Fixed Assets & Loans

What Fixed Asset Management Does

When you buy something that will be used over several years (equipment, vehicles, computers, furniture) rather than consumed immediately, accounting rules require you to spread its cost over its useful life rather than expensing it all at once — this is depreciation. The Fixed Assets module automates that: it creates the asset record, calculates the depreciation schedule, and posts the monthly/yearly journal entries for you.

Core Concepts

Asset Statuses

• Draft – created but not yet confirmed; no accounting impact yet.
• Running – confirmed; depreciation lines can now be posted to accounting.
• Close – fully depreciated (last depreciation line posted).
• Removed – disposed of or sold; removal entries generated.

Asset Profiles (Categories)

Go to Accounting > Configuration > Asset Profiles. Set up one profile per category of asset you own (Computers, Vehicles, Office Furniture, Machinery) so new assets inherit sensible defaults instead of being configured from scratch every time.

Profile Fields

• Asset Account – the balance sheet account holding the asset's book value.
• Depreciation Account – the accumulated depreciation contra-asset account.
• Expense Account – where the periodic depreciation expense posts (usually a P&L "Depreciation Expense" account).
• Computation Method (see below).
• Number of Years/Periods and Period Length (monthly or yearly entries).

Depreciation Methods

Check what your local tax authority requires or permits before choosing — some jurisdictions mandate a specific method (or specific useful-life years) for tax depreciation, which may differ from what you use for internal management reporting.

Prorata Temporis

Enable Prorata so an asset purchased mid-period only depreciates for the portion of that first period it was actually owned, instead of a full period's worth of depreciation on day one.

From Purchase to Depreciation Schedule

Creating an Asset from a Vendor Bill

1. When entering the vendor bill for the purchase, post the line to an Asset Account rather than an expense account.
2. Quickenerp offers to Create Asset directly from that bill line, pre-filling the purchase value and vendor.
3. Alternatively, go to Accounting > Accounting > Assets → Create manually.

Asset Form Fields

• Asset Profile – pulls in the default accounts and method; override any field if this specific asset is an exception.
• Purchase Value and Salvage Value.
• Date Start – when depreciation begins (usually the purchase or in-service date).
• Number of Years / Period Length – the depreciation term.

Confirming & Depreciating

1. Click Compute to generate the full depreciation schedule (one line per period) — review it before confirming.
2. Click Confirm. The asset moves to Running.
3. Each period, post that period's depreciation line — either individually or via the batch action covered in the next article.
4. Posting debits the Expense account and credits the accumulated Depreciation account, reducing the asset's book value (Value Residual) each time.

Disposing of an Asset

When an asset is sold, scrapped, or retired before or at the end of its schedule, use the asset's Remove action: it posts a final entry writing off any remaining book value (and any sale proceeds/gain-or-loss if sold), and moves the asset to Removed.

Transferring an Asset

If an asset moves between departments, cost centers, or companies, use the asset transfer action rather than editing the original record directly — this preserves the depreciation history up to the transfer date instead of rewriting it.