The balance-sheet life of capitalised token spend.
Set an initial carrying amount, useful life, amortisation method, residual value and an optional impairment event. The ladder redraws live and the roll-forward beneath renders in the exact shape of the disclosure note. Every worked figure is an illustrative example.
| Period | Opening | Amortisation | Impairment | Closing | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | $480,000 | ($160,000) | - | $320,000 | |
| Y2 | $320,000 | ($160,000) | - | $160,000 | |
| Y3 | $160,000 | ($160,000) | - | $0 | |
| Total | $480,000 | ($480,000) | - | $0 |
Walk the lifecycle in order
The site is organised as the life of the token-derived intangible, read in order: Measure, then Carry, then Report. Each phase has an overview and leaf pages, and every leaf carries a previous and next step plus its governing standard and demonstrating scenario.
Turn the request-level token-metering layer engineers already run into an auditable nexus of cost, and decide which spend crosses from research into the capitalisable development phase.
Set the initial carrying amount, defend a finite useful life for an asset that may be obsolete in 12 to 18 months, choose an amortisation method, and test for IAS 36 impairment when a model is deprecated.
Build the IAS 38 paragraph 118 carrying-amount reconciliation, write the disclosure note, and present a ROI on capitalised AI view the audit committee will not tear apart.
Four layers hang off the spine
The seven standards the discipline rests on, each characterised with paragraph anchors.
Fully worked, explicitly illustrative assets run end to end through the spine.
The vocabulary of the named discipline, each term linking to its home page.
The full-page AmortisationLadder with an export-ready roll-forward and impairment overlay.
Common questions
- What is token capitalisation?
- Token capitalisation is the discipline of measuring, carrying and reporting capitalised AI and token spend on the balance sheet as a finite-life intangible asset, from the token-metering ledger through initial measurement, useful life, amortisation and IAS 36 impairment to the IAS 38 carrying-amount reconciliation and disclosure note.
- Does this site tell me whether to capitalise?
- No. This reference assumes the capitalise decision is settled and never relitigates it. It addresses what happens after: measuring the capitalisable spend, carrying the resulting intangible, and reporting it. The capitalise-versus-expense decision itself sits elsewhere.
- What useful life can I defend for a capitalised AI asset?
- IAS 38 requires a finite-life intangible to be amortised over its useful life, estimated from expected use, technical obsolescence and the pattern of benefit. For a fast-obsoleting model a short life is often the more defensible position; the estimate is reviewed at least each year-end.
- Are the figures on this site real?
- No. Every worked number is an illustrative example, labelled at the point of use. There are no invented company figures or adoption statistics anywhere. Every characterisation of a standard carries an inline anchor to the primary IFRS or FASB text.
TokenCapitalisation.com is a standards-anchored reference, verified July 2026. Reference only, not accounting advice.