) does not define the term fixed asset, it is often colloquially considered a synonym for property, plant and equipment. According to IAS 16.6, property, plant and equipment are tangible items that:

(a) are held for use in the production or supply of goods or services, for rental to others, or for administrative purposes and

(b) are expected to be used during more than one period.

Fixed assets are of two types:

A fixed asset can also be defined as an asset not directly sold to a firm's consumers or end-users.

In modern financial accounting usage, the term fixed assets can be ambiguous. Instead, the term non-current assets (used by the IFRS and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) XBRL reporting taxonomies) is preferred when referring to assets that will not be liquidated in the current fiscal period. Specific non-current assets (Property, plant and equipment, Investment property, Goodwill, Intangible assets other than goodwill, etc.) should be referred to by name.

A bakery's current assets include its inventory—such as flour, yeast, and other ingredients—the value of sales owed to the business from credit transactions (accounts receivable), and cash held in the bank. Its non-current assets consist of items like the ovens used for baking, delivery vehicles, and cash registers. While these non-current assets hold value, they are not intended for direct sale to customers and cannot be readily converted into cash.