ASC 350 · ASC 350-40 · IAS 38
Finite and indefinite-lived intangibles, internal-use software capitalized by stage, useful-life basis documented — and the amortization entry posted to your ledger each period.
An intangible’s useful life usually lives in a contract. That’s where the schedule should start.
Intangibles usually get run out of the fixed-asset workbook, because the amortization math looks the same. The parts that are not the same are the parts that go wrong: an indefinite-lived intangible quietly amortized, capitalized software with preliminary-stage costs swept in, a useful life set to a round number nobody can now source.
Useful life is the real judgment, and for intangibles it usually comes from a document — a licence term, a non-compete period, a customer contract with renewal options. Once that document is filed away, the basis for the life is gone and the number is just a number in a spreadsheet.
Then there is what happens at disposal. Remaining unamortized balance, gain or loss, schedule closed — three steps that are easy to do and easy to forget entirely.
Enter the terms once. The schedule builds itself, period by period, to the standard.
Amortized over the useful life on the pattern in which the economic benefits are consumed, defaulting to straight-line where that pattern cannot be reliably determined.
Not amortized, carried and scheduled for annual impairment testing — with the classification decision and its basis stored alongside the asset.
Costs separated by stage, with application-development-stage costs capitalized and preliminary-project and post-implementation costs expensed.
The life, its basis, and any renewal or extension assumptions recorded with the asset, so the number has documentation behind it at audit.
First and final period amortization computed from the in-service date rather than assumed to be a full month.
Remaining unamortized balance removed with the gain or loss computed, and the schedule closed rather than left running.
Approve once. Post a month at a time — straight into QuickBooks Online, Xero, or Dynamics 365 Business Central, with a document ID on every line and duplicate posting blocked.
Read-only by design. AccelClose never touches cash, vendors, or payments. It reads your ledger and writes journal entries you have already approved — nothing more.
Mechanically it is similar, which is why intangibles often get handled in the fixed-asset workbook. The differences that matter are the ones that get missed there: indefinite-lived intangibles are not amortized at all, internal-use software has stage-based capitalization rules under ASC 350-40, and useful life for an intangible frequently turns on contractual or renewal terms rather than physical life.
An intangible has an indefinite life when no legal, regulatory, contractual, competitive or economic factor limits its useful life to the entity. It is not amortized, but it is tested for impairment annually and whenever events suggest the carrying amount may not be recoverable.
Yes — ASC 350-40 internal-use software, with costs separated by project stage so application-development-stage costs capitalize and the surrounding stages expense.
Yes, where the pattern of economic benefit consumption can be reliably determined. Straight-line applies when it cannot, which is the common case.
QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Dynamics 365 Business Central are live and posting today. Sage Intacct works today through ERP-formatted CSV import and export, and any other ERP works the same way.
Summarized for general information. Useful-life determination, indefinite-life classification, and impairment conclusions remain judgments for you and your auditor.
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