why is the “accounting equation” written in terms of assets instead of owner’s equity

Question

I am taking a “finance for non-finance managers” mini training for my job (so I can better understand the corporate nonsense jargon presented during quarterly meetings), but I’m already stuck on the first part of the training, which is about the “accounting equation”.

The equation in the training is listed as Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity.

Why is this equation written this way? It doesn’t make sense. A company has assets, and it owes liabilities. Whatever *is left over* is equity. So shouldn’t it be written as:

**Assets – Liabilities = Owner’s Equity**

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I understand, mathematically, that it’s all the same thing. But as far as messaging goes (syntax, context, etc), why would the equation be specifically written in this way?

In: Economics

Answer 1

It can be written however you want but it’s generally shown in order of presentation on the financial statements. First assets, then liabilities, then equity.