Fixed Assets
Track long-term assets from purchase to disposal.
Fixed assets are long-term resources the business owns and uses over multiple periods — machinery, vehicles, computers, furniture, leasehold improvements. Trabalance tracks each asset from the moment it is registered, calculates depreciation according to the chosen method, posts depreciation journals automatically every night for assets with Auto-Charge enabled, and records the disposal with any resulting gain or loss.
The Fixed Assets Page
Navigate to: Operations → Fixed Assets
The Fixed Assets page has two tabs, Registers and Disposals. The Registers tab lists all registered assets and provides:
- Search box — search by asset name or center
- Filter — a sheet with facets for Status (Active | Fully Depreciated), Useful life, Center, a Cost range and a Net Book Value range
- Export — CSV or PDF; Columns — show or hide columns
- Import — bulk import assets from a spreadsheet
- Run catch-up — posts every missed depreciation entry to the ledger in one run
- New Register — opens the asset creation form
Table columns: Name, Status, Useful life, Center (when any asset has one), Cost, Accum. Depreciation, Net Book Value.
Status is derived from the figures: Active while Net Book Value is above zero, Fully Depreciated once it reaches zero. Selecting rows shows a bar with Delete.
Creating an Asset
Click New Register to open the creation form.
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Name | Yes | The descriptive name of the asset (e.g., "Delivery Van — Registration AB-1234", "CNC Machine — Unit 3"). |
| Description | No | Additional detail: make, model, serial number, specifications. |
| Center / Location | No | The business unit the asset is assigned to. Shown when you have business units. |
| Cost | Yes | The total acquisition cost of the asset — purchase price plus any directly attributable costs (installation, delivery, import duties). This is the amount depreciation starts from. |
| Date of Purchase | Yes | The date the asset was acquired. The depreciation schedule starts from this month; automatic posting starts from the current period when Auto-Charge is enabled. |
| Scrap Value | No | The estimated residual value at the end of the asset's useful life. Depreciation stops when the book value reaches the scrap value. Defaults to zero if not provided. |
| Useful Life (years) | Yes | The number of years the asset is expected to be in service. Decimal years are accepted. |
| Depreciation Method | Yes | Straight Line, Reducing Balance, or Units of Production. See Depreciation Methods below. |
| Asset Account | Yes | The account that holds the original cost of the asset (e.g., Plant and Equipment at Cost). |
| Accumulated Depreciation Account | Yes | The contra-asset account that accumulates all depreciation charged to date (e.g., Accumulated Depreciation — Plant). |
| Depreciation Expense Account | Yes | The P&L account charged with each period's depreciation (e.g., Depreciation Expense — Plant and Equipment). On disposal, the gain or loss and the proceeds are also posted here. |
| Notes | No | Any additional notes about the asset. |
Asset Detail — Three Tabs
Click any asset from the list to open its page. Edit Asset in the header reopens the form. The page has three tabs.
Tab 1 — Details
Shows the asset record as cards — Purchase Cost, Purchase Date, Useful Life, Depreciation Method, Scrap Value, Center / Location — followed by the three account mappings and the description.
Tab 2 — Auto-Charge
The Auto-Charge tab controls automatic depreciation. It shows:
- Status badge — Active, Paused, Complete, Not Configured, or Disposed
- Enabled / Disabled toggle — initializes the schedule the first time, then pauses or resumes it
- Summary cards — Asset Cost, Accumulated Depreciation (from postings), Current Book Value with the scrap value beneath
- Configuration — Frequency (monthly), Next Charge Date, Last Charged, Total Posted
- Recent Postings — Posting #, Period, Amount, Book Value, Status for the last five entries
When Auto-Charge is enabled, the scheduler posts the depreciation journal at the end of each month without any user action. See Auto-Post Depreciation.
Tab 3 — Depreciation Schedule
The Depreciation Schedule tab shows the projected amortization table for the asset from the purchase month to full depreciation, in a Monthly Schedule or Annual Schedule view.
Table columns: #, Period, Opening Value, Depreciation, Accumulated, Closing Value.
Periods that have already elapsed are highlighted "(Elapsed)". The schedule is a projection built from the purchase date (an asset bought after the 15th takes half a month's charge in its first month); the amounts actually posted are listed on the Auto-Charge tab.
Depreciation Methods
The picker offers three methods. The amounts below are what the posting engine charges each month.
| Method | Monthly charge | Behavior | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Line | (Cost − Scrap Value) ÷ (Useful Life in years × 12) | Equal charge every period. Book value declines in a straight line from Cost to Scrap Value. | Assets that provide equal benefit each year: office furniture, buildings, computers with consistent use. |
| Reducing Balance | Opening book value × 20% ÷ 12 | Higher charge in early years, lower in later years. The 20% annual rate is fixed in the engine — it is not entered per asset. The charge is capped so the book value never falls below scrap. | Assets that lose value quickly when new: vehicles, technology equipment, machinery. |
| Units of Production | Opening book value × (2 ÷ Useful Life in years) ÷ 12 | Charged as a double-declining rate on the opening book value; no units figure is entered anywhere, so the charge does not vary with actual output. Capped at scrap value. | Assets you want to write down fastest in their early years. |
Straight Line — Example
Asset cost: 24,000.00. Scrap value: 0. Useful life: 4 years.
Monthly depreciation = 24,000.00 ÷ (4 × 12) = 500.00 per month, or 6,000.00 per year.
Reducing Balance — Example
Asset cost: 20,000.00. Engine rate: 20% per annum.
Month 1: 20,000.00 × 20% ÷ 12 = 333.33. Month 2: 19,666.67 × 20% ÷ 12 = 327.78, and so on — each month's charge is 20% ÷ 12 of the opening book value, until the book value reaches scrap or the useful life is exhausted.
Units of Production — Example
Asset cost: 50,000.00. Scrap value: 5,000.00. Useful life: 5 years.
Annual rate = 2 ÷ 5 = 40%. Month 1: 50,000.00 × 40% ÷ 12 = 1,666.67. Month 2: 48,333.33 × 40% ÷ 12 = 1,611.11, and so on, never below the 5,000.00 scrap value.
Auto-Post Depreciation
When Auto-Charge is enabled for an asset, the scheduler posts the following journal at the end of each month, combining every due asset of the business into one journal (DEP-YYYYMM):
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation Expense (configured account) | Period depreciation amount | — | Depreciation recognized as an expense in the current period |
| Accumulated Depreciation (configured account) | — | Period depreciation amount | Contra-asset balance increases — NBV decreases on the balance sheet |
The fixed asset cost account always holds the original acquisition cost. Accumulated Depreciation is a separate contra-asset account that grows over time. The Net Book Value shown on the balance sheet is Cost minus Accumulated Depreciation — the two accounts are always read together.
Running Depreciation Manually
Click Run catch-up on the Fixed Assets page to post every depreciation entry that is due but not yet posted, for every asset with Auto-Charge enabled. Assets whose Auto-Charge is paused or not configured, assets already fully depreciated (marked Complete), and periods that fall in a closed accounting period are skipped. The result message reports the outcome; the first error, if any, is shown.
Disposals
When an asset is sold, scrapped, or otherwise leaves the business, record a disposal. The disposal posts a journal that removes the asset from the balance sheet and recognizes any gain or loss.
Navigate to: Operations → Fixed Assets → Disposals tab → New
Disposal Fields
| Field | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Yes | The asset leaving the business. |
| Disposal Amount | Yes | The amount received from selling the asset. Enter zero for a scrapped or written-off asset. |
| Disposal Date | Yes | The date the asset was sold, scrapped, or transferred out. This is the disposal journal's business date. |
Before posting the disposal, the system takes the net book value as cost minus the accumulated depreciation already posted, then computes the gain or loss as Disposal Amount minus that net book value. No depreciation is posted for the partial period up to the disposal date — run catch-up first if the current period should be charged.
Scenario 1 — Disposal at Book Value (no gain or loss)
Asset: Cost 10,000.00. Accumulated Depreciation 6,000.00. Net book value 4,000.00. Sold for exactly 4,000.00.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation Expense (asset) — disposal proceeds | 4,000.00 | — | Proceeds received from buyer |
| Accumulated Depreciation (asset) | 6,000.00 | — | Depreciation balance cleared on disposal |
| Asset Account (asset) | — | 10,000.00 | Original cost removed from balance sheet |
Scenario 2 — Disposal at a Gain (sold for more than NBV)
Asset: Cost 10,000.00. Accumulated Depreciation 6,000.00. Net book value 4,000.00. Sold for 5,500.00.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation Expense (asset) — disposal proceeds | 5,500.00 | — | Proceeds received from buyer |
| Accumulated Depreciation (asset) | 6,000.00 | — | Depreciation balance cleared on disposal |
| Asset Account (asset) | — | 10,000.00 | Original cost removed from balance sheet |
| Depreciation Expense (asset) — gain on disposal | — | 1,500.00 | Surplus above book value |
Scenario 3 — Disposal at a Loss (sold for less than NBV, or scrapped)
Asset: Cost 10,000.00. Accumulated Depreciation 6,000.00. Net book value 4,000.00. Sold for 2,000.00 (or scrapped for 0).
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation Expense (asset) — disposal proceeds | 2,000.00 | — | Proceeds received (no line if scrapped for zero) |
| Accumulated Depreciation (asset) | 6,000.00 | — | Depreciation balance cleared on disposal |
| Depreciation Expense (asset) — loss on disposal | 2,000.00 | — | Shortfall below book value |
| Asset Account (asset) | — | 10,000.00 | Original cost removed from balance sheet |
The disposal form has no proceeds or gain/loss account fields. The engine debits the proceeds, and debits a loss or credits a gain, to the asset's Depreciation Expense account. To show the cash received in a bank account, post a manual journal in Finance moving the proceeds from that expense account to the bank.
After disposal, the asset's Auto-Charge status changes to Disposed and no further depreciation is posted. The asset stays on the Registers tab for audit and historical reporting, and the disposal appears on the Disposals tab (Name, Description, Mode, Status).
Asset Revaluation
If an asset needs to be revalued upward (e.g., land revalued to market price), this is handled through a manual journal entry in Finance. The fixed asset record is then updated with the new cost through Edit Asset. Contact your accountant before revaluing assets — revaluation has specific accounting treatment that varies by jurisdiction and reporting standard.
Exporting the Register
The Registers and Disposals lists both export to CSV or PDF from the toolbar, respecting the search and filters in force.