Double-declining Depreciation Method in Accounting

As a business owner, you need to know that the transition from one accounting method to another is inevitable. You should ask your accountant about their approach to calculating the value of depreciation for different assets. As a small business owner, you might find it intimidating to use the double-declining method to calculate depreciation. However, you can hire an accountant who can help you with the process, especially since you cannot afford to make any mistakes.

For the math to work out, the double declining balance method depreciates more than the straight line method early on. Then it switches over to a straight line method towards the end of the useful life of the asset. Bottom line—calculating depreciation Double Declining Balance Depreciation Method with the double declining balance method is more complicated than using straight line depreciation. And if it’s your first time filing with this method, you may want to talk to an accountant to make sure you don’t make any costly mistakes.

Fully Depreciated Assets and Retiring Assets

Its value indicates how much of an asset’s worth has been utilized. Depreciation enables companies to generate revenue from their assets while only charging a fraction of the cost of the asset in use each year. As a hypothetical example, suppose a business purchased a $30,000 delivery truck, which was expected to last for 10 years. After 10 years, it would be worth $3,000, its salvage value. Under the straight-line depreciation method, the company would deduct $2,700 per year for 10 years–that is, $30,000 minus $3,000, divided by 10.

Though the straight-line method is the straightforward and popular method for calculating depreciation, there are some instances when it is not the appropriate method. The assets are most productive when they are new, and gradually their productivity declines due to normal wear and tear.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Double Declining Depreciation Method

Double declining balances are used to calculate the depreciation of an asset over its useful life in a method known as the https://accounting-services.net/. With double declining balance depreciation, the 9% straight line rate is doubled to be 18%.

This method accelerates straight-line method by doubling the straight-line rate per year. Double declining balance is the most widely used declining balance depreciation method, which has a depreciation rate that is twice the value of straight line depreciation for the first year. Use a depreciation factor of two when doing calculations for double declining balance depreciation. Regarding this method, salvage values are not included in the calculation for annual depreciation. However, depreciation stops once book values drop to salvage values. The double declining balance method of depreciation, also known as the 200% declining balance method of depreciation, is a form of accelerated depreciation.

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Eric is a staff writer at Fit Small Business focusing on accounting content. He spends most of his time researching and studying to give the best answer to everyone. Straight line depreciation expense remains the same every year.

When a business depreciates an asset, it reduces the value of that asset over time from its cost basis to some ultimate salvage value over a set period of years . By reducing the value of that asset on the company’s books, a business is able to claim tax deductions each year for the presumed lost value of the asset over that year. Generally, the efficiency of the assets is higher when they are purchased. You need to spend more on the maintenance of these assets over time, which is a tax-deductible cost in the US. The straight-line method of depreciating assets is the most common and widely used due to its ease of calculation. The depreciation value or the amount remains the same every year. However, this concept is scientifically flawed as no asset can depreciate at the same rate every year.

Example of the Double Declining Depreciation Method

Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life to account for declines in value over time. Under the generally accepted accounting principles for public companies, expenses are recorded in the same period as the revenue that is earned as a result of those expenses. Once the asset is valued on the company’s books at its salvage value, it is considered fully depreciated and cannot be depreciated any further. However, if the company later goes on to sell that asset for more than its value on the company’s books, it must pay taxes on the difference as a capital gain. This formula works for each year you are depreciating an asset, except for the last year of an asset’s useful life. In that year, the amount to be depreciated will be the difference between the book value of the asset at the beginning of the year and its final salvage value .