Asset depreciation is the value of an asset after the first year of purchase. Assets can depreciate at different rates and are thus claimed differently on your tax forms. It's important to understand the process of calculating asset depreciation for proper claiming.

Gather asset depreciation information for the specific areas of assets you own. This could include office furniture, fleet vehicles, equipment and much more. Create an asset depreciation list of items to calculate and claim. To find asset depreciation tools, you should:

1. Find asset depreciation calculators online for instant estimates based on the information you input about the specific asset.

2. Use asset depreciation software for easy tabulations kept up to date for easy access.

3. Hire capital asset depreciation professionals to handle your asset depreciation calculations and values.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use asset depreciation calculators for instant information

Find an asset depreciation calculator to use online or download to your desktop for instant value calculations. These usually require some information from you about the specific asset, such as age, original purchase price and frequency of use.

I recommend: Check out the list of quality depreciation shareware you can download from Shareware Connection. Each offers slightly different calculations, but the desktop access after installation makes for quick and easy asset depreciation calculations at your fingertips. Farsight offers an easy-to-use depreciation calculator and full instructions with examples to help you input the right values.

Buy asset depreciation software for daily inputs and constant access to values

Use asset depreciation software to create minimal asset depreciation calculations at tax time. With this software, you can input your asset information and update the information as needed. This creates a database of information that is easily accessible. Extra features often include reports and maintenance schedules.

I recommend: Asset Manage software allows you to keep inventory of all your assets, create maintenance schedules, check items in and out of the inventory and calculate accurate depreciation values, plus much more. CCH offers an asset and depreciation software enabling you to handle all asset tasks with ease. Tax forms are programmed into the program to make the process even simpler for you.

Find an asset depreciation professional to calculation your depreciation for you

Hire an asset depreciation professional for the most accurate, stress-free way to calculator your asset depreciation. Many tax and accounting professionals have experience with asset depreciation and often know most of the formulas in their head for quick figuring and assistance.

I recommend: Bettisworth & Associates offers services to help your business figure asset depreciation, and other business processes analysis services, for the accurate values. Pacific Rental Solutions provides both services and specialized software to track depreciation for rental items in your inventory.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Always double check your numbers before making them final in your tax documents to avoid mistakes and the threat of an audit.