Depreciation Calculator
Calculate asset depreciation using straight-line, declining balance or sum-of-years-digits methods, with a full year-by-year schedule.
How to use this calculator
- 1Enter the asset cost, expected salvage value, and useful life.
- 2Choose a method — straight-line is simplest and most common for financial reporting.
- 3Check the schedule to see book value at the end of any given year.
How the calculation works
Straight-line: Annual = (Cost − Salvage) / Life
Declining: Annual = Book value × (2 / Life)
Sum-of-years: Annual = (Cost − Salvage) × (Years remaining / Sum of digits)- Cost
- What the asset was purchased for
- Salvage
- Expected value at the end of its useful life
- Life
- Useful life in years
- Sum of digits
- For a 5-year life: 5+4+3+2+1 = 15
Double-declining balance applies a fixed rate to the shrinking book value each year, which is why it never quite reaches the salvage value on its own — the schedule caps each year’s expense so book value does not fall below it.
Sum-of-years-digits weights each year by how many years remain, giving a straight-line step-down in the depreciation amount itself.
Worked example
$50,000 asset, $5,000 salvage, 5-year life, straight-line
- 1.Depreciable base: 50,000 − 5,000 = $45,000.
- 2.Annual depreciation: 45,000 ÷ 5 = $9,000 every year.
- 3.After year 1, book value is 50,000 − 9,000 = $41,000.
Result: $9,000 per year
What depreciation represents
Depreciation spreads the cost of a long-lived asset across the years it is actually used, rather than recording the entire expense the moment it is purchased. The reasoning is an accounting idea called the matching principle: expenses should be recognized in the same period as the revenue or benefit they help produce, and a piece of equipment used for years, not just the year it was bought, should have its cost matched against those same years of use rather than dumped entirely onto the first one.
It is important to be clear about what depreciation is not: it is not a cash expense. No money leaves the business each year for depreciation itself — the cash was spent up front, when the asset was purchased. Depreciation simply recognizes, on paper, that the asset is being used up over time.
The common methods
Several accepted methods spread that cost differently across an asset’s useful life, and the choice affects how expenses and reported profit look year to year, though not the total amount eventually depreciated.
- Straight-line — the simplest and most widely used method, spreading the depreciable cost evenly across every year of useful life.
- Declining balance — applies a fixed rate to the asset’s remaining book value each year, front-loading larger expenses into the early years — suited to assets, like vehicles or computers, that genuinely lose most of their value soon after purchase.
- Sum-of-years-digits — also front-loads depreciation, but more gently than declining balance, stepping the annual amount down in equal increments each year rather than by a fixed percentage.
- Units-of-production — ties the depreciation expense to actual usage — machine hours or units made — rather than to the passage of time, appropriate when wear depends more on use than on age.
Book depreciation versus tax depreciation
The depreciation shown on a company’s financial statements — book depreciation, calculated with one of the methods above — often differs from what tax law allows a business to deduct in a given year. Many tax authorities prescribe their own schedule; the US system, for instance, uses a framework known as MACRS, which frequently produces a different year-by-year deduction than book depreciation does, even though both eventually depreciate the same total cost. A business commonly keeps two depreciation schedules side by side for exactly this reason — one for reporting to shareholders, one for filing taxes.
Why the method choice matters
Because every method depreciates the same total amount over an asset’s life, the choice does not change the eventual bottom line — it changes the timing. A front-loaded method reports lower profit in early years and higher profit later, compared with straight-line, purely as an artifact of how the expense is spread, not because the business actually performed any differently. That timing effect matters for anything sensitive to reported profit in a given year, from loan covenants to tax planning to how a business’s performance compares year over year.
What this assumes, and where it stops
Assumptions
- The asset depreciates to exactly its salvage value by the end of its useful life.
Limitations
- For tax purposes, follow your jurisdiction’s prescribed depreciation schedule rather than this book-value method — they frequently differ.
- Assumes the asset is placed in service at the start of year one; mid-year conventions used in some tax systems are not modelled.
Common questions
Which depreciation method should I use?
Straight-line is the simplest and most common for financial statements, spreading cost evenly. Accelerated methods (declining balance, sum-of-years-digits) front-load the expense and suit assets — like vehicles or computers — that lose value fastest when new. Tax depreciation often follows separate statutory rules regardless of which method you use for your books.
What is salvage value?
The estimated amount an asset could be sold for once it reaches the end of its useful life — scrap value for equipment, resale value for a vehicle. It sets the floor below which book value cannot fall under any of these methods.
Formula and content last reviewed on .
Results are estimates for information only, not professional advice.
Related calculators
Tools people commonly use alongside the depreciation calculator.