Specifies the starting date for the user-defined depreciation table if you have entered a code in the Depreciation Table Code field. The program uses the date to determine the exact time intervals from the period length you have specified for the table. For example, if you enter 06/01/01 in this field and the period length for the table is Month, the periods will be 06/01/01..06/30/01, 07/01/01..07/31/01, and so on.

The date must not be later than the Depreciation Starting Date. If you have selected the Period option in the Period Length field in the depreciation table, the date in this field must be the starting date of an accounting period.

While the date in this field is used to determine the time intervals, it is the Depreciation Starting Date that is used to determine the number of depreciation days. If the First User-Defined Depr. Date is earlier than the Depreciation Starting Date, the percentage for the first period in the depreciation table will be only partially used when the program calculates the first depreciation. This means that the asset will not be completely depreciated by the end of the last period.

Example 1

In a depreciation table, these percentages have been entered for the first four periods: 40%, 30%, 20% and 10%. Period Length = Year. An asset that uses this table has First User-Defined Depr. Date = 01/01/01 and Depreciation Starting Date = 01/01/01. Acquisition Cost = 200,000.

If you run the Calculate Depreciation batch job at the end of each year, the following depreciation will be calculated:

PeriodDateCalculation FormulaDepreciationBook Value

1

12/31/01

200,000 * 40/100

80,000

120,000

2

12/31/02

200,000 * 30/100

60,000

60,000

3

12/31/03

200,000 * 20/100

40,000

20,000

4

12/31/04

200,000 * 10/100

20 000

0

Example 2

This example is the same as example 1 except for the Depreciation Starting Date = 04/01/01. In other words, it is three months after the First User-Defined Depr. Date.

PeriodDateCalculation FormulaDepreciationBook Value

1

12/31/01

200,000 * 40/100 * 270/360

60,000

140,000

2

12/31/02

200,000 * 30/100

60,000

80,000

3

12/31/03

200,000 * 20/100

40,000

40,000

4

12/31/04

200,000 * 10/100

20,000

20,000

5

12/31/05

200,000 * 10/100

20 000

0

Note that the 40% depreciation for the first date is used only for a period of 270 days (nine months). The depreciation continues in period 5 during which the last percentage in the table is used again.

Tip

See Also