The tangible is something that can be touched.
Originating from the Latin term tangibilis , the word tangible is used to name what can be touched or tasted in some way. In a broader sense, it also refers to that which can be perceived accurately .
For example: "I don't like symbolic gifts: I prefer tangible things" , "I need to achieve some tangible achievement to avoid being fired" , "Our management has achieved tangible results in all areas" .
Touch and the tangible
The tangible, in short, is what can be accessed by touch . This is the sense that allows an organism to perceive various characteristics of an object, such as its hardness or its temperature. The most important organ in this sense is the skin , which has multiple nervous receptors that manage to convert external stimuli into data that can be interpreted through brain activity.
It could be said that all concrete (physical) things are tangible: a ball, a bed, a computer , a tree, etc. All of them are made of materials and can be perceived by touch. When a subject passes their hand over the petal of a flower, the nerve receptors in their skin capture the information about its texture and transmit it to the brain.
Abstract concepts such as emotions and feelings , on the other hand, are intangible . Happiness, sadness and love cannot be touched: these words can still be manifested in a tangible way (a special gift to a loved one can be a tangible manifestation of affection). Other intangible things are wind, light and smoke.
It should be noted that for the economy , a tangible good is that product or service that is marketed among the inhabitants of the same nation.
A ball is a tangible item.
The concept in accounting
During the Industrial Revolution, accounting provided an essential service to the creation of capitalism, allowing accounting for both the raw materials available, the products obtained in the industrialization process and all those goods related to production. However, later new elements appeared in the system, such as abundant information, globalization and the close relationship that can be achieved thanks to the existence of the network.
Since that time, services have occupied a prominent place in the economy ; This brought negative consequences, because services are not easy to account for , given their intangible characteristics. At the same time, the enormous speed with which information travels on the network has raised hundreds of questions in accounting, such as how to control and account for that which does not have a specific form and that fluctuates in almost unpredictable ways over time. weather.
The solution to this conflict may be either to live the old way (establishing static parameters that do not clearly reveal the truth, but that allow numbers to be kept on it) or to try to find a way to account for what is intangible.
While orthodox accountants are inclined to continue with old practices, even if they have to do without exact values of reality, modern accountants prefer to look for new ways of working on goods in order to find an exact number that describes the value of services. and everything that is related to them.
Tangible book value
Finally, it is worth mentioning the concept of tangible book value , which must not be confused with the price ratio, also known simply as book value . Both allow you to determine whether the stock market share of a certain company is expensive or cheap, and they differ in the way in which they are obtained.
The first only takes into account the real assets of the company, without considering debts and other aspects; The second is obtained by dividing own funds by the number of shares. The former refer to the value of the company's assets after deducting debts ; the lower it is, the cheaper the stock will be.