How to calculate depreciation
/The essential depreciation calculation is to subtract the salvage value from an asset to arrive at the amount that can be depreciated. Then divide this amount by the number of months that will be depreciated, to arrive at the depreciation expense per month. While this might seem simple, there are many variations on the concept. It is also useful to understand depreciation terminology, which is noted next.
Depreciation
Depreciation is the planned reduction in the recorded cost of a fixed asset over its useful life. It is calculated using either a straight-line, accelerated, or usage-based system.
Capitalization Limit
The capitalization limit is the expenditure amount above which purchases are designated as fixed assets, and below which they are charged to expense in the current period.
Salvage Value
Salvage value is the amount that the company expects to receive from the eventual disposal of the fixed asset. Many assets have no salvage value associated with them.
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Useful Life
Useful life is the expected period over which a fixed asset will be used.
Depreciation Calculation Steps
The basic depreciation calculation steps are noted below.
Step 1. Aggregate Assets
Determine whether several expenditures should be aggregated together for purposes of designating a fixed asset. For example, a group of desks could be called a single fixed asset.
Step 2. Expense or Capitalize
Determine whether the purchased item (or group of items) should be recorded as a fixed asset or charged to expense. To be a fixed asset, it should have a usage period that is longer than an accounting period, and should cost at least as much as the corporate capitalization limit.
Step 3. Determine Salvage Value
Estimate the amount of any salvage value. If the amount is minor, it is easier from a depreciation calculation perspective to ignore salvage value.
Step 4. Determine Asset Group
Determine the asset group into which the fixed asset will be clustered.
Step 5. Determine Useful Life
Assign a useful life to the fixed asset. In many cases, a standard useful life is assigned to every asset in an asset group.
Step 6. Determine Calculation Convention
Decide whether to use the mid-month convention, where a half-month of depreciation is assigned to the first and last months of the useful life of the asset. Doing so increases the complexity of the calculation, and so is not recommended.
Step 7. Calculate Depreciation
Calculate depreciation. If you are using the straight-line method, subtract the salvage value from the cost of the asset, and divide the remainder by the number of periods in the useful life of the asset. Alternatively, accelerated depreciation methods are designed to recognize depreciation expense at a faster rate than the straight-line method, or based on an associated usage rate.
Step 8. Record Journal Entry
Enter the depreciation figures in a spreadsheet for each accounting period to which the depreciation applies. Using the spreadsheet, aggregate the depreciation for the current accounting period for all fixed assets, and record a journal entry for the aggregate amount of depreciation. The entry is a debit to depreciation expense and a credit to the accumulated depreciation account.