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.

Monthly (or Yearly) Batch Run

Instead of opening every asset individually each period, use the batch compute action: it goes through every Running asset and posts whichever depreciation lines are due as of the run date, in one action.

Recommended Routine

1. Run the batch depreciation as part of your monthly close, before finalising the Profit and Loss for the period.
2. Review the generated journal entries before/after posting, same as any other recurring accounting entry.
3. Reconcile the asset register (see next article) against the Balance Sheet's Fixed Assets line each period.

Forgetting to run this regularly is the most common Fixed Assets mistake — it doesn't break anything immediately, but expenses understate and asset book values overstate until you catch up, and catching up several months at once produces one unusually large depreciation expense that's confusing to explain later.

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.