For the meat served as part of such a sandwich, see Patty. For other uses, see Hamburger (disambiguation). A hamburger or burger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat, usually beef, placed inside a sliced bread roll or bun. The patty may be pan fried, barbecued, or flame broiled.
DEFINITION of 'Capitalize'. An accounting method used to delay the recognition of expenses by recording the expense as long-term assets. In general, capitalizing expenses is beneficial as companies acquiring new assets with a long-term lifespan can spread out the cost over a specified period of time. Companies take expenses that they incur today and deduct them over the long term without an immediate negative affect against revenues. Next Up.
Since the objective of depreciation is to match revenues and expenses, it is probably best to choose the method that meets that requirement. Sometimes a machine will be more productive in the early years and less productive in the later years. An accelerated method may be best in cases such as that. Although matching revenues and expenses is important, accountants are expensive and the cost-benefit rule comes into play. For that reason, many accountants will just use a straight-line method to keep things simple (close enough).