Carry phase

Initial measurement of a token-built intangible

Carry

The initial carrying amount of a token-built intangible is the sum of directly attributable cost incurred from the date the recognition criteria are first met until the asset is ready for its intended use IAS 38 §54-62. It comprises capitalisable development-phase token spend plus other directly attributable costs, and it ties, dollar for dollar, back to the token ledger.

What enters cost

Cost comprises all directly attributable expenditure necessary to create, produce and prepare the asset for its intended use. For a token-built intangible that centres on development-phase token spend, but it also includes directly attributable staff cost of the engineers building it and, where applicable, directly attributable infrastructure. It is measured from the token ledger for the token component and from time and cost records for the rest.

Start and stop dates

Capitalisation starts when the recognition criteria are first met, not when the project first has an idea, and it stops when the asset is ready for its intended use, even if it has not yet been brought into use IAS 38 §54-62. The stop date matters: tokens consumed after the asset is ready are run-phase and expensed. The phase marker in the ledger should flip at the stop date so the boundary is evidenced rather than argued.

What is excluded

Research-phase experimentation before feasibility.
Selling, administrative and other general overhead not directly attributable to preparing the asset.
Identified inefficiencies and initial operating losses before planned performance is reached.
Costs of training staff to operate the asset.

Tying back to the ledger

The strength of a token-built asset's initial measurement is that its largest component is measured, not estimated. The capitalised token figure should reconcile exactly to the aggregated development-phase rows behind it, so that an auditor moving from the carrying amount to the ledger and back finds no gap IAS 38 §54-62.