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Encyclopedia of Business Terms and Methods, ISBN 978-1-929500-10-9. Copyright 2012 by Marty J.Schmidt. Revised 11 January 2012.
Depreciation expense is an accounting and financial reporting practice, used primarily by businesses that pay tax on income. On the income statement, depreciation expense appears as a charge against income, that is, it is subtracted from sales revenues to produce a lower reported income (lower profit, lower earnings). Depreciation provides a way to account for the purchase of long-lasting assets over a period of years. The idea is that assets have a useful life (depreciable life), over which they are used up or worn out, and that the owner receives the tax benefits of paying for the asset over those years instead of all at once. Depreciation is more fully explained and better understood in the context of several depreciationrelated terms including the following Accelerated depreciation Depreciable cost Depreciable life Depreciation schedule Double declining balance schedule (DDB) Salvage value Modified accelerated cost recovery system schedule (MACRS) Residual value Straight line method (SL) Sum of the years' digits schedule (SOYD)
Figures in 1,000s Gross sales revenues.................33,329 Less returns & allowances.......... 346 Net sales revenues...........................32,983 Cost of goods sold Direct materials................... 6,320 Direct labor....................... 6,100 Manufacturing overhead Indirect labor........... 5,263 Depreciation, mfr equip... 360 Other mfr overhead....... 4,000 Net mfr overhead................. 9,623 Net cost of goods sold...................22,043 Gross profit.................................10,940 Operating expenses Selling expenses Sales salaries........... 4,200 Warranty expenses........ 730 Depreciation, store equip 120 Other selling expenses... 972 Total selling expenses........... 6,022 General & admin expenses Administration salaries.. 1,229 Rent expenses............ 180 Depreciation, computers.. 179 Other gen & admin exp.... 200 Total gen & admin exp............ 1,788 Total operating expenses.............. Operating income before taxes............... Financial revenue & expenses Revenue from investments............ 118 Less interest expense............... 511 Net financial gain (expense)............ Income before tax & extraordinary items..... Less income tax on operations............. Income before extraordinary items........... Extraordinary items Sale of land................. Less initial cost............ 610 145
7,810 3,130
Net gain on sale of land.......... 465 Less income tax on gain ............ 118 Extraordinary items after tax............
347
Net Income (Profit).......................... 2,126 Using rounded figures from the staement, the tax savings from depreciation is thus $230,000 i.e., $1,188,000 $958,000 = $230,000. This tax savings can also be estimated directly as the product of depreciation expense and the tax rate. With a tax rate on income of 35%, for example, 0.35*$659,000 = $230,650. Notice also that depreciation expense can appear in any of the main expense categories, depending on how the asset in question is used. Here depreciation expense appears under Cost of goods sold, as Manufacturing overhead (depreciation of manufacturing equipment), under Selling expenses (depreciation of store equipment), and under General and administrative expenses (depreciation of computers).
the expense is spread across the years of the asset's depreciable life. Depreciation expense thus lowers reported income across several years or more. Although depreciation expense is not real cash flow itself, it does bring a cash flow consequence each year of the depreciable life. Because depreciation expense lowers reported income, it brings a tax savings that is a real cash flow.
The figure at left shows how an asset originally costing $100 decreases in book value to its residual value over its depreciable life, as depreciation expense is charged each year (the example shows straight line depreciation across a 5 year life). Most depreciation schedules are applied to the depreciable cost rather than total cost, but the double declining balance method (DDB) is an exception, as is MACRS, a special case of DDB (see Depreciation Schedules, below, for more on these methods). For DDB and MACRS, depreciation percentages are applied against total original cost. When using any schedule besides DDB and MACRS, residual value plays an important role in determining depreciation expenses, tax savings from depreciation and, possibly, the value of a cash inflow at the end of depreciation. Residual (or salvage) value of an asset has two important tax considerations:
An asset may NOT normally be depreciated below its estimated residual (salvage) value. If, at the end of depreciable life, the realized salvage value of an asset differs from the book value, a tax adjustment will usually be required.
Depreciation Schedules
The length of an asset's depreciable life and the amount of depreciation a company can claim for it each year, are given by depreciation schedules. Tax laws in each country specify which depreciation schedules can be used for various classes of assets, although in some cases the company has a limited range of schedule choices.
Other time-based depreciation schedules described below are called accelerated depreciation schedules because they "accelerate" depreciation. Three other time-based schedules below charge relatively more in early years, and relatively less in later years. Accelerated schedules thus enable a company to claim relatively more of an asset's depreciation-related tax savings in the early part of the asset's depreciable life.
Sum-of-the-years'-digits (SOYD)
The sum-of-the-years'-digits schedule (SOYD) is an accelerated method of depreciation based on an inverted scale of total digits for the years of depreciable life. For five years of life, for example, the digits 1,2,3,4 and 5 are added to produce 15. The first years rate becomes 5/15 of
the depreciable cost (33.3%), the second years rate is 4/15 of depreciable cost (26.7%), the third years rate 3/15, and so on. The table below compares depreciation percentages applied each year against the depreciable cost of an asset having a 5-year depreciable life. Figure in the table show % depreciated per year. These depreciation schedules are shown graphically below the table. Schedule Straight Line MACRS Dbl Decl Bal Sum of Yrs Digits Year 1 20.00 20.00 40.00 33.33 Year 2 20.00 32.00 24.00 26.67 Year 3 20.00 19.20 14.40 20.00 Year 4 20.00 11.52 8.64 13.33 Year 5 20.00 11.52 5.18 6.67 Year 6 5.76
Note that MACRS here refers to a 5-year depreciable life, but which is spread across 6 fiscal years, beginning at the midpoint of year 1.
expense. Note, however, that sometimes, so called Usage-Based Depreciation is permitted. A vehicle under this plan, for instance, might have its depreciable life defined not in years, but in terms of total miles or kilometers driving expected during its life. The depreciation expense each year would reflect the distance traveled that year as a percentage of the lifetime total. Similarly, other kinds of assets might have depreciable life defined as quantity that will be used up, in which case depreciation percentage each year is based on the quantity used up.
Composite Depreciation
Composite depreciation is a method of depreciation in which a group of related assets is depreciated as a whole rather than individually. This can reduce unnecessary record keeping and reporting and might be used, for example, in depreciating a companys office furniture, or office equipment. See the encyclopedia entry composite depreciation for an explanation and example.
Calculating total depreciation expense becomes more complicated with each passing year: Year 1 Total depreciation expense: = (Asset A depreciable cost ) * ( SL % for Year 1 of 4 ) Year 2 Total depreciation expense: = (Asset A depreciable cost ) * ( SL % for Year 2 of 4 ) + (Asset B depreciable cost ) * (MACRS % for Year 1 of 6 ) By Year 4, Total depreciation expense: = ( Asset A depreciable cost ) * ( SL % for Year 4 of 4 ) + ( Asset B depreciable. cost ) * ( MACRS % for Year 3 of 6 ) + ( Asset C depreciable cost ) * ( DDB % for Year 2 of 8 ) + ( Asset D depreciable cost ) * ( SL % for Year 1 of 10 )
The principles involved in these calculations are simple but the bookkeeping task for the spreadsheet analyst becomes tedious and cumbersome, especially as the number of years considered increases. (You can see and try out working examples of depreciation calculations across multiple years, in either Financial Metrics Pro or Financial Modeling Pro.)
Depreciation is the reduction in the book value of an asset due to usage over a period of time. In other words, it is the reduction in the economic usefulness of the asset, or the calculation of wear and tear that may have occurred to the asset. This is also done to report the actual value to tax authorities. The present value of the asset, i.e., after deducting the depreciation amount, is then recorded in the accounting books. To calculate, one needs to take into account the economic life and the expected value or scrap value of the asset after its use in the business is over. The calculation is a non-cash expense that is estimated or forecasted. This process occurs at the end of the financial year and the amount is shown in both the balance sheet and the income and loss statement. Here we discuss the different types of depreciation methods and how to calculate them.
This is the simplest, and most commonly used, form of depreciation calculation and refers to reduction of the value as per a constant rate. The depreciation value is calculated by taking the original, purchase, or historical price, less the scrap (or salvage) value, and dividing it by the useful years or the number of years that the asset would be in use in the business. The rate of depreciation remains constant as a fixed expense throughout the years. This depreciation method is useful for those assets in which the usage remains uniform or consistent. Unfortunately, it does not take into account the fact that all assets do not deteriorate equally. An example would be an alignment machine purchased for a body shop for $100,000. The straight line calculation is as follows: Cost of Alignment Machine - $100,000 Less Salvage Costs ($10,000) Subtotal - $90,000 Years of Useful Life 5 5 Years of Useful Life Divided by $90,000 = $18,000 So, for the first year, the alignment machine depreciation using the straight line method is $18,000 and the value on the accounting books at year end is $100,000 (purchase price) minus the depreciation ($18,000) = $82,000. The straight line depreciation method continues until the useful life (5 years) of the alignment machine has been reached as seen in the screenshot below (click to enlarge).
your tax professional to be sure). Below is an example of the declining balance method based on five years for our same alignment machine using 37 percent each year.
MACRS Method
The Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) is widely used in the depreciation of land, buildings or equipment owned and used 100 percent by the company. MACRS is almost always utilized when depreciating assets for tax purposes to enjoy the expense of each depreciated item. In the Bright Hub article, MARCS Depreciation Formula: Explanation and Examples, you'll find great tips on how to use this method to help your business reap the tax benefits offered by this type of depreciation method. The Internal Revenue Service offers Form 4562 along with detailed instructions on the best way to utilize the MACRS method. You can download the form and instructions here. It you're unsure on how to best utilize the MACRS method, ask your tax professional for help.