Furniture, fixtures, and equipment (abbreviated FF&E or FFE) are movable furniture, fixtures, or other equipment that have no permanent connection to the structure of a building or utilities. These items depreciate substantially over their long-term use, but they are important costs to consider when valuing a company, especially during liquidation procedures.Examples of FF&E include desks, chairs, computers, electronic equipment, tables, bookcases, and partitions. Sometimes the term furniture, fixtures, and accessories (FF&A) is used in place of FF&E.

Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment Explained

Accountants compile all of the furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) listed in a company's balance sheet detail into a separate line item in a budget or financial statement under tangible assets for various purposes. The FF&E balance is added into a project's total costs to determine if a purchase comes in under or over the budget. Items in the FF&E category generally have a life span of three years or more.

An asset is classified as FF&E if it is used by a business to conduct its normal, daily operations. A chair for the front desk person at an office building counts as an FF&E item because the employee needs the chair to perform daily tasks to keep the business running smoothly, for example.The telephone sitting on the desk is categorized the same way; the administrative assistant cannot function without answering the phone and forwarding calls. The person's computer, printer, filing cabinet, desk organizer, and pen holder are all categorized as FF&E when classifying these items on the company's balance sheet.

All kinds of businesses list several types of FF&E used in normal daily operations. Automotive equipment, such as trucks, cars, and tractors, fall into this category. The Federal Reserve, for example, has material handlers, forklift trucks, drill presses, and currency counters for the equipment it uses on a regular basis.Other security equipment, such as X-ray scanners, biometric devices, magnetometers, and access control devices, also fall into this category because Federal Reserve staffers can move this equipment out of the building.