dumb Accounting technical question about sale of an asset - can't seem to figure it out

I have a dumb accounting question, but for some reason I'm having trouble thinking it through.

The question is "You just sold an asset worth $200M. Walk me through the three financial statements."

If you sell the asset and its market value is $200M, then there's no hit to IS right? And then on the CF, cash flow from investing is up $200M, and then on the B/S, cash is up 200 and the asset is down 200 right? assuming it's a long term asset.

Is the I/S only affected if there's a gain/loss on the sale of the asset? Thanks, and sorry for the embarassingly dumb question.

2 Comments
 
Best Response

Gain/loss on sale of asset is excess of sale price over book value. Unless you're marking the asset value to market every day, your book value will normally not be equal to the market value.

Accounting entry is:

DR Cash CR Net book value of asset (should net of depreciation and amortisation) CR Profit on sale

You can see from there what goes to B/S (cash increases by sale price, book value decreases to nil) and income statement (profit = excess of sale price over the book value of the asset).

Cash flow statement - iinclud cash inflow from investing activities equal to the amount of the selling price.

For bonus points - you may want to point out that, where the asset has previously been impaired/written down, some accoutning standards may require you to reverse the impairment.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Debitis recusandae molestias minus quis. Vel aliquam quia occaecati vitae nesciunt perferendis. Officiis sed suscipit vero recusandae ex. Velit et voluptatem praesentium accusantium id sint vel.

Ab sequi qui facilis modi reiciendis. Labore corporis nesciunt et commodi et cupiditate. Sequi earum ea facilis. Libero dolores eos et dicta voluptatem et et. Eaque saepe ad quibusdam quaerat quia. Voluptate architecto dolore ea eaque placeat. Et natus sunt inventore officiis autem.

Architecto tenetur enim voluptate voluptatem. Dolorem quia voluptatum dolore molestias inventore et iure quae. Totam enim qui error et assumenda facilis. Dolorem labore ab tempore in occaecati illo quisquam et. Laborum iusto ipsam voluptatem magni nulla doloribus modi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”