Calculate asset depreciation using straight-line, declining balance, sum-of-years-digits, and MACRS methods with full schedules.
Choose an accounting or U.S. tax depreciation pattern and see the asset's depreciation, accumulated depreciation, and remaining book value period by period. The calculator supports straight-line, declining balance, sum-of-years-digits, and MACRS schedules, making their timing differences visible without collapsing them into one total. A frequent mistake is treating every method as interchangeable: salvage value and useful life drive the book methods, while MACRS follows tax recovery classes and conventions, so its annual deductions can differ substantially.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Cost: $10,000 Salvage value: $2,000 Useful life: 4 years Method: Straight-line
Expected output
Year 1: depreciation $2,000; accumulated depreciation $2,000; ending book value $8,000. Year 2: depreciation $2,000; accumulated depreciation $4,000; ending book value $6,000. Year 3: depreciation $2,000; accumulated depreciation $6,000; ending book value $4,000. Year 4: depreciation $2,000; accumulated depreciation $8,000; ending book value $2,000. Total depreciation: $8,000.
The depreciable amount is $10,000 - $2,000 = $8,000. Straight-line depreciation divides that amount equally across four years, producing $2,000 per year and leaving the stated $2,000 salvage value.
For straight-line, the annual charge is (cost - salvage value) / useful life. Sum-of-years-digits applies a descending fraction to that same depreciable amount, using remaining life as the numerator and 1 + 2 + ... + useful life as the denominator. Declining balance applies a fixed rate to opening book value, creating larger charges earlier while using salvage value as the lower limit.
For the book methods, each row starts from the prior row's ending book value, records the period's depreciation, and updates accumulated depreciation. Under MACRS, deductions follow the selected recovery class and convention rather than a salvage-adjusted useful-life formula. A convention can assign partial deductions to the first and final tax years, extending the schedule across an additional calendar year.
Not in the same way. Straight-line and sum-of-years-digits allocate cost minus salvage value. Declining balance uses salvage value as a lower limit rather than subtracting it before applying the rate. For federal MACRS, salvage value is not deducted from basis. The resulting schedules therefore should not be expected to share the same final-year pattern.
MACRS conventions can allocate only part of a deduction to the placed-in-service year and the balance to the final year. For example, five-year property under the half-year convention has deductions in six tax years. The additional row does not change the recovery class; it reflects how the convention distributes depreciation between the first and last years.
The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.
Calculate gross, operating, and net profit margins from cost and revenue with breakeven analysis.
Convert between annual salary and hourly rate with adjustments for work hours, overtime, and benefits.
Calculate sales tax amounts, tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive prices for any tax rate or jurisdiction.
Calculate return on investment from initial cost and final value with annualized ROI and comparison tables.
Convert between markup and margin percentages, calculate selling price, and compare pricing strategies.
Convert numeric amounts to written words for invoices, checks, and legal documents in multiple currencies.