🏷️ Depreciation Calculator
Enter an asset's cost, salvage value, and useful life, choose straight-line or declining-balance, and get a full year-by-year schedule of the depreciation expense and remaining book value.
📉 Your Asset, Depreciated
What is a Depreciation Calculator?
A depreciation calculator spreads the cost of a long-lived asset across the years it serves the business, instead of expensing it all at once. From the purchase cost, the value you expect to recover at the end, and the useful life, it builds a schedule showing each year's depreciation expense and the asset's remaining book value — using either the even straight-line method or an accelerated declining-balance method.
Use it to plan expenses, estimate book value for the balance sheet, or compare how different methods affect your numbers. The results are general informational estimates, not professional tax, accounting, or financial advice — tax depreciation rules differ, so consult a CPA or financial advisor.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between straight-line and declining-balance depreciation?
Straight-line spreads the depreciable base (cost minus salvage value) evenly across the asset's useful life, so the expense is the same every year. Declining-balance is accelerated: it applies a constant rate to the asset's falling book value, so the expense is largest early on and tapers off — useful for assets that lose most of their value up front. Double-declining balance simply uses a rate of 2 ÷ useful life.
How is the depreciable base calculated?
The depreciable base is the asset's cost minus its estimated salvage (residual) value — the part of the asset's value you actually expect to use up. Straight-line spreads exactly this amount across the life; declining-balance keeps depreciating the book value but never takes it below the salvage value, so the total written off still respects that floor.
Is this the same as tax depreciation?
Not necessarily. This tool models the classic book methods used in financial accounting. Tax rules — such as MACRS in the United States or Section 179 expensing — use prescribed recovery periods and conventions that can differ significantly from book depreciation, and they change over time. Always check the current rules for your jurisdiction.
Which method should I use?
It depends on how the asset is actually used and on accounting and tax considerations. Straight-line is simple and common for assets that wear evenly; accelerated methods better match assets that are most productive when new. These are general informational estimates, not professional tax, accounting, or financial advice — consult a CPA or financial advisor.