AccountingHub
C2

Keep it running, or make it better

Two spending decisions on the same machine, one expensed and one capitalized.

Ordinary repair — expensed
Repairs expense150
Cash150
Betterment — capitalized
Machinery1,200
Cash1,200

keep an asset as it was — like an oil change. They are expensed immediately, matched against the period they benefit.

buy something more: make an asset better, and extend its life beyond the original estimate. Both get added to the asset's cost instead.