Comment by phoehne

The costs are usually capitalized until the asset is put in service and the amortized expense of the asset plus any maintenance can be matched to the revenue in that period. This is not different than a building that takes years to complete, or even completed in stages when you could have construction and occupancy going on at the same time. The accounting treatment as an asset doesn't require it to be completely built in a year, but until there's revenue to which expenses can be matched, you capitalize the construction/acquisition cost.