Depreciation schedules & charges

The depreciation schedule spreads the value of an asset over its useful life. Each period, part of that value becomes an expense: the depreciation charge (dotation aux amortissements). By the end of this page, you will know how SynkriaOps calculates the schedule, where to set durations, how to generate depreciation and how to record a loss in value.

Prerequisites

• The asset is Active (in service) and its acquisition is in the accounts. An asset To complete, or whose acquisition is not in the general ledger, receives no depreciation (see Create a fixed asset).
• An open fiscal year covers the depreciation period.
• The Administrator, CFO or Accountant role.

Setting the depreciation tables

The durations suggested when an asset is created come from your company’s depreciation tables: Settings → Accounting settings, Depreciation schedules section.

Column	Content
Category	Software, land, buildings, equipment, vehicles, furniture, IT… (you can add more)
Method / Duration (months)	The method and duration suggested by default
Annual rate	Derived from the duration, never entered separately
Expense account	The 681x expense account used for this category
National reference	The reference duration of the company’s country, when one exists

Durations are a matter of each country’s tax law: they belong to you and can be changed. Realign with reference restores the national reference durations. If no reference exists for your country, SynkriaOps suggests no duration: you enter your own.

How the schedule is calculated

Rule	Application
Depreciable base	Gross value minus any residual value
Starting point	The date put into service, to the month: in service up to the 15th, the month counts; after the 15th, depreciation starts the following month
Straight-line	Base ÷ duration in months × number of months in the period
Declining-balance	Remaining net value × declining rate × months in the period ÷ 12. As soon as straight-line over the remaining duration gives a charge at least as high, the schedule switches to straight-line
Non-depreciable	Land, financial assets: no schedule
Rounding	To the currency’s precision; the last charge absorbs the difference so that the cumulative total equals the base

The schedule is split according to the frequency chosen on the record (Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annual or Annual) and follows your actual fiscal years, including a first fiscal year longer than twelve months.

Tax track and derogatory depreciation

On the record, Enable tax track (dual schedule) adds a second schedule, with its own Tax method and Tax duration (months). If tax depreciation exceeds economic depreciation, tick Enable derogatory depreciation: SynkriaOps records the difference each period.

Derogatory depreciation accounts

Left empty, the record’s advanced accounts suggest 145, 6872 and 7872. In the revised SYSCOHADA chart of accounts, these operations are recorded in 151 Derogatory depreciation, 851 Charges to regulated provisions and 861 Write-backs of regulated provisions. Choose these accounts in Advanced accounts when creating the record.

Viewing an asset’s schedule

Open the asset record, Depreciation tab. The table gives, for each period, the Depreciation, Cumulative, NBV (net book value) and Status:

Status	Meaning
Planned	Calculated, not yet posted
Posted	Depreciation entry recorded
Reversed	Entry cancelled by a counter-entry, to be generated again
Cancelled	Line dropped (asset disposed of before this period)

The Economic, DGI Tax and Derogatory tabs show each schedule. The module’s Global plan tab gives the same view for all assets in a fiscal year: gross value, period depreciation, cumulative depreciation and NBV.

Generating depreciation

Depreciation is not recorded automatically: you generate it for a period, after checking.

1. In Assets → Fixed assets, Assets tab (or Global plan), click Generate depreciation.

2. Choose the Start period and End period, then click Preview.

3. Read the Summary: Assets to process, Economic depreciation, Derogatory depreciation, Entries to create and, where applicable, Entries to reverse.

4. If depreciation already exists for part of the period, choose:

   • Block: the assets concerned are left out;
   • Regularize: existing entries are reversed and the whole period is regenerated.

5. Click Confirm generation (or Confirm with regularization).

Each charge produces a posted entry in the Fixed assets journal (IMM), in the asset’s name:

Operation	Debit	Credit
Economic depreciation	681x Depreciation charges	28xx Accumulated depreciation of the asset
Derogatory (tax > economic)	Derogatory charge (851 in SYSCOHADA)	Derogatory depreciation (151)
Derogatory (tax < economic)	Derogatory depreciation (151)	Derogatory write-back (861 in SYSCOHADA)

Assets not depreciated

If the summary says “N assets will not be depreciated”, their acquisition is not in the accounts. Record it from the Reconciliation tab (Record button), then run the generation again.

Before closing

Generate depreciation for all periods of the fiscal year before closing it: it is part of the result. No depreciation is accepted on a closed fiscal year. See Close a fiscal year.

Recording an impairment

An impairment (dépréciation) records a loss in value (obsolescence, damage, falling market). It never changes the depreciation schedule: it reduces the displayed NBV through a provision.

1. Open the asset record, Depreciation tab, and click Test an impairment.

2. Enter the Estimated current value, the Provision expense account (69x), the Impairment account (29x), the Test date and the Reason for the impairment test (at least 10 characters).

3. Click Preview. If the estimated value is greater than or equal to the NBV, there is no impairment to record.

4. Click Record the impairment.

The entry (debit 69x, credit 29x) is posted in the IMM journal. It appears in the asset’s Impairment history, from which Cancel entry reverses it if needed. If your company has an approval circuit on this operation, the impairment waits for approval.

Correcting an entry from the module

An entry from the module is never edited. From the record’s Entries tab, Cancel the entry records a cancelling entry, either Reversal (same accounts) or Counter-entry (OD journal), with a date and a reason. A reversed depreciation line returns to Reversed in the schedule and can be generated again.

See also

• Create a fixed asset →
• Dispose of or write off an asset →
• Reconciliation, export and financial statements →
• Close a fiscal year →