Is it a rented or leased land? Then you may have to recognize the building cost as a fixed asset and depreciate over the rent/lease period. If you have put up a building on someone else's land without any such agreement, then it is illegal in the first place. In such case you may recognize the cost of building as an asset but you will have to seriously look for any indication of impairment . For instance if the legal owner has come up and asking you to leave, you may have to consider an impairment loss for the building cost you capitalized.