I understand why, for purposes of financial accounting, research and in-service training of staff are treated as expenses, not investments. But what would be a sensible way of treating them for purposes of managerial accounting? I am thinking particularly of scenarios where (i) research is intended to be part of the company's service, (ii) the staff training involves certification, possibly by outside agencies, which is expected to add immediate value to the company's services.

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

Thank you for your reply. I realize the benefits of research and training for the company, and in the normal sense of the word, this is investment. However I understand from the information on this site that it cannot be classified as investment for finanical accounting purposes (and I understand why, I hope). Instead, they are treated as expenses. Nonetheless, for internal purposes, I need to be able to link these expenses with the hoped-for benefits to my business, and my questions is really about the best ways of doing this systematically.