In accounting, the concept of materiality allows you to violate another accounting principle if the amount is so small that the reader of the financial statements will not be misled.
A classic example of the materiality concept or the materiality principle is the immediate expensing of a $10 wastebasket that has a useful life of 10 years. The matching principle directs you to record the wastebasket as an asset and then depreciate its cost over its useful life of 10 years. The materiality principle allows you to expense the entire $10 in the year it is acquired instead of recording depreciation expense of $1 per year for 10 years. The reason is that no investor, creditor, or other interested party would be misled by not depreciating the wastebasket over a 10-year period.
Determining what is a material or significant amount can require professional judgment. For example, $5,000 might be immaterial for a large, profitable corporation, but it will be material or significant for a small company that has very little profit.
