Capital or repair? The judgement call that skews small-company accounts
Most bookkeeping errors are errors of process. This one is an error of judgement, which is why software has historically been so bad at it and why it survives into so many sets of accounts. Get it wrong in one direction and this year's profit is understated while the balance sheet is missing an asset. Get it wrong in the other and profit is flattered by costs that should have hit the profit and loss account, with a fixed asset register carrying things that were never assets. Both distort the accounts, the tax computation and every ratio a lender looks at.
The test that actually decides it
Strip away the folklore and there is one question: does the spend bring an enduring benefit, or does it restore what was already there? Enhancement is capital. Restoration is revenue. A new roof on a barn that had no roof is capital; replacing the roof that blew off is a repair, even though the invoice looks identical and the amount is the same.
Three sub-tests do most of the work in practice:
- Is it a separate asset, or part of one that exists? A replacement engine in a lorry is a repair to the lorry. A second lorry is an asset.
- Does it extend life or capability beyond the original? Like-for-like replacement with the modern equivalent is still a repair, even if the modern equivalent is better — technology moving on is not enhancement.
- Was the asset usable before the spend? Work needed to bring a newly-acquired asset into use is capital, even where identical work on an asset already in use would be a repair.
What a de minimis threshold is — and is not
Most small companies set a capitalisation threshold: spend below it goes to the profit and loss account regardless of its nature, because tracking a £180 asset over five years costs more than it is worth. That is a sensible materiality policy and it should be written down and applied consistently.
What a threshold is not is a definition of capital. Being above £500 does not make something an asset. An £8,000 audit fee is above every small-company threshold in the country and it is not, and never could be, capital. The threshold answers "is this worth capitalising if it qualifies?" — it does not answer "does it qualify?" Confusing the two is the single most common reason review software produces noise: it flags every large payment as a possible fixed asset, including the tax bill.
Payments that are never capital, however large
| Payment | Why it can't be capital |
|---|---|
| Anything to HMRC | Tax, PAYE, NIC and VAT are liabilities settled, not assets acquired. Size is irrelevant. |
| Audit, accountancy, legal fees | Professional services consumed in the period — unless directly attributable to acquiring a specific asset, in which case they form part of its cost. |
| Fuel, utilities, insurance | Consumed as incurred. Insurance paid ahead of the period is a prepayment, not an asset. |
| Wages and subcontractors | Revenue — except labour directly building or installing an asset, which can be capitalised as part of its cost. |
| Interest, bank and finance charges | Cost of funding, not the thing funded. |
| Stock and consumables | Current assets or cost of sales, never fixed assets. |
The grey cases worth slowing down for
- Refurbishments. Nearly always a mix. A kitchen refit that replaces like-for-like is a repair; the extension it sits in is capital. Split the invoice on a reasoned basis and keep the reasoning.
- Software and websites. Configuration and content are usually revenue; genuinely bespoke development creating a lasting asset can be capital. The label on the invoice decides nothing.
- Deferred repairs on acquisition. Buy a building cheaply because it needs work, and that work is typically capital — you bought an unusable asset and made it usable.
- Recurring "improvements". If the same enhancement recurs every year, it probably isn't enduring, and the label deserves challenge.
What this means when you're reviewing someone else's books
Two patterns tell you most of what you need. A fixed asset register full of small, oddly-specific items suggests a threshold that exists on paper and is ignored in practice. A profit and loss account carrying obviously capital spend — a vehicle, a building project — suggests nobody was asked the question at all, and that the profit figure, the tax computation and any depreciation policy all need rebuilding before they can be relied upon.
Either way this is chargeable remedial work, and it is worth identifying before you quote, not after.
See what a set of books is hiding — in about a minute
The free Vigil Health Check reads standard Xero exports and scores the books out of 100, with every finding explained in plain English — capital-vs-revenue judgement calls, suspense balances, director's loans, missing stock and more. It deliberately stays silent on payments that are revenue by their nature, so what you see is worth looking at. Nothing to connect, nothing uploaded: it runs entirely in your browser.
Score a set of books free →Built and used in practice by Peter Edwards ACMA CGMA · Insight Professional Partners Ltd (CIMA MiP)
Related: How to review a client's Xero books before you quote · The director's loan account nobody wants to discuss · What's really in "sundry expenses"