When your company purchases a fixed asset with an estimated lifetime exceeding one year, you cannot deduct the entire cost in the year of purchase. Rather, you must depreciate the asset by expensing a ...

Assets like equipment, vehicles and furniture lose value as they age. Parts wear out and pieces break, eventually requiring repair or replacement. Depreciation helps companies account for the ...

The goal of accounting is to produce fair and accurate statements about a company's financial performance and condition. An underlying principle of accounting is to connect the expenses that are ...

Depreciation helps companies manage taxes and asset value by reducing the recorded value of physical assets over time. Different methods of depreciation allow for varying impact on financial ...

Daniel Liberto is a journalist with over 10 years of experience working with publications such as the Financial Times, The Independent, and Investors Chronicle. Investopedia / Sydney Burns The ...

Depreciation is the recovery of the cost of a physical asset, like property or equipment, over multiple years. It allows companies to spread out the cost of some expenses, reduce taxable income and ...

Accumulated depreciation is the sum of an asset’s depreciation expense. It’s calculated from the start of its use to a specific date. It’s also a contra-asset account. That means it decreases the ...

Troy Segal is an editor and writer. She has 20+ years of experience covering personal finance, wealth management, and business news. Toby Walters is a financial writer, investor, and lifelong learner.