Information About

Straight-line Depreciation




Straight-line depreciation may be acceptable for some purposes. In other contexts, it may only be an acceptable method of depreciation in modified form, for example where adjustments are made to the depreciation value for the year of acquisition.

Example: Consider an asset is purchased during the year, where depreciation is calculated using the "half-month convention." In using the "half-month convention," depreciation is often recorded to the
nearest month. If an asset is purchased in the first half of the month, it is deemed (for
depreciation purposes) to have been purchased on the first day of that month. If an asset is
purchased in the second half of the month, it is deemed (for depreciation purposes) to have
been purchased on the first day of the following month.
Since the equipment was purchased on September 14 (in the first half of the month), for
depreciation purposes the asset is assumed to have been purchased on September 1, and it
is depreciated for only the 4 months remaining in the year.

: Depreciation expense for full year = (Cost of the asset - Estimated salvage value) / Estimated useful life