The purpose of the research is to study the issues of disclosure and interpretation of the concepts of "assets" and "capital" in economic theory, functional economic sciences and accounting.

The methodology of the research - empirical (comparison, description) and theoretical (formalization, axiomatic, abstraction, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction) methods were used in the work.

The practical importance of the research is the expression from the point of view of the essence, content and composition of objects common for all economic sciences by different concepts and the use of different approaches regarding the semantics of these concepts create a number of theoretical, methodological and practical problems. In this regard, it is important to study and what these problems are and what negative consequences they lead to in the accounting and reporting system. The results of the research carried out and the generalizations obtained can be applied to formthe development of a single economic language and the improvement of the content and structure of asset information.

The results of the research - as a result of the study, it was revealed that the prescription of the essence of assets as a potential for creating economic benefits and the construction of the methodology for their accounting based on this semantics leads to the fact that the results of activities of enterprises are analyzed and evaluated mainly on the basis of one indicator, that is, profit. It is substantiated that the essence and results of using assets should be approached not only from a purely economic point of view, but also as a financial source for solving social and environmental problems of the whole society, and further development of the accounting methodology should be based on this concept.

Originality and scientific novelty of the research - the definition is given that most clearly characterizes the economic and social essence and functions of the concept in "Assets", a concept is put forward and substantiated according to which capital and liabilities are not sources of assets creation, but property rights over assets controlled by an enterprise.

Keywords: assets, capital, concept, essence, function, economic benefit, ownership, concept.