Glossary
Amortization
Amortization spreads the cost of an intangible asset, or of a loan principal, over the periods that benefit from it. Amortization writes off the cost of an intangible asset, such as software or a purchased customer list, across the years it is expected to be useful, rather than expensing it all at once. The same word describes the schedule on which a loan's principal is repaid. For tax the parallel concept is capital cost allowance, which follows the CRA's classes rather than the accounting estimate, so the two figures rarely match.
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