How to Manage Fixed Assets

DualEntry’s fixed asset module tracks the full lifecycle of capital assets: from acquisition through depreciation to disposal. You create asset records, assign depreciation methods and books, let the posting book generate journal entries, and record disposals or revaluations when the time comes.

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Create an asset and assign a depreciation method

Each fixed asset in DualEntry is a record on the asset register, created either manually or via the API at /public/v2/fixed-assets/.

1. Navigate to Accounting → Fixed Assets → Asset Overview and select Create.
2. Enter the required fields: asset name, acquisition date, acquisition cost, and useful life (in months or units, depending on the depreciation method).
3. Assign the asset to a fixed asset account (the balance sheet account that holds the asset’s cost) and an accumulated depreciation account. Both must already exist in your chart of accounts.
4. Choose a depreciation method (see below).
5. Optionally, assign the asset to a department, location, or other classification for reporting.
6. Optionally, use the Source Transaction tab to link the lines from the originating purchase. See Link a source transaction below.
7. Save. DualEntry creates the asset record and, if you posted an acquisition journal entry separately, links it.

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Link a source transaction

The Source Transaction tab on the New Fixed Asset page records which transaction lines originally booked the asset’s acquisition cost. Linking is optional but recommended: it preserves an audit trail from the asset record back to the purchase, and makes it easier to reconcile the asset register against your GL. You can link one or more lines of these types:

• Bill line - a line on a vendor bill that capitalized the asset.
• Direct expense line - a line on a direct expense that capitalized the asset.
• Journal entry line - a line on a journal entry that recorded the acquisition.

In the UI, open the Source Transaction tab, choose the transaction type, then pick the specific record and line. Repeat to attach additional lines (for example, when an asset’s cost spans multiple bills). Through the API, set source_lines on the fixed asset payload. Each entry takes a type (bill_line, direct_expense_line, or journal_entry_line), an id for the line, and the parent_record_id of the containing transaction. See Create fixed asset for the full schema. You can also create asset records through the API. POST to /public/v2/fixed-assets/ with the same fields. The API returns the fixed_asset_number, which you use for all subsequent operations on the asset. DualEntry supports four depreciation methods. You select the method when you create the asset record or when you configure a depreciation book.

• Straight-line. Spreads the depreciable amount (cost minus salvage value) evenly over the useful life.
• Declining balance. Applies a fixed percentage to the remaining book value each period. You specify the declining-balance rate (for example, 200% for double-declining balance). DualEntry automatically switches to straight-line in the period where straight-line yields a higher charge, unless you disable the switch.
• Sum-of-years-digits. Accelerates depreciation by weighting earlier years more heavily. Each period’s fraction is the remaining useful life divided by the sum of all years’ digits.
• Units-of-production. Bases depreciation on actual usage rather than time. You enter the total estimated units and log units consumed each period. DualEntry calculates depreciation as (units consumed / total units) × depreciable amount.

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Depreciation books and running depreciation

A depreciation book represents a set of depreciation rules applied to an asset. Most organizations maintain at least two books: one for GAAP (book) reporting and one for tax reporting. You manage books at /public/v2/depreciation-books/. Each book has a book_code (for example, GAAP or TAX), a depreciation method, and its own useful life and salvage value overrides. When you run depreciation, you select which book to process. Books are configured on the asset itself rather than from a separate page. Open an asset from Asset Overview and each of its books appears as its own tab, carrying that book’s depreciation method, frequency, convention, start date, recovery period, and schedule. One book is the posting book, and it is the one whose entries reach the general ledger; the others exist for parallel reporting, most often tax. Assets inherit default book settings, but you can override the method or useful life per book on an individual asset when a specific asset requires different treatment. Each book carries a Depreciation Schedule that DualEntry calculates from the method, convention, start date, and life you configured. Open the schedule on the asset to see period-by-period depreciation before anything posts, and export it if you need the detail outside the application. Depreciation reaches the ledger through the posting book. An asset whose books include no posting book produces no journal entries, which is the usual reason an asset depreciates on screen but never appears in the general ledger. The resulting journal entries appear in the journal entry log with a reference back to the asset and book. Period locking applies to depreciation books as it does to the rest of the ledger, so a locked period stops depreciation from posting into it.

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Disposals, retirements, and transfers

When you sell, scrap, or retire an asset, record the disposal in DualEntry to remove the asset from the register and recognize any gain or loss.

1. Open the asset record and choose Dispose.
2. Enter the disposal date and disposal proceeds (zero for a scrapped asset).
3. DualEntry calculates the gain or loss: proceeds minus the asset’s net book value (cost minus accumulated depreciation through the disposal date).
4. Review the proposed journal entry. It debits accumulated depreciation, credits the fixed asset account, and records the gain or loss.
5. Post the entry.

After disposal, the asset’s status changes to Disposed and it no longer appears in future depreciation runs. The asset record remains on the register for historical reporting. If you operate multiple entities in DualEntry, you can transfer an asset from one entity to another. Open the asset record, choose Transfer, and select the destination entity. DualEntry creates a disposal in the source entity and an acquisition in the destination entity, both dated the transfer date. The destination entity inherits the asset’s remaining book value, useful life, and depreciation book settings. Intercompany journal entries are generated automatically; see Multi-Entity Consolidation for how these entries eliminate on consolidation.

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Revaluation and reporting

DualEntry has no separate impairment record. When an asset’s carrying value needs to change, whether you are writing it down for impairment or restating it upward, you record an Asset Revaluation under Accounting → Fixed Assets → Asset Revaluations.

1. Create a revaluation and select the asset.
2. Enter the New Asset Value, which is the carrying amount the asset should hold after the revaluation rather than the size of the adjustment.
3. Set the Revaluation Offset Account and offset amount, which is where the write-down or write-up lands. For an impairment this is normally your impairment or revaluation loss account.
4. Adjust the Accumulated Depreciation Amount if the revaluation resets accumulated depreciation as well as cost.
5. Save the revaluation. Future depreciation calculates on the revalued base.

Because a revaluation states the new value directly, it handles a write-up as naturally as a write-down. A revaluation you no longer want can be archived, which is the closest thing to reversing one. DualEntry provides several standard reports for fixed assets:

• Asset Register. Lists all assets with acquisition cost, accumulated depreciation, net book value, and status. Available in summary and detail views under Fixed Assets → Asset Registers, and also reachable from Report Center.
• Rollforward. Shows the movement in asset cost and accumulated depreciation across a period, which is the schedule auditors usually ask for.
• Depreciation Schedule. Period-by-period depreciation for a book, read from the asset record and exportable from there.
• Asset Disposals and Asset Revaluations. Each keeps its own list of records, filterable by date and company.

Export any report to Excel, PDF, or CSV from the report header. For programmatic access, query assets via the API at /public/v2/fixed-assets/ with filters for status, entity, and date ranges. For related workflows, see Journal Entries and Period Locking.