Final answer:
Ordinary repairs and maintenance are recorded as expenses because they maintain assets in their normal operating condition without enhancing their value beyond the original state.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ordinary repairs and maintenance are expenses that a company incurs to maintain the efficiency and capacity of its assets. They are recorded as expenses in the accounting records of a company because they are incurred to keep assets in their normal operating condition, rather than to enhance an asset’s value beyond its original state or extend its useful life.
These costs do not improve the asset beyond the current accounting period as improvements might. Thus, the answer to the question is that ordinary repairs and maintenance are recorded as expenses.