In its web article “
A Brief Overview of Depreciation,” the IRS defines depreciation as “an annual allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence” of property. In less technical language, it’s the process of calculating and then spreading out the cost of a business asset over its useful life.
Usually depreciation is only applicable to business property whose value will lessen over time. If you hold assets for investment purposes, the point is to have them appreciate – not depreciate. Property you own for personal use also cannot be depreciated; the same goes for any inventory held by your business.
Straight-line depreciation is the simplest method for calculating depreciation over time. Under this method, the same amount of depreciation is deducted from the value of an asset for every year of its useful life. The “straight line” is literal: If you were to graph the value of your asset over time, it would appear as a straight line from the initial cost to the point where it has reached salvage value.
This approach, also known as the declining-balance method, enables you to accelerate depreciation in the early years of an asset’s “life.” This can be useful for tax purposes – it’s also particularly helpful for types of property impacted by advancements in technology, whose value may diminish fairly rapidly.
To create a depreciation schedule, you’ll need to decide which method of depreciation you want to use for each asset, and determine its expected life as well as its salvage or scrap value, if any.
