During the current year, Delta Products Corporation incurred the following expenditures which should be recorded either as operating expenses or as intangible assets:
a. Expenditures were made for the training of new employees. The average employee remains with the company for five years, but is trained for a new position every two years.
b. Delta purchased a controlling interest in a wallpaper company. The expenditure resulted in recording a significant amount of goodwill. Management expects to earn above-average returns on this investment indefinitely.
c. Delta incurred large amounts of research and development costs in developing a superior product. The company expects that it will be patented and that sales of the resulting products will contribute to revenue for at least 40 years. The legal life of the patent, however, will be only 20 years.
d. Delta made an expenditure to acquire the patent on a product identified as a "whatsa." The patent had a remaining legal life of 10 years, but Delta expects to produce and sell the product for only four more years.
e. Delta spent a large amount to sponsor the televising of the World Series. Management's intent was to make television viewers more aware of the company's name and product lines.
Instructions
Explain whether each of the above expenditures should be recorded as an operating expense or an intangible asset. If you view the expenditure as an intangible asset, indicate the number of years over which the asset should be amortized. Explain your reasoning.