Question

Your supervisor has come to you with the following list of expenditures for the year and is asking you whether they should be capitalized or expensed as repairs and maintenance. Indicate all of the expenditures that would most appropriately be capitalized.
1. Re-painted the office building.
2. Added a new wing onto the office building.
3. Took their fleet of cars in for servicing (changing the oil, etc.).
4. Added newer electronic locks on the doors in the production building.
5. Had an engine rebuilt in one of their fleet cars.

Answer 1

Answer:

Capitalized Expenditures:

2. Added a new wing onto the office building.

5. Had an engine rebuilt in one of their fleet cars.

Explanation:

Capitalization is the process of delaying the full recognition of an expense for the acquisition of a new asset with long-term life so that the costs can be treated as an expense gradually over its useful life through an accounting method known as depreciation or amortization.

The criteria for capitalizing expenditure depend on whether the expenditure is necessary to bring the asset to the condition and location where it can be operated as desired by the management.  It must also meet the threshold amount set by management for capitalization.  This is because some assets can be used for more than one year and still they are not regarded as capital assets.  Example is a stapling machine that costs less than a dollar.