Quick assets
Quick assets include cash on hand or current assets like accounts receivable that can be converted to cash with minimal or no discounting.
Companies tend to use quick assets to cover short-term liabilities as they come up, so rapid conversion into cash (high liquidity) is critical. Inventories and prepaid expenses are not quick assets because they can be difficult to convert to cash, and deep discounts are sometimes needed to do so.
Assets categorized as “quick assets” are not labeled as such on the balance sheet; they appear among the other current assets. As current assets, quick assets are typically used, and/or replenished within 45 days.
More about quick assets
The balance sheet below shows that ABC Co. held $120,000 in current assets as of March 31, 2012. Two of the assets in that category—cash ($5,000) and accounts receivable ($55,000)—are quick assets, which total $60,000.
