Fixed assets and depreciation

A fixed asset is something the business owns and uses for years: a computer, furniture, a vehicle, a machine. Its cost goes into Fixed assets, and a part of it is written off each year as depreciation.

Add one

1. Open Accountant, Fixed assets and choose New asset.
2. Enter its name, the day it was bought, its cost before any GST you claim back, and what you expect it to be worth at the end.
3. Choose How it was paid for. Already owned when the books began puts its cost in Fixed assets against Opening balance adjustments. Paid from a bank account takes it out of the account you pick, on the day it was bought. On a purchase bill already entered books nothing more, because the bill put it in Fixed assets.
4. Choose How it is written down: Straight line, the same amount every year, or Written-down value, a percentage of what is left. Enter the rate a year, or how many months it lasts.
5. Save. It is on the register with what it cost, what has been written off and its value now.

Charge depreciation

Choose Run depreciation and the day to charge up to, usually a month or year end. Each asset in use is charged from its last charge to that day, posted as one journal. An asset that cannot be charged, for example because one of its accounts was made inactive, is listed and left out; the others are charged.

Sell or scrap one

1. Choose Dispose on its row. On a phone, open the asset and choose Dispose there.
2. Enter the day it went and what it fetched, 0 if it was scrapped or lost.
3. Choose the bank account the money came into.
4. Choose Dispose. It is charged depreciation up to that day and taken out of the books, with the profit or loss on the sale.