Peter Gratton, Ph.D., is a New Orleans-based editor and professor with over 20 years of experience in investing, economics, and public policy. Peter began covering markets at Multex (Reuters) and has ...

Depreciation expense can be a big portion of a company’s total expense. And since expenses decrease income, it affects the overall value of a company. Understanding what it is and the methods can help ...

Amortization and depreciation are accounting methods used to allocate the cost of assets over their useful lives. Amortization applies to intangible assets like patents and trademarks. Depreciation ...

A business wants to deduct expenses against revenues in the most effective fashion possible. But being effective doesn't mean that you always deduct an expense immediately. Depreciation allocates the ...

When your company purchases a fixed asset with an estimated lifetime exceeding one year, you cannot deduct the entire cost in the year of purchase. Rather, you must depreciate the asset by expensing a ...

Depreciation is the recovery of the cost of a physical asset, like property or equipment, over multiple years. It allows companies to spread out the cost of some expenses, reduce taxable income and ...

Assets like equipment, vehicles and furniture lose value as they age. Parts wear out and pieces break, eventually requiring repair or replacement. Depreciation helps companies account for the ...

Accumulated depreciation is the sum of an asset’s depreciation expense. It’s calculated from the start of its use to a specific date. It’s also a contra-asset account. That means it decreases the ...

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Lea Uradu, J.D., is a Maryland state registered tax preparer, state-certified notary public, ...

The Treasury has issued final regulations (Treasury Decision 9314) explaining how to depreciate modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) property that has been acquired in a section 1031 like ...