CapEx Examples

A collection of CapEx Examples to help you plan for automation.

Capital Expenditures, or "CapEx" for short, are expenses for physical goods such as machines and property that are expected to:

Provide value beyond the current financial reporting period.
Increase the ability or scope of the company's operations.

Note: To learn the difference between CAPEX and OPEX, check out our article "CapEx vs OpEx."

Types of CapEx

CapEx examples typically fall into two different categories. The first are expenses required to maintain a company’s current level of operations, while the second covers those necessary to encourage future growth.

CapEx examples might include a new printing press or a fleet of servers for your data center. These items are significant expenses that will provide value for many years to come and, therefore, can be capitalized over an extended period. Other examples include:

Capital leases
Computers/Servers/Related Equipment
Equipment upgrades (that increase the value beyond normal maintenance)
Furniture and fixtures
Land
Machinery
Office equipment
Real Estate (buildings, garages, etc.)
Software (provided it meets your minimum)
Vehicles

Additional CapEx Examples

CapEx expenses also include intangible assets like a company’s ownership of a patent or license. Organizations typically outline all expenditures for a specific accounting period on a cash flow statement. Because CapEx expenses have can significantly impact an organization’s short and long-term financial standing, companies must make intelligent decisions around their purchases.

Importance of CapEx Automation

While capital expenditures are among the most critical decisions organizations face, many struggle in accurately managing a CapEx plan. While ongoing investments tend to make companies more efficient, there’s always the risk that the purchase might not pay off, especially when dealing with a sluggish economy.

For that reason, it helps to have automation processes set up to improve the efficiency of approving capital expenditures. By having each potential purchase go through a streamlined review process, your organization gets the chance to thoroughly review each expense and weigh the pros and cons of the investment.

Example of a CapEx Process

In larger enterprises, requesting and approving capital expenditures can be complex and involve many different individuals and departments. Automating the CapEx approval process can decrease acquisition time, improve accuracy and provide complete audit reporting. Here's an example of an automated CapEx form that collects all the critical information for consideration by approvers: