Select this check box if you want this book for this Asset Master record to be included automatically in system calculations of depreciation. If you select this check box, the system will also re-set the Current Pd Depreciation field back to zero during the Fixed Assets period close process.

Clear this check box if you want to disable the automatic system calculation of depreciation for this book for this asset record.

If you do not enable automatic system calculations, you must manually enter the amount of depreciation expense for this book for this asset record, or leave in the value used for the prior period. In general:

• If you need to make a one-time adjustment to current depreciation expense, you should manually override the system calculation in the Asset Master record rather than change the default for this check box. In this circumstance, do not recompute depreciation after you manually enter the desired depreciation amount (or the system will overwrite your entry during the calculation).
• If you want to use a specified depreciation amount as a recurring override to system calculations each accounting period, you should clear this check box and enter the override amount in the Asset Master record in the Current Pd Depreciation field.

For a new manually-created asset record, enter, or click to select, the depreciation method code to be used for this record.

You first must set up depreciation methods on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen. The method you select for this field will supply the rules and parameters by which depreciation calculations will be performed for this book for this Asset Master record.

You can additionally edit data that displays in this field now or you can add new data to a blank field, as desired. Because depreciation calculations in the Asset Master record use the depreciation method code from this field, use caution if you change the depreciation method code for a record once it has begun depreciating in the system.

For a new manually-created asset record, enter numeric characters in this optional field to specify the useful life for this record.

The value in this field is for data purposes only, and is not used in system calculations. When the system calculates depreciation, the depreciation year and percentage for that year is derived from the depreciation method assigned to the record in the Depr Method Code field. For example, if you enter a useful life of five years in the Useful Life field but the depreciation method assigned to the record uses only three years as its useful life, the system will use percentages for three years only in its calculations, as specified by the depreciation method.

You can additionally edit data that displays in this field now, add new data to a blank field, or delete the data from this field, as desired.

The relationship between this field and the values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields is critical to the accurate calculation of depreciation.

For a new asset record, enter, or click to select, the depreciation start date, as applicable.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field.

For an existing asset record, this field displays the most current data that you added or edited in the asset record. You can edit data that displays in this field, if needed, but because system calculations use this date to determine if depreciation computations should take place for each record, use extreme caution if you change the depreciation start date for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

Even though this field is not system-required to save an asset record, it is the most important date field for depreciable assets because the system uses this field in the computation of depreciation. Depreciation calculations will not take place if this field is blank, or if this date is later than the end of the current accounting period. The Costpoint Fixed Assets "current" accounting period is specified on the Configure Posting Settings screen.

If you anticipate a depreciation start date delay due to installation or calibration requirements, for example, you can enter a future date in this field. In this circumstance, depreciation calculations will not begin until the future date coincides with your current accounting period. The date in this field must be on or before the end of the current accounting period for depreciation calculations to take place.

You can use the Compute/Update Depreciation Computation Data utility to assist you in verifying the relationship of the Depr Start Date field to the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields.

Using the value in the Depr Start Date field, the system prints a report by asset/item number, by book, that includes a side-by-side comparison of both the current values displayed in the Asset Master record and the values that the system would automatically have computed for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields for this book.

Although you can print this report for all selected records, you can also print the report for exceptions only, by which discrepancies may be easier to identify. After the report has printed, you can activate the option in this utility that applies the system-computed values to your asset records. This process updates the existing data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields for this book by replacing your data and writing the system-computed values to these fields.

You should run this utility to verify, and optionally update, your data after you initialize your historical records and before you compute depreciation for the first time.

After initialization, you may want to run this utility on a regular basis each period as part of your company's standard monthly procedures, to confirm that your period additions have been initialized correctly.

During initialization, to ensure consistency of data, you may want to develop some internal rules on the use of this field.

When entering data for new records or for historical records during the initialization process, there are no system restrictions regarding the appropriateness and/or accuracy of the start date. Because of the important relationship between the start date and the data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields, however, in most cases you should enter the date at which depreciation originally began for this record.

There are two ways to populate the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields for new records:

• You can manually enter this data at the same time you enter data for other Asset Master fields. For this method, you need to be very careful that your entries are correct and "in sync" with the Depr Start Date field.
• You can leave these fields blank when you initialize the Asset Master record. When you compute depreciation for the first time, the system will automatically compute and insert the correct values for these fields, based on the Depr Start Date.

Because manually entered data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields is especially prone to user error and misinterpretation, you can use the Compute/Update Depreciation Computation Data utility to assist you in verifying the relationship of these two fields with the Depr Start Date field. This utility can run for any number of asset/item numbers.

The utility produces a report, based on the depreciation start date, which shows a side-by-side comparison of both the current values displayed in the Asset Master record and the system-computed values for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields. You can print the report for all selected records or for exceptions only, which makes discrepancies easier to identify.

After you print the report, you can activate the option in this utility that applies the system-computed values to your asset records. This process updates the existing data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields by replacing the existing data with the system-computed values. If you do not apply the system-computed values to your data, you may need to manually adjust some values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields (or, in some cases, the Depr Start Date field) to ensure the accuracy of depreciation calculations.

Because the Update portion of this utility will overwrite your existing data with system-generated data, you should always carefully review and agree with the reported results on a record-by-record basis before performing the Update process. The Update process is similar to posting routines in that the report must first be printed before you can proceed with the Update process. Never run the Update process routinely unless you agree with the system field changes that will take place in each Asset Master record.

An additional utility, Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date, is available to assist you in verifying the value in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field for those assets in which the assigned depreciation method utilizes a Date of Purchase basis.

Enter, or click to select, the in-service date for this record.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field.

The value in this field is for data purposes only and is not used in system calculations. When the system calculates depreciation, the system checks only the date from the Depr Start Date field. The date in this field can be an historical, current, or future date.

For an existing asset record, this field displays the most current data that you added or edited in the asset record. You can edit data that displays in this field, if needed.

This field, along with the Days/Pds Remaining and Depr Start Date fields, plays an integral role in the system calculation of depreciation. The value in this field signifies which depreciation year of the asset's useful life is current. As a result of this data, the system can use the appropriate percentage for the current year of life from the depreciation method linked with this record. (Years of useful life and percentages for each year are set up on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen.)

For a new asset record, this field is initially blank. There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You can leave this field blank, if desired, because the system will automatically insert 1 in this field for a new blank record the first time that you calculate depreciation for this asset. Alternately, you can manually enter the depreciation year (which should be 1 for a new record), if desired. If you enter a value in this field, however, you must also enter a value in the Days/Pds Remaining field in order to save the asset record.

For an existing asset record, this field displays the most current data that you added or edited in the asset record or the data inserted automatically by the system, as applicable. You can edit data that displays in this field, if needed, but use extreme caution before changing any data in this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

This field must be blank for the system to populate it with a 1 the first time that you calculate depreciation for this record. If you have entered any number in this field, the system will not automatically replace your entry during depreciation calculations. Although this field is not system-required, system calculations cannot take place if you have overwritten the system-populated value in this field with blanks. The system cannot find the appropriate percentage to use from the Manage Depreciation Methods screen if you do not specify the current depreciation year.

During the initialization of your historical records, you will need to enter the correct current depreciation year for each asset. If, for example, you have an asset for which you have defined a depreciation method with a useful life of five years (the Manage Depreciation Methods screen), you should enter the current year of that life (for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). In this way, the proper depreciation percentage for the current depreciation year can be used during system calculations.

For both new and historical records, once this field is initialized, the system automatically increases the value in this field when required during the appropriate Fixed Assets period close process. The current year automatically increments during the closing process if there are additional years of useful life remaining for the record, and the Days/Pds Remaining field displays a 1 (for assets using period-based depreciation).

Additionally, under normal circumstances, when an asset is fully depreciated and the last period of life for the asset is closed, the system automatically changes the values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields to 0. You should have no need to change these values other than on an exception basis.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field, if needed. Because system calculations use this data to determine if depreciation computations should take place (and how they take place) for each record, use extreme caution if you change the current depreciation year for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

There are two ways to populate the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields for new records:

• You can manually enter this data at the same time you enter data for other Asset Master fields. For this method, you need to be very careful that your entries are correct and "in sync" with the Depr Start Date field.
• You can leave these fields blank when you initialize the Asset Master record. When you compute depreciation for the first time, the system will automatically compute and insert the correct values for these fields, based on the Depr Start Date.

Because manually entered data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields is especially prone to user error and misinterpretation, you can use the Compute/Update Depreciation Computation Data utility to assist you in verifying the relationship of these two fields with the Depr Start Date field. This utility can run for any number of asset/item numbers.

The utility produces a report, based on the depreciation start date, which shows a side-by-side comparison of both the current values displayed in the Asset Master record and the system-computed values for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields. You can print the report for all selected records or for exceptions only, which makes discrepancies easier to identify.

After the report has printed, you can activate the option in this utility that applies the system-computed values to your asset records. This process updates the existing data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields by replacing the existing data with the system-computed values. If you do not apply the system-computed values to your data, you may need to manually adjust some values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields (or, in some cases, the Depr Start Date field) to ensure the accuracy of depreciation calculations.

Because the Update portion of this utility will overwrite your existing data with system-generated data, you should always carefully review and agree with the reported results on a record-by-record basis before performing the Update process. The Update process is similar to posting routines in that the report must first be printed before you can proceed with the Update process. Never run the Update process as a matter of routine unless you agree with the system field changes that will take place in each Asset Master record.

An additional utility, Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date, is available to assist you in verifying the value in the Amt Taken Purch YTD field for those assets in which the assigned depreciation method utilizes a Date of Purchase basis

This field, along with the Current Depr Yr and Depr Start Date fields, plays an integral role in the system calculation of depreciation. The value in this field indicates the number of days or periods remaining in the current depreciation year of the asset's useful life. (Set up years of useful life and percentages for each year on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen.

For a new asset record, this field is initially blank. There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You can leave this field blank, if desired, because the system will automatically place the correct value in this field for a new blank record the first time that you calculate depreciation for this asset. Alternately, you can manually enter the days or periods remaining in this field. If you enter a value in this field, however, you must also enter a value in the Current Depr Yr field in order to save the asset record.

For an existing asset record, this field displays the most current data that you added or edited in the asset record or the data inserted automatically by the system, as applicable. You can edit data that displays in this field, if needed, but use extreme caution before changing any data in this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

The value in this field will depend on the Date of Purchase (DP) or Fiscal Year (FY) basis assigned to the depreciation method for this asset on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen, as follows:

• If you have linked a DP basis for depreciation method with this record, the value in this field should reflect the number of days or periods remaining in the current purchase year, depending on the option you selected in the System-Wide Configuration for DP Basis Depreciation Methods group box on the Configure Fixed Assets Settings screen.
• If you have linked a FY basis for depreciation method with this record, the value in this field should reflect the number of periods remaining in the current fiscal year. The number of periods remaining cannot be greater than 18.

This field must be blank for the system to populate it the first time you calculate depreciation for this record. If you have entered any number in this field, the system will not replace your entry during depreciation calculations. Although this field is not system-required, system calculations cannot take place if you have overwritten the system-populated value in this field with blanks. The system cannot depreciate correctly for the current period if the Days/Pds Remaining field is not specified.

During the initialization of your historical records, you will need to enter the correct periods remaining for each asset. This number will be dependent on how many periods are remaining in either your current purchase year or your current fiscal year, as applicable. Please refer to Calculate Depreciation for additional information on how to correctly initialize this field.

For both new and historical records, once the Days/Pds Remaining field is initialized, the system automatically changes this value (as required) during the Costpoint Fixed Assets period close process. The system automatically increments (or decrements) the value in this field during the closing process if there are additional years of useful life remaining for the record. As appropriate, when the value in the Current Depr Yr field increases, the value in the Days/Pds Remaining field will also change automatically and appropriately for the basis used (DP or FY).

Additionally, under normal circumstances, when an asset is fully depreciated and the last period of life for the asset is closed, the system automatically changes the values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields to 0. You should have no need to change these values other than on an exception basis.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field, if needed. Because system calculations use this data to determine whether depreciation computations should take place (and how they take place) for each record, use extreme caution if you change this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

For a new asset record, the system automatically displays the cost from the non-editable Total Cost field on the Cost Info tab as a default. You can edit the cost on this screen, if necessary, on a book-by-book basis. Because system depreciation calculations use this data, however, use caution if you change the cost for a record once it has begun depreciating in the system.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field (using the same general precautions).

Although you are not required to enter data in this field to save the record, note that the system cannot calculate depreciation for this book if this data is missing.

Occasionally, additional asset costs are discovered after depreciation has been posted for a record (for example, additional shipping costs). Alternately, returns may result in the reduction of cost after depreciation has been posted for the record.

One solution to record cost changes may be to adjust the appropriate cost field on the Cost Info tab. The disadvantages to this approach are the lack of a clear audit trail and the fact that depreciation expense may not be correctly stated until the depreciation year is complete. To compensate for these disadvantages, you could add notes to create an audit trail, or create the correct "catch-up" depreciation adjustment with a manually entered depreciation expense to be posted.

If you have set the System-Wide Configuration for Depreciation Calculations group box on the Configure Fixed Assets Settings screen for catch-up calculations by selecting the Added to current period amount option, the system will automatically catch up depreciation (as long as the "catch-up" period of time is within the same depreciation year).

Another solution might be to add an additional item for the same asset number with the cost equal to the positive or negative cost adjustment. When you use this technique, the audit trail is clearly preserved. In this situation, the asset will consist of more than one item number, which may or may not be considered a disadvantage.

The manner in which you deal with a "change-in-cost" issue depends on your company policies; it is important only that you handle these changes consistently based on your company policies.

Salvage value represents the expectation of value upon the retirement of the asset. It is computed as the salvage value percentage multiplied by the asset's total cost.

For a new asset record, if applicable, enter the salvage value percentage rate to be used in the calculation of salvage and depreciable value in this optional field.

The Salvage Percent and Salvage Value fields in this table window are reciprocal in that the entry in one field automatically calculates and displays the data in the other. If you enter a salvage value percentage in this field, note that the system automatically computes and displays the equivalent salvage value in the Salvage Value field. Alternately, if you do not enter a percentage in this field but instead enter a salvage value amount directly in the Salvage Value field, the system will compute and display the equivalent salvage value percentage in this field.

The system subtracts the amount in the Salvage Value field from the Total Cost field and automatically displays the result in the Amt to Depreciate field, which in turn affects the amount of depreciation calculated by the system. For example, if an asset's cost is $10,000 and its salvage value is 5%, then the amount to depreciate is $9,500 and the system will not permit depreciation in excess of $9,500 for this asset.

Do not enter a value in the Salvage Percent or Salvage Value fields for salvage unless you want the system to stop depreciation before the asset's total cost has depreciated and this is the point at which you want the system to stop depreciation for this book.

You can additionally edit data that displays in this field now or you can add new data to a blank field, as desired. Because depreciation calculations in the Asset Master record use the salvage value as it relates to cost, use caution if you change this data for a record once it has begun depreciating in the system.

• Example 1

  This example illustrates the setup for the condition in which salvage value is subtracted before depreciation calculations. This is the most common methodology for computing depreciation when salvage value is assigned to an asset.

  Asset Master File:

  Total Cost field = $ 10,000

  Salvage Percent field = 10 %

  Salvage Value field = $1,000

  Depr Method Code field = SL5 (Straight-Line Method over 5 years)

  Amount to Depreciate field = $ 9,000

  Total % to Depreciate = 100%

  Subtract Salvage Value Before Calculation = "Checked" for "SL5"

  Year	Percent	Amount to Depreciate	Annual Depreciation
  1	20%	$ 9,000	$ 1,800
  2	20%	$ 9,000	$ 1,800
  3	20%	$ 9,000	$ 1,800
  4	20%	$ 9,000	$ 1,800
  5	20%	$ 9,000	$ 1,800
  Total	100%		$ 9,000

  For this example, Costpoint subtracts the salvage value from the asset's total cost to determine the amount to depreciate (10,000 - 1,000 = 9,000).

To determine annual depreciation, the system multiplies the amount to depreciate by the depreciation percentage for the appropriate year of life.

• Example 2

  This example illustrates the setup for the condition in which salvage value is not subtracted before depreciation calculations.

  Asset Master File:

  Total Cost field = $ 10,000

  Salvage Percent field = 10 %

  Salvage Value field = $1,000

  Depr Method Code field = SL5 (Straight-Line Method over 5 years)

  Amount to Depreciate field = $ 10,000

  Total % to Depreciate = 100%

  Subtract Salvage Value Before Calculation = "Unchecked" for "SL5"

  Year	Percent	Amount to Depreciate	Annual Depreciation
  1	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  2	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  3	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  4	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  5	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  Total	100%		$ 10,000

  In this example, the system ignores the salvage value from the asset's total cost when determining the amount to depreciate (10,000 - 0 = 10,000). To determine annual depreciation, the system multiplies the amount to depreciate by the depreciation percentage for the appropriate year of life.

• Example 3

  Asset Master File:

  Total Cost field = $ 10,000

  Salvage % field = 10 %

  Salvage Value field = $1,000

  Depr Method Code field = SL5 (Straight-Line Method over 5 years)

  Amount to Depreciate field = $ 9,000

  Total % to Depreciate = 90%

  Subtract Salvage Value Before Calculation = "Unchecked" for "SL5"

  Year	Percent	Amount to Depreciate	Annual Depreciation
  1	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  2	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  3	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  4	20%	$ 10,000	$ 2,000
  5	10%	$ 10,000	$ 1,000
  Total	100%		$ 9,000

  This example illustrates the only method available that recognizes the residual (salvage) amount in the last year of useful life.

Salvage value represents the expectation of value upon the retirement of the asset. It is computed as the salvage value percentage multiplied by the asset's total cost.

For a new asset record, if applicable, enter the salvage value to be used in the calculation of depreciation in this optional field. Blanks may automatically display in this field, because there is no corresponding Asset Template field.

The Salvage Percent and Salvage Value fields in this table window are reciprocal in that the entry in one field automatically calculates and displays the data in the other. The system subtracts the salvage value from the value in the Total Cost field, and displays the result in the Amt to Depreciate field, which in turn affects the amount of depreciation calculated by the system. For example, if an asset's cost is $10,000 and its salvage value is 5%, the amount to depreciate is $9,500 and the system will not permit depreciation in excess of $ 9,500 for this asset.

Do not enter a value in the Salvage Percent or Salvage Value fields for salvage unless this is the point at which you want the system to stop depreciation.

If you enter a salvage value in this field, note that the system automatically computes and displays the equivalent salvage value percentage in the Percent field. Alternately, if you do not enter a value in this field but instead enter a salvage value percentage directly in the Percent field, the system will automatically compute and display the equivalent salvage value in this field.

The system subtracts the amount in the Salvage Value field from the Total Cost field and automatically displays the result in the Amount to Depreciate field, which in turn affects the amount of depreciation calculated by the system. For example, if an asset's cost is $10,000 and its salvage value is 5%, then the amount to depreciate is $9,500 and the system will not permit depreciation in excess of $9,500 for this asset.

For an existing asset record, this field displays the most current data that you added or edited in the asset record, as applicable.  You can additionally edit data that displays in this field now or you can add new data to a blank field, as desired. Because depreciation calculations in the Asset Master record use the salvage value as it relates to cost, use caution if you change this data for a record once it has begun depreciating in the system.

This field is not available for user entry.

The system automatically computes and displays an amount equal to the total cost of the asset less any salvage value from the Salvage Value field.

Be certain to confirm the data in the Total Cost and the Salvage Percent and Salvage Value salvage fields, because they directly influence the system calculation of the Amt to Depreciate field. You can edit the Salvage Percent or Salvage Value field, as needed.

The system will not automatically depreciate an amount greater than the amount that displays in this field unless you have manually overwritten system computations.

For a new asset record, this field is blank.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field.

You should leave this field blank for a new record, because the system will automatically increase (or possibly decrease) the value in this field by the amount of depreciation posted when you close the Fixed Assets current period, regardless of the basis (Date of Purchase or Fiscal Year) associated with the depreciation method assigned to this asset. The system will increase (or decrease) the value in this field by the amount in the Current Pd Depreciation field. The value in this field is equal to the depreciation expense for the current fiscal year, exclusive of the value in the Current Pd Depreciation field.

If you use a Date of Purchase basis for the depreciation method associated with this record, however, the cumulative value in this field will be different from the value in the Amt Taken Purch YTD field (except when the date of purchase coincides with the start of your fiscal year). The FYTD Depreciation field displays fiscal year data, while the Amt Taken Purch YTD field displays purchase year data.

The system adds data from this field to data from the Prior FY Depreciation and Current Pd Depreciation fields to derive the Accum Depreciation calculated (and non-editable) total.

The system will automatically update this field when you perform the Costpoint Fixed Assets period close process on the last period in your fiscal year, as applicable. In the applicable circumstance, the system will add the value in the FYTD Depreciation field to the value in the Prior FY Depreciation field and will set back the value in the FYTD Depreciation field to zero.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field, if needed. Because system calculations use this data to determine whether depreciation computations should take place (and how they should take place) for each record, use caution if you change this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

When initializing your historical records, enter the correct value in this field. Please refer to Calculate Depreciation, for additional information on how to correctly initialize this field.

For a new asset record, this field is blank.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You should leave this field blank for a new record.

The system adds data from this field to data from the FYTD Depreciation and Current Pd Depreciation fields to derive the Accum Depreciation calculated (and non-editable) total.

The system will automatically update this field when you perform the Fixed Assets period close process on the last period in your fiscal year, as applicable. In the applicable circumstance, the system will add the value in the FYTD Depreciation field and the Current Pd Depreciation field to the value in the Prior FY Depreciation field and will set back the value in the FYTD Depreciation field to zero.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field, if needed. Because system calculations use this data to determine whether depreciation computations should take place (and how they should take place) for each record, use caution if you change this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.

For a new asset record, this field is blank.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You should leave this field blank for a new record.

The system will automatically calculate the value for this field when you calculate depreciation for this record if you have selected the Auto Calc Depr check box and the date in the Depr Start Date field is not a future date (later than the end of the current period). Although you can always make manual entries or edits in this field, if you have selected the Auto Calc Depr check box, the system will always recalculate the Annual Depreciation amount in this field when you compute depreciation and will overwrite your manual edits.

You can perform depreciation calculations multiple times within the same accounting period. If you have made no manual corrections to critical fields (such as asset cost, annual depreciation, current depreciation year, periods remaining, and so on), there is no danger that the system will calculate a different annual depreciation value for the same asset in the same accounting period.

Annual depreciation is computed based on total cost (or cost minus salvage value) times the depreciation percentage (from the depreciation method assigned to the asset) for the year specified in the Current Depr Yr field.

For a new asset record, this field is normally blank. If you have cleared the Auto Calc Depr check box, however, and you manually entered a value in this field last accounting period, this field should still display the manually-entered value this accounting period.

There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You should leave this field blank for a new record unless you want to overwrite the system calculation of current period depreciation. In this circumstance, make certain that you enter your manual overwrite after you have computed depreciation so the system will not overwrite the manual entry.

The system will automatically populate this field when you calculate depreciation for this record, provided you have selected the Auto Calc Depr check box and the date in the Depr Start Date field is not a future date. The current Fixed Assets period is specified on the Configure Posting Settings screen. Although you can always make manual entries and edits in this field, regardless of the status of the Auto Calc Depr check box and the date in the Depr Start Date field, you should enter all manual entries and overwrites with caution.

The system computes current period depreciation expense as a result of the Date of Purchase (DP) or Fiscal Year (FY) basis assigned to each depreciation method established on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen. The basic premise for depreciation calculations in which the catch-up amount is to be allocated among remaining periods is as follows:

• If you have linked a DP basis for depreciation method with the asset, this field will display the annual depreciation expense less the amount taken this purchase year divided by the number of periods remaining in the purchase year.
• If you have linked a FY basis for depreciation method with the asset, this field will display the annual depreciation expense less the amount taken this fiscal year divided by the number of periods remaining in the fiscal year.

In the following simplified example, consider the basic differences in current period depreciation calculations for a $9,000 asset, useful life of five years, no salvage value, using straight-line depreciation, for both the FY and DP basis. For this example, the current fiscal year is CY 2006, the current Fixed Assets accounting period is 10, the number of accounting periods in the fiscal year is 12, and the start date is 10-01-06.

• Using the DP basis for depreciation, the annual depreciation expense of $1,800 is divided by the number of accounting periods remaining in the purchase year (12). One period of expense is charged for the current period, irrespective of the fiscal year. The depreciation year begins at the date in the Depr Start Date field (10-01-2006).
• Using the FY basis for depreciation, the annual depreciation expense of $1,800 is divided by the number of accounting periods remaining in the fiscal year (3). In the example above, there are only three accounting periods (including the current accounting period) remaining in the fiscal year over which to spread the annual depreciation cost of $1,800.

The date in the Depr Start Date field does not influence the start of the depreciation year until the date window coincides with the current accounting period. If the end of the accounting period occurs before the depreciation start date, the system will not calculate depreciation for this record.

In this example above, the computed annual depreciation expense is identical for both the DP and FY basis. The current period depreciation expense, however, is different.

For both new and historical records, the system adds data from the Current Pd Depreciation field to the data in the FYTD Depreciation and Prior FY Depreciation fields to derive the Accum Depreciation field calculated total. When you close the current accounting period, the system will automatically set back the value in the Current Pd Depreciation field to zero unless you have cleared the Auto Calc Depr check box.

You can perform depreciation calculations multiple times within the same Fixed Assets period. If you have made no manual corrections to critical asset data (such as asset cost, annual depreciation, current depreciation year, periods remaining, and so on), the system will simply re-calculate the same depreciation expense for the same book for the same asset in the same Fixed Assets period.

When you close the current Fixed Assets accounting period on the Close Fixed Assets Accounting Period screen, the system will write the cumulative depreciation amount for the period to the FA_DEPR_HS table, which stores monthly depreciation expense for the optional other books and from which the data can historically be retrieved via queries and reports.

The system automatically totals the values from the FYTD Depreciation, Prior FY Depreciation, and Current Pd Depreciation fields and displays the results in this non-editable field.

The system automatically subtracts the value in the Accum Depreciation field from the value in the Total Cost field and displays the results in this non-editable field.

This field, along with the Current Depr Yr and the Days/Pds Remaining fields, plays an integral role in the system calculation of depreciation for methods using the Date of Purchase basis.

You must select a Date of Purchase (DP) or Fiscal Year (FY) basis on the Manage Depreciation Methods screen when you set up each depreciation method.

• If the method from the Depr Method Code field on this screen uses a DP basis, this field is active.
• If the method from the Depr Method Code field on this screen uses a FY basis, this field is not active.

For a new asset record, this field is blank. There is no corresponding Asset Template field. You should leave this field blank for a new record because the system will automatically increment (or possibly decrement) the value in this field by the amount of depreciation posted when the current Fixed Assets period is closed.

The value in this field will be different from the value in the FYTD Depreciation field except when the date of purchase coincides with the start of your fiscal year. The Amt Taken Purchase YTD field displays purchase year data, while the FYTD Depreciation field displays fiscal year data.

During the initialization of your historical records, for records linked to depreciation methods that use the Date of Purchase basis for depreciation, you should enter the correct value in this field for the current purchase year of the asset.

There are two ways to populate the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field for historical records:

• You can manually enter this data at the same time you enter data for other Asset Master fields. For this method, you need to be very careful that your entries are correct and "in sync" with the values in the Depr Start Date, Curr Depr Yr, and Days/Pds Remaining fields.

Because manually-entered data in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field is especially prone to user error and misinterpretation, you can use the Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date utility to assist you in verifying the data in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field and the relationship of the values in the Depr Start Date, Curr Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields. This utility can be run for all selected records or for exceptions only, which makes discrepancies easier to identify. Data computations using this utility assume that depreciation was posted each period on schedule according to the asset’s Depreciation Start Date, Curr Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining. If depreciation adjustments were made in previous periods of the current purchase year, the computed amounts should be compared to amounts posted in the legacy system to verify that they reconcile.

• You can leave this field blank when you initialize the Asset Master record and use the Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date utility to update the value in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field for those assets in which the assigned depreciation method utilizes a Date of Purchase basis.

The depreciation start date must be prior to the current FA posting FY and period. The system will populate this field with 0.00 for assets in the first period of a purchase year.

The Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date utility produces a report, based on the values in the Curr Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields, which shows a side-by-side comparison of both the current values displayed in the Asset Master record and the system-computed values for the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field. This utility can run for any number of asset/item numbers.

After the report has printed, you can activate the option in this utility that applies the system-computed values to your asset records. This process updates the existing data in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field by replacing the existing data (blanks) with the system-computed values.

Because the Update portion of this utility will overwrite your existing data with system-generated data, you should always carefully review and agree with the reported results on a record-by-record basis before performing the Update process. The Update process is similar to posting routines in that the report must first be printed before you can proceed with the Update process. Never run the Update process as a matter of routine unless you agree with the system field changes that will take place in each Asset Master record

The system will automatically change the value in this field by the final depreciation calculation amount when you close the current Fixed Assets accounting period on the Close Fixed Assets Accounting Period screen.

When you close the final period in the current purchase year, the system automatically set back the value in this field to zero, thus preparing it to accumulate depreciation expense for the next (current) purchase year.

For an existing asset record, you can edit data that displays in this field, if needed. Because system calculations use this data to determine whether depreciation computations should take place (and how they should take place) for each record, use caution if you change this field for property records once they have begun depreciating in the system.