When setting up a new fixed asset register (or schedule/entity/client) in AssetAccountant™, it is most likely you need to import assets that are already part way through their working/effective life.
The way to achieve a seamless transition is to import these assets with what is known as an opening balance at a certain date.
An opening balance may also be knows as:
- Written down value (WDV)
- Book value
- Net value
If you are adding assets manually one at a time, you can find this in the Actions menu when viewing an asset:
However, it is recommended you use AssetAccountant's File Import functionality.
This will allow to import a large number of assets in a single go, and you can set an appropriate Opening Balance Date and Written Down Values for both accounting and tax as part of the import process.
This will take into account the depreciation already applied to the asset before the period AA takes over your calculations and journaling of the depreciation expense from the system you used previously.
There's a great video outlining this process here:
Note if you don't have opening balance data:
The main thing to keep in mind with Opening Balances is that you MUST know the written down value for Tax and Accounts as at the Opening Balance date.
For example, if you purchased an asset for $10,000 on the 14th of October and had an Opening Balance date of 31st October, your written down value might be something like $9850, not $10,000.
So, if you don't actually know exactly what these values are for the Opening Balance dates, avoid using an Opening Balance in your import and just let AssetAccountant work out the depreciation from the Purchase / First Use date, which it will do for you.
Why does my import have data highlighted orange?
AssetAccountant™ will estimate the depreciation prior to your Opening Balance date using other data in your import E.g. purchase date. So when you run depreciation reports and it includes a date range prior to any Opening Balance date, the estimated numbers will be shown in orange.
Depreciation calculations are made in AssetAccountant™ automatically, there is never any need for you to attempt to trigger this.