Meaning of Depreciation:
Depreciation is the systematic reduction in the recorded cost of a fixed asset.
Depreciation is a measure of the wearing out, consumption or other loss of value of a ‘Depreciable’ asset arising from physical wear and tear Effluxion of time or Obsolescence through technology and Market changes.
Why Depreciation is provided?
Depreciation is allocated so as to charge a fair proportion of the depreciable amount in each accounting period during the expected useful life of the asset. Depreciation includes amortization of assets whose useful life is predetermined.
In other words, the purpose of depreciation is to charge to expense a portion of an asset that relates to the revenue generated by that asset. This is called the matching principle, where revenues and expenses both appear in the income statement in the same reporting period, which gives the best view of how well a company has performed in a given accounting period.
It is very difficult to directly link a fixed asset with a revenue-generating activity, so we do not try - instead, we incur a steady amount of depreciation over the useful life of each fixed asset, so that the remaining cost of the asset on the company's records at the end of its useful life is only its salvage value.
In determining the profits (net income) from an activity, the receipts from the activity must be reduced by appropriate costs. One such cost is the cost of assets used but not currently consumed in the activity. Such costs must be allocated to the period of use. The cost of an asset so allocated is the difference between the amount paid for the asset and the amount expected to be received upon its disposition. Depreciation is any method of allocating such net cost to those periods expected to benefit from use of the asset. The asset is referred to as a depreciable asset. Depreciation is a method of allocation, not valuation.
Depreciation has a significant effect in determining and presenting the financial position and results of operations of an enterprise. Depreciation is charged in each accounting period by reference to the extent of the depreciable amount, irrespective of an increase in the market value of the assets.
What are various methods of depreciations are there?
Straight-line depreciation
Reducing balance method
Straight-line depreciation:
Straight-line depreciation is the simplest and most-often-used technique, in which the company estimates the salvage value of the asset at the end of the period during which it will be used to generate revenues (useful life) and will expense a portion of original cost in equal increments over that period. The salvage value is an estimate of the value of the asset at the time it will be sold or disposed of; it may be zero or even negative. Salvage value is also known as scrap value or residual value.
For example, a vehicle that depreciates over 5 years, is purchased at a cost of Rs.17,000, and will have a salvage value of Rs.2000, will depreciate at Rs.3,000 per year: (17,000 − 2,000)/ 5 years = 3,000 annual straight-line depreciation expense. In other words, it is the depreciable cost of the asset divided by the number of years of its useful life.
This table illustrates the straight-line method of depreciation. Book value at the beginning of the first year of depreciation is the original cost of the asset. At any time book value equals original cost minus accumulated depreciation.
Book Value = Original Cost − Accumulated Depreciation Book value at the end of year becomes book value at the beginning of next year. The asset is depreciated until the book value equals scrap value.
Declining-balance method (or Reducing balance method):
Depreciation methods that provide for a higher depreciation charge in the first year of an asset's life and gradually decreasing charges in subsequent years are called accelerated depreciation methods. This may be a more realistic reflection of an asset's actual expected benefit from the use of the asset: many assets are most useful when they are new. One popular accelerated method is the declining-balance method. Under this method the book value is multiplied by a fixed rate.
Annual Depreciation = Depreciation Rate * Book Value at Beginning of Year
The most common rate used is double the straight-line rate. For this reason, this technique is referred to as the double-declining-balance method. To illustrate, suppose a business has an asset with 1,000 original cost, 100 salvage value, and 5 years useful life. First, calculate straight-line depreciation rate. Since the asset has 5 years useful life, the straight-line depreciation rate equals (100% / 5) 20% per year. With double-declining-balance method, as the name suggests, double that rate, or 40% depreciation rate is used. The table below illustrates the double-declining-balance method of depreciation.
When using the double-declining-balance method, the salvage value is not considered in determining the annual depreciation, but the book value of the asset being depreciated is never brought below its salvage value, regardless of the method used. The process continues until the salvage value or the end of the asset's useful life, is reached. In the last year of depreciation a subtraction might be needed in order to prevent book value from falling below estimated Scrap Value.
Since double-declining-balance depreciation does not always depreciate an asset fully by its end of life, some methods also compute a straight-line depreciation each year, and apply the greater of the two. This has the effect of converting from declining-balance depreciation to straight-line depreciation at a midpoint in the asset's life.
It is possible to find a rate that would allow for full depreciation by its end of life with the formula:
, where ‘N’ is the estimated life of the asset (for example, in years)
