Which of the following is NOT considered a current asset?

Long-term investments are not considered current assets because they are intended to be held for more than one year. Current assets, on the other hand, are resources that a company expects to convert to cash or use up within one year or within its operating cycle, whichever is longer.

Inventory, trade receivables, and prepaid expenses all fall under the category of current assets. Inventory represents goods available for sale, trade receivables are amounts owed to the company from customers for purchases made on credit, and prepaid expenses are payments made in advance for services or goods to be received in the future, typically within a year.

In summary, the classification of long-term investments serves to differentiate between assets that the company depends on for short-term liquidity and those that are tied up for a longer duration. Thus, long-term investments do not meet the criteria for current assets.