These are things I've read and heard, but you can never be 100% sure that the sources are right., if the source isn't Michael himself. An example: Jermaine said MJ's favourite colors were gold and red, Taraborrelli said in his book that it was yellow, so who are you going to believe...
GAAP, however, generally requires that these costs be expensed when incurred because it is difficult determine their future benefits and relation to future revenues (the matching principle). Unless there are large amounts of organizational expenses, they are usually expensed for GAAP and financial reporting purposes.
However, U.S. GAAP has specific rules for recognition of income in many cases; under IFRS, financial statement users have more leeway in applying the concepts of revenue recognition. The completed contract method is not allowed.