Standards-anchored to primary IFRS and FASB text. Worked figures are illustrative. Not accounting advice.
TCTokenCapitalisation
Illustrative example

Scenario: a capitalised support copilot

Illustrative example
This illustrative example follows a fine-tuned customer-support copilot from the token ledger to the disclosure note. An illustrative 420,000 of development-phase token spend is capitalised, a three-year useful life is defended IAS 38 §97, and a straight-line schedule produces the roll-forward. Every figure here is made up for teaching.

Building the initial carrying amount Illustrative example

After feasibility was established, the team fine-tuned a base model and built an evaluation harness for the copilot. The development-phase, tagged token-ledger rows for the build period aggregate to an illustrative 360,000, and directly attributable engineering time adds a further 60,000, for an initial carrying amount of 420,000. Research-phase trials and run-phase serving are excluded IAS 38 §54-62.

Token ledger row
  • fine-tune jobs, tagged support-copilot
  • eval-suite runs, development phase
  • aggregate token spend 360,000
  • attributable engineering time 60,000
General-ledger entry
  • Dr Intangible asset 420,000
  • Cr Cost capitalised / clearing 420,000
  • additions line for the period
  • ledger retained as support

Defending the useful life

The copilot depends on a base model with an expected practical life of around three years before a materially better successor is likely to warrant a rebuild. A 36-month useful life is adopted, documented against that obsolescence evidence, and committed to a year-end review IAS 38 §104. Residual value is zero, as there is no market for the bespoke fine-tune IAS 38 §100.

The schedule and roll-forward

With a straight-line method the amortisable amount of 420,000 is charged evenly over three years. The roll-forward below is the paragraph 118 reconciliation the note would present IAS 38 §118.

PeriodOpeningAmortisationImpairmentClosingTrend
Y1$420,000($140,000)-$280,000
Y2$280,000($140,000)-$140,000
Y3$140,000($140,000)-$0
Total$420,000($420,000)-$0
Support-copilot straight-line roll-forward. All figures are an illustrative example.

What the auditor would test

The auditor would trace the 360,000 token figure to the tagged ledger rows, confirm the phase boundary at feasibility, check the useful-life evidence, and confirm residual value is properly zero. Because the amount is measured from the ledger rather than allocated, each of these closes quickly, which is the advantage a token-built asset has when the measure phase was done well.