Depreciation Calculation for Flat-Rate Methods (Oracle Assets Help)


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Depreciation Calculation for Flat-Rate Methods

Use a flat-rate method to depreciate the asset over time using a fixed rate.

Oracle Assets uses a flat-rate and either the recoverable cost or the recoverable net book value as of the beginning of the fiscal year to calculate depreciation using a flat-rate depreciation method. The asset continues to depreciate until its recoverable cost and accumulated depreciation are the same.

Depreciation in the First Year of Life

An asset's prorate convention and depreciation method control when Oracle Assets starts to depreciate new assets. For assets using flat-rate methods, depreciation starts in the accounting period that either the date placed in service or the prorate date falls into, depending on the depreciate when placed in service flag. Oracle Assets allocates the first year's depreciation to the accounting periods remaining in the fiscal year.

Example

Suppose your fiscal year ends in May, you have a monthly (12 period) depreciation calendar, and you want to allocate depreciation evenly to each period in the year. You place a $10,000 asset in service in the third period of your fiscal year (AUG-92) using a half-year prorate convention. The rate for the diminishing value (calculation basis of NBV) depreciation method is 20%.

Since the asset is using a half-year prorate convention, the prorate date is in December--the mid-point of your fiscal year. For assets that have a prorate date at the mid-point of the fiscal year, depreciation expense for the first fiscal year of life is 50% of the amount for a full fiscal year. For the asset in our example, a full fiscal year depreciation amount is $2,000 (20% of $10,000), so the depreciation for the first year (fiscal 1993) is $1,000.

You can specify whether to start taking depreciation in the period of the date placed in service or the prorate date using the depreciate when placed in service flag for the prorate convention. If you elect to start depreciation in the accounting period corresponding to the date placed in service, Oracle Assets starts to depreciate the asset in AUG-92, and the depreciation for each period is $100 ($1000 divided by 10--the number of periods from August to May).

If you elect to start depreciation on the prorate date, Oracle Assets does not start to depreciate the asset until December. The depreciation for each period from DEC-92 to MAY-93 is $166.67 ($1,000 divided by 6--the number of periods from December to May).

Depreciation in the Remaining Years of Life

For methods using the net book value, you use the flat-rate and the recoverable net book value at the beginning of each fiscal year to calculate the annual depreciation. In the second year of the asset life (fiscal 1994), the net book value as of the beginning of the fiscal year is $9,000. Applying the 20% rate yields an annual depreciation amount of $1,800. Oracle Assets divides this amount evenly across all twelve accounting periods in the year, so depreciation expense for each period is $150.

Similarly, the net book value at the beginning of the 1995 fiscal year is $7,200. Oracle Assets calculates annual depreciation of $1,440 and divides this amount evenly to get the depreciation amount for each period. Oracle Assets repeats this process until the asset is fully depreciated or retired.

Calculation Basis

Flat-rate methods use a calculation basis of either the recoverable cost or recoverable net book value to calculate annual depreciation. Assets depreciating under flat-rate methods with a calculation basis of recoverable net book value do not become fully reserved. Rather, the annual depreciation expense becomes smaller and smaller over time.

Reset Recoverable Net Book Value

At the beginning of each fiscal year, Oracle Assets automatically resets each asset's year-to-date depreciation expense to zero and recalculates the recoverable net book value as of the beginning of the fiscal year. Oracle Assets also recalculates the recoverable net book value by which to multiply the flat-rate when you perform an amortized adjustment or revalue an asset.

Adjusting Rates

In some countries, the flat-rate consists of a basic rate and an adjusting rate, or loading factor. These rates vary according to your reporting authority's depreciation regulations.

When you add an asset, you can select a basic rate and an adjusting rate. Oracle Assets increases the basic rate by the adjusting rate to give you the adjusted rate. This is your flat-rate for the fiscal year.

Depreciation Rate = Basic Rate x (1 + Adjusting Rate) + Bonus Rate

Annual Depreciation Amount = Depreciation Rate x Depreciation Calculation Basis x Fraction of Year Held

For reporting authorities that allow additional depreciation in the early fiscal years of an asset life, you can assign an additional bonus rate on top of the flat-rate. Oracle Assets adds the bonus rate to the adjusted rate to give you the flat-rate for the fiscal year.