How do I account for purchasing a domain name for a website?
submitted by Ray Peterson

fteven

Buying a domain name is like buying any other long term asset. You record it as an asset on your books at what you paid for it. Because it will renew again each year, you can just treat it as an expense each year.

rod

A domain name is an intangible asset, so you'd record the purchase price as an asset on the balance sheet.

Although it's an asset, it's not going to depreciate like a physical piece of equipment, so you don't need to worry about amortizing it through its life.

skolar

That's a strange one, because it's an asset, but you also have to keep paying for it. You're basically buying a piece of digital property. You should put the cost on your books as an asset because it's something you own that can last a long time. But when you renew it, that's considered an expense.

It's technically an asset because it's a thing of value that you own. However, you often can't really resell it. For example, if you're a plumber in Texas, you probably have a very specific domain name that others won't want to buy if you choose to sell it.