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The Daily Insight Hub

What type of account is amortization?

Author

Sophia Koch

Updated on January 03, 2026

The accounting for amortization expense is a debit to the amortization expense account and a credit to the accumulated amortization account. The accumulated amortization account appears on the balance sheet as a contra account, and is paired with and positioned after the intangible assets line item.

What are types of intangible assets?

The main types of intangible assets are Goodwill, brand equity, Intellectual properties (Trade Secrets, Patents, Trademark and Copywrites), licensing, Customer lists, and R&D. Usually, the values of intangible assets are not recorded in the balance sheet.

Is amortization considered an expense?

Amortization expenses account for the cost of long-term assets (like computers and vehicles) over the lifetime of their use. Also called depreciation expenses, they appear on a company’s income statement.

What is the amortization method?

Amortization is an accounting technique used to periodically lower the book value of a loan or an intangible asset over a set period of time. In relation to a loan, amortization focuses on spreading out loan payments over time. When applied to an asset, amortization is similar to depreciation.

What is amortization example?

Amortization is the practice of spreading an intangible asset’s cost over that asset’s useful life. Examples of intangible assets that are expensed through amortization might include: Patents and trademarks.

What does IAS 16 say?

IAS 16 prescribes that an item of property, plant and equipment should be recognised (capitalised) as an asset if it is probable that the future economic benefits associated with the asset will flow to the entity and the cost of the asset can be measured reliably.

What are the amortization expenses?

Amortization expenses account for the cost of long-term assets (like computers and vehicles) over the lifetime of their use. When an amortization expense is charged to the income statement, the value of the long-term asset recorded on the balance sheet is reduced by the same amount.

Why do we amortize?

Understanding Amortization First, amortization is used in the process of paying off debt through regular principal and interest payments over time. An amortization schedule is used to reduce the current balance on a loan—for example, a mortgage or a car loan—through installment payments.

What does amortization type mean?

An amortizing loan is a type of debt that requires regular monthly payments. Each month, a portion of the payment goes toward the loan’s principal and part of it goes toward interest. Also known as an installment loan, fully amortized loans have equal monthly payments.