The Importance of Intangible Assets in Today’s Digital Economy

The paper set out to analyze the main factors behind the traceability to the digital economy. The right perspective on intangibles can change the views of management, accounting professionals and clients alike. The changes will be more and more, so it is very important to understand the conditions and factors that have led to the current economy: the internet, globalization, consumer preferences. The knowledge economy and the digital economy are in close dependence, intellectual capital is now no less important than technology. Thus, intangible assets are propelled by both human resources and artificial intelligence because the digital economy was designed by people, for people and started from knowledge. The paper approaches intangibles from different perspectives, for example the accounting perspective looks at their classification, valuation and reporting in financial statements; the psychology perspective looks at the perception of value and the impact on behavior in decision making; the marketing perspective looks at brands, customers, and the ethics perspective focuses on the relationship between intangibles and social life. The shift of focus from physical production to knowledge generation is an important benchmark for the evolution of intangibles in the asset structure of enterprises. Creativity, through the development of patents, know-how or technological performance, is increasingly contributing to the creation of more value. Regulating the recording of intangibles is a complex task, but because intangibles are present in all areas of activity, the rules need to be as clear as possible so that companies’ financial situation is illustrated as transparently as possible.