What Is the Unit of Production Method & Formula for Depreciation?

In most depreciation methods, an asset’s estimated useful life is expressed in years. However, in the units-of-activity method (and in the similar units-of-production method), an asset’s estimated useful life is expressed in units of output. In the units-of-activity method, the accounting period’s depreciation expense is not a function of the passage of time. Instead, each retail accounting software accounting period’s depreciation expense is based on the asset’s usage during the accounting period. Therefore, the DDB depreciation calculation for an asset with a 10-year useful life will have a DDB depreciation rate of 20%. In the first accounting year that the asset is used, the 20% will be multiplied times the asset’s cost since there is no accumulated depreciation.

1. The unit of production method depreciation begins when an asset begins to produce units.
2. If 80 items were produced during the first month of the equipment’s use, the depreciation expense for the month will be $320 (80 items X $4).
3. Over the life of the equipment, the maximum total amount of depreciation expense is $10,000.
4. In the U.S. companies are permitted to use straight-line depreciation on their income statements while using accelerated depreciation on their income tax returns.
5. However, the amount of depreciation expense in any year depends on the number of images.
6. For a piece of equipment, units could be how many products the equipment can be expected to produce.

Note that the estimated salvage value of $8,000 was not considered in calculating each year’s depreciation expense. In our example, the depreciation expense will continue until the amount in Accumulated Depreciation reaches a credit balance of $92,000 (cost of $100,000 minus $8,000 of salvage value). The “double” or “200%” means two times straight-line rate of depreciation. For instance, if an asset’s estimated useful life is 10 years, the straight-line rate of depreciation is 10% (100% divided by 10 years) per year. Therefore, the “double” or “200%” will mean a depreciation rate of 20% per year.

What is the units of activity depreciation?

Large and tangible assets such as plants and machinery go through cyclic lives with fluctuating usage. The activity-based depreciation allows businesses to match these higher costs against the usage level of the asset. The activity-based depreciation method of assets takes into account the output of assets.

For a piece of equipment, units could be how many products the equipment can be expected to produce. This method can be contrasted with time-based measures of depreciation such as straight-line or accelerated methods. The “sum-of-the-years’-digits” refers to adding the digits in the years of an asset’s useful life. For example, if an asset has a useful life of 5 years, the sum of the digits 1 through 5 is equal to 15 (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5). Over the life of the equipment, the maximum total amount of depreciation expense is $10,000.

Activity-Based Vs Other Depreciation Methods

Assume that a company acquires a robot that is expected to be useful for performing a simple operation on 100,000 units of product. The robot has a cost of $225,000 and is expected to have a salvage value of $25,000 at the end of the 100,000 operations. Under the units-of-activity method, the company will record $2 of depreciation for every robot operation. (Cost of $225,000 – $25,000 of expected salvage value divided by the expected 100,000 operations.) In an accounting year when 8,000 robot operations occur, the depreciation will be $16,000. In a year when 23,000 operations occur, the depreciation will be $46,000.

In the U.S. companies are permitted to use straight-line depreciation on their income statements while using accelerated depreciation on their income tax returns. You can find more information on depreciation for income tax reporting at In DDB depreciation the asset’s estimated salvage value is initially ignored in the calculations. However, the depreciation will stop when the asset’s book value is equal to the estimated salvage value. In this example, the depreciation will continue until the credit balance in Accumulated Depreciation reaches $10,000 (the equipment’s depreciable cost).

What is the Journal Entry to Record Depreciation?

The double-declining-balance (DDB) method, which is also referred to as the 200%-declining-balance method, is one of the accelerated methods of depreciation. DDB is an accelerated method because more depreciation expense is reported in the early years of an asset’s life and less depreciation expense in the later years. A factor is calculated based on the expected number of units for that asset, rather than the class life of the asset as done for Straight Line and Declining Balance methods of depreciation.

DDB is an Accelerated Method of Depreciation

If 80 items were produced during the first month of the equipment’s use, the depreciation expense for the month will be $320 (80 items X $4). If in the next month only 10 items are produced by the equipment, only $40 (10 items X $4) of depreciation will be reported. The modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) is a standard way to depreciate assets for tax purposes.

Using the actual miles, we multiply by the factor to determine depreciation expense. Net Book Value is calculated by taking the cost of the asset and subtracted the accumulated depreciation. Units of Production Method may be appropriate where there is a high correlation between activity of an asset and its physical wear and tear. Depreciation expense for a given year is calculated by dividing the original cost of the equipment less its salvage value, by the expected number of units the asset should produce given its useful life. Then, multiply that quotient by the number of units (U) used during the current year.

In the following accounting years, the 20% is multiplied times the asset’s book value at the beginning of the accounting year. This differs from other depreciation methods where an asset’s depreciable cost is used. Different from Straight-line depreciation, asset useful life will express as the expected units, and the expense charged to the income statement will depend on the number of units produce within the period. This depreciation method will rely on the actual usage of assets so it will be more accurate than other methods.

This is due to the fact that output levels can vary significantly from year to year, making it difficult to create an accurate estimate. Activity-Based Depreciation expense is suitable for the assets which produce countable output. It is very popular for the plant and machinery in manufacturing as they are easily linked with production. Suppose a company Green Star purchases a small food processing machine for $ 130,000. The Machine comes with an estimated output of 1 million units over the useful life. However, when it comes to taxable income and the related income tax payments, it is a different story.

It is really hard to estimate, as we need to make assumptions over another assumption. Units of Activity or Units of Production depreciation method is calculated using units of use for an asset. Those units may be based on mileage, hours, or output specific to that asset. We can calculate the depreciation cost on the actual https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/billing-account/ results of unit production. At the end of 10 years, the contra asset account Accumulated Depreciation will have a credit balance of $110,000. When this is combined with the debit balance of $115,000 in the asset account Fixtures, the book value of the fixtures will be $5,000 (which is equal to the estimated salvage value).