what kinds of costs can be capitalized 
any costs that benefit future periods should be capitalized and expensed so as to reflect the lifespan of the item or items being purchased costs that can be capitalized include development costs construction costs or the purchase of capital assets such as vehicles or equipment the bottom linecapitalizing in business is to record an expense on the balance sheet in a way that delays the full recognition of the expense often over a number of quarters or years the process is used for the purchase of fixed assets that have a long usable life such as equipment or vehicles in finance capitalization is also an assessment of a company s capital structure 