We have addressed depreciation in a number of our previous accounting tutorials, for example, our article covering depreciation on non-current assets. However, we wanted to look specifically at the accumulated depreciation account and, in particular address, the question – is it a permanent account in the general ledger?
If you are in a hurry, the answer is yes; accumulated depreciation is a permanent account in the general ledger. Being a contra asset account, it maintains a natural credit balance. However, if you would like a fuller explanation, please read on.
What is Accumulated Depreciation?
Depreciation is an expense to reflect the consumption of economic benefits a reporting entity can derive from an asset. Depreciation is not matching revenue and expenses, revaluing an asset or spreading the cost over useful economic life. These are very much definitions of the past and don’t reflect the focus of conceptual accounting frameworks on assets and liabilities.
So that means accumulated depreciation is just that, an account that holds the growing balance of depreciation that a particular asset is building over time. Or another way, it reflects the consumption of economic benefits the entity is enjoying from its control of that asset. Remember, accounting is much more interested in the control over assets rather than pure legal ownership.
Before we forget, accumulated depreciation is sometimes called provision for depreciation. We have tended to move away from using the word provision here because it has a specific meaning as per International Accounting Standard (IAS) 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets. We have a whole article on this in our accounting tutorial section, and you can find that here.
Contra Accounts and Accumulated Depreciation
We mentioned contra accounts before and wanted to cover this quickly. All a contra account is is an account that maintains an opposite natural balance compared to the primary account it is offsetting. The primary account can then preserve the historical or core transaction data while using the contra account to affect the net balance of the primary account.
Technically we could run accumulated depreciation through the asset account. However, it is cleaner to record the depreciation entries in a dedicated account rather than off-setting the balance directly in the asset account.
In accounting, we tend not to perform off-setting adjustments. But instead, use another permanent account, like accumulated depreciation, to do this.
Accumulated Depreciation Journal Entries and Disclosures
The final section is to look at some journal entries and see how we disclose accumulated depreciation on the balance sheet (or statement of financial position).
Let’s assume that ABC Ltd is a brand new company on January 1. ABC has no expenses or revenues; however, it has $20,000 in the company bank account and equity (what the owner contributed) of $20,000.
Fixed Asset Purchase
On January 1, the company also buys a second-hand truck for $12,000, paying cash. It would make the following entry:
| Date | Account Name | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Truck | 12,000 | |
| Bank | 12,000 |
The debit brings to account the second-hand truck purchased, being a fixed asset for the company. And the credit decreases the bank account by $12,000.
The truck has an estimated useful life of five years with a residual value of $2,000. We now know that ABC will be depreciating the truck at $2,000 per annum for five years using the straight-line depreciation method. The formula being:
$12,000 (purchase price) – $2,000 (residual value) = $10,000 (expected economic benefits)
$10,000 / 5 years = $2,000 depreciation per annum
End of Year and Depreciation Expense
It’s now the end of the financial year, being March 31. ABC has to prepare a set of financial statements. The following simple transactions took place in its first three months of operation:
- revenues of $20,000 ($15,000 in cash, $5,000 on account);
- truck operating costs of $5,000 (all cash); and
- wages of $9,000 ($7,000 cash, $2,000 owning).
For completeness, let’s prepare a journal for the above transactions and a separate one for the depreciation on the truck. This approach is, of course, all very simplified, but it just makes the example easier to go through.
| Date | Account Name | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | Truck Operating Expenses | 5,000 | |
| Wages | 9,000 | ||
| Trade Debtors | 5,000 | ||
| Bank | 15,000 | ||
| Revenue | 20,000 | ||
| Wages Liability | 2,000 | ||
| Bank | 12,000 |
You wouldn’t typically prepare a journal like this, but this isn’t a problem in our simple case. The journal entries help to explain the financial statement account balances.
Now the depreciation journal entry would involve the following calculation and entry:
January 1 to March 31 = 3 months
3 months / 12 months = 25%
25% x $2,000 (depreciation expense for a year) = $500
| Date | Account Name | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | Depreciation Expense | 500 | |
| Accumulated Depreciation | 500 |
The debit raises the depreciation expense for the three months. At the same time, the credit increases the accumulated depreciation contract asset account from $0 to $500.
End of Year Financial Statements
How these few simple transactions would look in the financial statements are set out below. In particular, is the balance sheet and how we deduct the accumulated depreciation for the truck from its cost price. From these two figures, we produce the net book value of the asset. In more complex accounts, this calculation would not be presented on the face of the statement but rather as part of the asset notes.
And then, in each subsequent year, ABC would make the same depreciation journal entry and the total amount.
So let’s look at the accounts for 31 March X2. We will use a simple general journal entry for the year’s revenue and expenditure activities. There is no truck purchase in year X2.
| Date | Account Name | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | Truck Operating Expenses | 20,000 | |
| Wages | 36,000 | ||
| Trade Debtors | 20,000 | ||
| Bank | 60,000 | ||
| Revenue | 80,000 | ||
| Wages Liability | 2,000 | ||
| Bank | 54,000 |
| Date | Account Name | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | Depreciation Expense | 2,000 | |
| Accumulated Depreciation | 2,000 |
What we haven’t shown in the above is the assumption that the trade receivables and wage liability from the year X1 had been received and paid, respectively. With those assumptions and the above journal entries, the X2 year financial accounts for ABC Ltd would look like the following.
The main point for the X2 year accounts is to show you the depreciation expense of $2,000 on the statement of financial performance and the accumulated depreciation of $2,500 on the statement of financial position. You can see the contra account has the first year of $500 and the second year of $2,000 for depreciation added together. The increase in accumulated depreciation now brings the truck’s net book value down from $11,500 in X1 to $9,500 in X2.
Conclusion
We trust this article helps you understand the accumulated depreciation account and why it is a permanent account in the general ledger of most accrual accounting systems.