Consider the following items:

i. A large grocery store purchases land adjacent to the store for $300,000 so that it can expand its parking lot.

ii. A company that operates call centres spends over $1 million per year providing training for staff so they can provide informed and courteous service to the people they speak with.

iii. An auto parts manufacturer spends $200,000 to clear land to prepare it for construction of a new factory.

iv. A metal fabricating shop is owed $25,000 by one of its customers. The customer recently filed for bankruptcy because it was unable to pay its debts.

v. A student has paid university tuition totalling $15,000 to study business. The student plans to become a professional accountant in two years and hopes to open his own accounting practice within five years.

vi. A major retailer is repeatedly found to have the most satisfied customers in its industry in surveys conducted by independent market research companies.

Required

For each of the items explain whether and why it would be considered the following:

a. an asset by a non-accountant (use your intuition, common sense, and judgment to decide whether the item in question should be considered an asset.)

b. an asset according to IFRS (use the IFRS criteria that were discussed in the chapter.)