Fixed assets and depreciation

The Fixed assets tab holds the register of the capital goods of the company file. For each asset, NovaFisko calculates the depreciation schedule, proposes the accounts to use and posts the depreciation entries at your request. Nothing is booked automatically without action on your part.

Creating a fixed asset#

1. Open the Fixed assets tab and click New fixed asset.
2. Fill in the Name, the Reference (optional) and the Category.
3. Enter the Acquisition date and the Acquisition cost excluding VAT.
4. Specify the Useful life (years), from 1 to 50, the Method and, if needed, the Residual value.
5. Leave the Pro rata temporis in the first year option ticked if depreciation must start on the date the asset is put into service. The Depreciation start defaults to the acquisition date.
6. Click Create fixed asset.

The categories offered are: IT equipment, vehicle, furniture, machinery and installations, building, software, other. The category determines the three accounts proposed according to the country pack: fixed asset account, accumulated depreciation account and depreciation charge account. An account missing from the chart of accounts is created on the fly. You can choose another fixed asset account; the other two adapt.

The depreciation schedule#

The schedule is calculated on creation and recalculated if you change the useful life, the method, the residual value or the pro rata. Annual charges that are already booked are never recalculated.

With pro rata temporis, the first annual charge is reduced to the number of days between the depreciation start and 31 December. The balance is carried over to an additional annual charge at the end of the schedule.

Each line of the schedule shows the Year, the Depreciation, the Cumulative amount, the Remaining value and a status: Planned, partial (period depreciation already posted) or Booked.

Booking depreciation#

Two methods exist. They are compatible: the annual depreciation takes into account what has already been posted by period.

Annual depreciation of one asset#

1. Open the record of the fixed asset.
2. Click Book … depreciation, where the label includes the year.
3. NovaFisko records a miscellaneous operation dated at the end of the annual charge: debit of the depreciation charge account, credit of the accumulated depreciation account.

Period depreciation for all assets#

1. In the Fixed assets tab, open Period depreciation.
2. Choose the Fiscal year and the Period (a month, or the last month of a quarter).
3. Click Book.

A single entry groups the share of the annual charge accrued for all active assets up to the end of the period, less what is already booked. If nothing is due, the message "No depreciation to book" is displayed and no entry is created.

When all the annual charges of an asset are booked, its status changes from Active to Fully depreciated.

Selling or scrapping#

1. On the asset record, click Sell / dispose.
2. Enter the Disposal date and the Sale price excluding VAT. Enter 0 for a scrapping.
3. Add a label if you wish, then confirm.

The entry generated, in miscellaneous operations:

• completes the depreciation of the year up to the disposal date;
• removes the acquisition cost and the accumulated depreciation from the balance sheet;
• records the receivable on disposal for the sale price;
• records the capital gain (account 763 in the Belgian chart) or the capital loss (account 663).

The asset moves to the Disposed status and the remaining annual charges are removed from the schedule.

Register and investment deduction#

The record accepts a free group and an investment deduction percentage, either one-off (applied in the year of acquisition to the cost) or spread (applied each year to the depreciation charge). The register by group gives, for a fiscal year, the acquisition cost, the accumulated depreciation, the net book value, the charge for the fiscal year and the calculated deduction. This amount is for information: it is used to prepare the tax return, without any accounting entry.

Fixed assets coming from Novadesko#

For a company file linked to Novadesko, the synchronisation imports the depreciation entered by the company. These records carry the Novadesko label and follow the same depreciation rules.

Export#

The Schedule of fixed assets and depreciation is available in the Exports tab, as PDF, Excel and CSV. Disposed assets are shown in italics.

See also#

• Year end
• Miscellaneous operations
• Books and statements
• Recycle bin
• Novadesko integration