The accounting world says that buildings, property, furniture, fixtures, machines, equipment and vehicles are all fixed assets that should always be recorded at their original (book value) cost. And while the fair market value of some of these assets may increase over time, the cost basis principle precludes their value from increasing.
In addition, because most of these fixed assets have a limited life expectancy associated with their usefulness, and they eventually become obsolete over time, the accounting principle known as matching mandates that these fixed assets be depreciated.
Depreciation methods vary, and depreciation can be reported significantly differently between book and tax reporting.
I will pause to mention that property (land) is an exception to the above. Land is neither depreciated or appreciated when a business holds it. But most improvements made on the land will follow standard fixed assets methodology.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
While QuickBooks Enterprise has had multiple tools for helping businesses record and track their fixed assets and depreciation, QuickBooks Online has been limited to just using account type assets and creating all the accounts you need to record each asset, their cost, their depreciation, etc.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
But now, QuickBooks Online Advanced has simplified the tracking and management of fixed assets.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
It even automated the calculation of book depreciation.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
It also provides reports that can reflect individual assets or assets in a specific type (group) or all your fixed assets.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
Another great feature is adding multiple Fixed Assets using a spreadsheet-like entry form.
Source: Image captured from Intuit QuickBooks Online Advanced Fixed Asset feature.
These new features streamline the process of recording, tracking, and depreciating your fixed assets. They were designed to eliminate the need for spreadsheets or third party apps to manage your fixed assets.
For more information about this new QBO Advanced feature, check out this official Intuit YouTube clip.
Footnotes & Disclosures:
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