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How do I set up fixed assets for a company?

Fill five screens in this order: Depreciation Profile, Asset Class, Asset Book, Asset Group, then the Fixed Assets lines of the posting profile in the general ledger. After that every asset needs only its card and its acquisition.

Screen
Fixed Asset › Controlling, and the general ledger's posting profile
Who
The implementation consultant with the finance controller
Takes effect
On save of each screen; on the next acquisition
Needs first
The chart of accounts, the fiscal calendar and transaction journals. See General ledger how-to

Before you start​

  • The accounts for asset cost, accumulated depreciation, depreciation expense, acquisition clearing and gain or loss on disposal exist in the chart of accounts.
  • A transaction journal exists for each of Asset Acquisition, Asset Depreciation and Asset Retirement.
  • If depreciation follows the fiscal year, the fiscal calendar has every year you will depreciate in.

Steps​

  1. Open Depreciation Profile (Fixed Asset › Controlling). Make one per method and frequency, for example Straight Line, Monthly, Fiscal.
  2. Open Asset Class. One class per line of the fixed asset note: Buildings, Vehicles, Computers.
  3. Open Asset Book. The accounting book: its profile, Roundoff Depreciation 2, Post To General Ledger ticked. A tax book, if any, with its own profile.
  4. Open Asset Group. One per kind of asset: its class, Asset Life in years, Depreciation Percentage if a book uses reducing balance, Serialized if every unit is its own asset, and its books on the Asset Book tab.
  5. On the Fixed Assets posting profile of the general ledger, give every asset group its accounts for each activity: acquisition (asset cost and clearing), depreciation (expense and accumulated depreciation) and the disposal activities. See Posting Profile.
  6. Optional: Fixed Assets Setting for field rules: a default journal, a mandatory Notes.

Check it worked​

  • Make a test Asset Master card and a parked Asset Acquisition: the book is offered, the profile tab fills, the Offset Account is proposed. Delete the parked acquisition afterwards.

If something looks wrong​

  • The book is not offered on the acquisition. Add it to the group's Asset Book tab.
  • The Offset Account is not proposed. The group has no acquisition clearing line on the posting profile, or the book is an Opening book.