DEPRDECLSW

The DEPRDECLSW function calculates the depreciation expenses for a series of assets. DEPRDECLSW uses a variation on the declining balance method, as described in "Calculation Method Used by DEPRDECLSW", to depreciate assets over the specified lifetime of the assets. DEPRDECLSW begins by using the declining balance method, then switches over to the straight-line method at one of the following points in the time series:

The first period for which straight-line depreciation over the remaining periods exceeds the declining balance depreciation for those periods (the default)
The period specified by the switch-period argument

This variation on the declining-balance method is the most commonly used form of declining-balance depreciation methods.

Return Value

DECIMAL, dimensioned by all the dimensions of start-exp.

Syntax

DEPRDECLSW(start-exp end-exp n [STATUS]

[decline-factor [{FULL|HALF| portion-exp} [switch-period [time-dimension]]]])

Parameters

start-exp

A numeric expression that contains the starting values of the assets. The start-exp expression must be dimensioned by a time dimension. For each value of the time dimension, start-exp contains the initial value of the assets acquired during that time period. In addition to a time dimension, start-exp can also have non-time dimensions.

end-exp

A numeric expression that contains the ending value of the assets. The end-exp expression must be dimensioned by the same dimensions as start-exp. For each value of the time dimension, end-exp contains the final (or salvage) value for the assets acquired during that time period. Each value of start-exp must have a corresponding end-exp value. For example, when the assets acquired in 1990 have a salvage value of $200, then the value of end-exp for 1990 is $200.

n

An INTEGER expression that contains the number of periods for the depreciation life of the assets. The n expression can have any of the non-time dimensions of start-exp, but it cannot have a time dimension.

STATUS

Specifies that DEPRDECLSW should use the current status list (that is, only the dimension values currently in status in their current status order) when computing the depreciation expenses. By default DEPRDECLSW uses the default status list.

decline-factor

A numeric expression that gives the declining balance rate to use for calculating the depreciation expenses. The decline-factor expression can have any of the non-time dimensions of start-exp, but it cannot have a time dimension.

A factor of 2 indicates a double declining balance. The default is 2.

FULL

(Default) Specifies that the full amount of a time period's depreciation expense is charged to the time period in which assets were acquired. Charges the full amount to all of the assets in the series. This argument is optional; however, when you include it, you must also include the preceding optional arguments.

HALF

Specifies that half of the full amount of a time period's depreciation expense is charged to the time period in which assets were acquired. Charges half the full amount to all of the assets in the series. You might want to use HALF when assets are acquired during the second half of the time period. When you specify HALF as the portion of depreciation expenses to charge to the period of acquisition, the HALF factor is applied to each period. Half of each period's full depreciation is rolled to the next period, and the final half period of depreciation takes place in the time period n + 1. This argument is optional; however, when you include it, you must also include the preceding optional arguments.

portion-exp

When you want to charge the full amount for some assets and half the amount for other assets, you can supply a portion-exp expression that is dimensioned by any of the non-time dimensions of start-exp. The portion-exp expression must be a text expression with values of FULL or HALF. This argument is optional; however, when you include it, you must also include the preceding optional arguments.

switch-period

An INTEGER expression that indicates the time period in which the calculation should switch to the straight-line method. This argument is optional; however, when you include it, you must also include the preceding optional arguments.

A common accounting practice is to switch to a straight-line method in the first period for which straight-line depreciation over the remaining periods exceeds the declining-balance depreciation. You can specify this behavior by not specifying the switch-period argument.

When the switch-period argument is not specified or has a value of NA or 0, the calculation switches from the declining method to the straight-line method in the first period for which straight-line depreciation over the remaining periods exceeds the declining-balance depreciation. In this case, the DEPRDECLSW function behaves just like the DEPRDECL function.

When you want to specify different switch periods for different assets, you can supply an expression that is dimensioned by any of the non-time dimensions of start-exp.

time-dimension

The name of the time dimension by which start-exp and end-exp are dimensioned. When the time dimension has a type of DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, or YEAR, the time-dimension argument is optional. When you include this argument, you must also include the preceding optional arguments

Usage Notes

Calculation Method Used by DEPRDECLSW

DEPRDECLSW calculates the depreciation expense for a given time period as the sum of that period's depreciation expenses for all assets in the series that are not yet fully depreciated. The first period of depreciation for an asset is the period in which it was acquired.

For each time period in which DEPRDECLSW is calculating depreciation according to the declining balance method, it calculates the depreciation expense by multiplying the current value of an asset by the decline-factor and dividing the result by the number of periods in the lifetime of the asset. When DEPRDECLSW switches to the straight-line method, it subtracts the depreciation expense (from previous periods) from the value of an asset and divides the resulting amount by the number of periods left in the lifetime of the asset. However, when the depreciation expense calculated for a specific time period would result in an asset's current value going below its ending value, then the depreciation expense is adjusted. In this instance, the depreciation expense is calculated as the current value minus the ending value.

The straight-line method as used by DEPRDECLSW differs from the traditional straight-line method as used by DEPRSL. Unlike other methods of depreciation, the declining-balance methods of depreciation ignore the salvage value for an asset until the period in which the calculated depreciation would exceed the remaining depreciable value. Even DEPRDECLSW ignores the salvage value in this manner after it switches from the declining-balance method to the straight-line method. For example, suppose the beginning value for an asset is 16,000 and the salvage value is 1,000 over 5 periods. The total depreciation through the periods using declining balance method (here the first three) is 11,544. The straight-line calculations for the remaining periods would be based on the overall remaining value of 16,000 minus 11,544 (3,456), rather than the overall value minus the salvage value (2,456). Thus the depreciation for the last two periods would be 1,728; but for the very last period the salvage value is subtracted out and thus is 728.

Unexpected-Balance Method

When the ending value specified for an asset is relatively high, then an asset might be totally depreciated in fewer periods than were specified for the lifetime of the depreciation. In this instance, when you want the depreciation expense applied across the specified lifetime of the depreciation, you can lower the decline-factor.

DEPRDECLSW and NA Values

When a value of start-exp is NA and the corresponding value of end-exp is not NA, an error occurs. Similarly, when a value of end-exp is NA and the corresponding value of start-exp is not NA, an error occurs.

DEPRDECLSW is affected by the NASKIP option when a value of start-exp and the corresponding value of end-exp are both NA. When NASKIP is YES (the default), DEPRDECLSW treats the values as zeros when calculating the depreciation expenses. When NASKIP is NO, DEPRDECLSW returns NA for all affected time periods.

Examples

Example 7-68 Calculating Depreciation Expenses for Assets Acquired in a Single Period

This example shows how to use DEPRDECLSW to calculate depreciation expenses for assets acquired in a single time period. It also shows the behavior of DEPRDECLSW when you do not specify a switch period.

The following statements create two variables called assets and salvage.

DEFINE assets DECIMAL <year>
DEFINE salvage DECIMAL <year>

Suppose you assign the following values to the variables assets and salvage.

YEAR        ASSETS     SALVAGE
------- ---------- -----------
Yr95      1,000.00      100.00
Yr96          0.00        0.00
Yr97          0.00        0.00
Yr98          0.00        0.00
Yr99          0.00        0.00
Yr00          0.00        0.00

The variable assets contains the starting value of the assets acquired in 1995. salvage contains the ending value of the assets acquired in 1995.

The following statement reports the values of assets and salvage, and uses DEPRDECLSW to calculate depreciation expenses for each year, specifying an asset lifetime of 5 years, and a decline factor of 2 (double declining balance). The statement does not specify a switch-period argument. Because of this, DEPRDECLSW uses the default for switch-period, which is to switch from the declining balance method of depreciation in the first period for which straight-line depreciation over the remaining periods exceeds the declining-balance depreciation.

REPORT assets salvage W 12 HEADING 'Depreciation' -
    DEPRDECLSW (assets salvage 5 2 FULL)

This statement produces the following report.

YEAR        ASSETS     SALVAGE   Depreciation
------- ---------- ----------- --------------
Yr95      1,000.00      100.00      400.00
Yr96          0.00        0.00      240.00
Yr97          0.00        0.00      144.00
Yr98          0.00        0.00      108.00
Yr99          0.00        0.00        8.00
Yr00          0.00        0.00        0.00

Example 7-69 Specifying the Switch Period

Alternatively, you can specify the period in which the switch occurs.

To switch from the declining balance method to the straight-line method of depreciation in the third year (Yr97), specify 3 as the switch period, as shown in the following statement.

REPORT assets salvage W 12 HEADING 'DEPRECIATION' -
    DEPRDECLSW (assets salvage 5 2 FULL 3 year)

This statement produces the following report.

YEAR        ASSETS     SALVAGE   Depreciation
-------- ---------- ----------- --------------
Yr95      1,000.00      100.00      400.00
Yr96          0.00        0.00      240.00
Yr97          0.00        0.00      120.00
Yr98          0.00        0.00      120.00
Yr99          0.00        0.00       20.00
Yr00          0.00        0.00        0.00

Example 7-70 Calculating the Depreciation Expenses for Assets Acquired in Multiple Periods

You can use DEPRDECLSW to calculate the depreciation expenses for a series of assets. Suppose you change the values for the year 1997 in the variables assets and salvage to the values shown in the following report.

YEAR             ASSETS    SALVAGE
-------------- ---------- ----------
Yr95             1,000.00     100.00
Yr96                 0.00       0.00
Yr97               500.00      50.00
Yr98                 0.00       0.00
Yr99                 0.00       0.00
Yr00                 0.00       0.00
Yr01                 0.00       0.00
Yr02                 0.00       0.00

Now assets and salvage contain nonzero values for 1995 and for 1997.

The following statement reports asset and salvage values along with depreciation expenses for the assets. Note that the call to DEPRDECLSW to calculate the depreciation expenses specifies an asset lifetime of 5 periods (in this case, years) and a decline factor of 2 (double-declining balance). The statement does not specify a switch-period argument. Because of this, DEPRDECLSW uses the default for switch-period, which is to switch from the declining balance method of depreciation in the first period for which straight-line depreciation over the remaining periods exceeds the declining-balance depreciation.

REPORT assets salvage W 12 HEADING 'Depreciation'  -
          DEPRDECLSW(assets salvage 5 2 FULL)

This statement produces the following output.

YEAR             ASSETS    SALVAGE   Depreciation
-------------- ---------- ---------- ------------
Yr95             1,000.00     100. 00       400.00
Yr96                 0.00       0.00        240.00
Yr97               500.00      50.00        344.00
Yr98                 0.00       0.00        228.00
Yr99                 0.00       0.00         80.00
Yr00                 0.00       0.00         54.00
Yr01                 0.00       0.00          4.00
Yr02                 0.00       0.00          0.00

Notice that the depreciation expense increases in 1997 due to the assets acquired in that year.