Calculate asset depreciation using Straight-Line, Declining Balance, or Sum-of-Years-Digits methods. Get the annual depreciation, a full year-by-year schedule, and book value over time.
Straight-Line • Declining Balance • SYD
| Year | Depreciation | Accumulated | Book Value |
|---|
Depreciation spreads the cost of a long-lived asset over its useful life rather than expensing it all at once. The depreciable base is the asset cost minus its salvage value (what it's worth at end of life). Three common methods divide that base differently: Straight-Line expenses an equal amount each year; Declining Balance (double-declining, 200%) front-loads depreciation by applying a fixed rate to the shrinking book value; and Sum-of-Years-Digits is another accelerated method that weights early years more heavily.
For a $50,000 asset with a $5,000 salvage value over 5 years, straight-line depreciation is ($50,000 − $5,000) ÷ 5 = $9,000 per year. Accelerated methods like DDB write off more in the early years and less later, which can be advantageous for taxes. Book value — the asset's remaining value on the books — never drops below the salvage value under any method.
(Cost − Salvage) ÷ Life. The same amount every year. Simplest and most common for financial reporting.
Rate = 2 ÷ Life applied to book value each year. Front-loads depreciation; book value never falls below salvage.
Weights early years using the fraction (remaining life ÷ sum of years). Another accelerated approach.
Cost minus accumulated depreciation. It declines over the asset's life and stops at the salvage value.