Businesses always keep records of assets and liabilities as a means of measuring their true wealth. What's left after liabilities (bills, debts, creditor claims) are satisfied is what belongs to the owner. That's known as equity. The accounting equation seeks to balance the relationship among assets, liabilities, and equity.

How this observation is framed is up to the individual company. If a firm may want to emphasize its equity, then liabilities would be subtracted from assets. If the goal is to beef up assets, liabilities and equity are added together. So long as the figure on one side of the equation matches that on the other, the presentation is up to you.