On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 11:39 AM, David A. Bandel<[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 08:33, Chris Travers<[email protected]> wrote: >> Attached is a rough draft of a fixed asset module's schema for >> LedgerSMB. This is designed to support as many depreciation models as >> possible in the future though straight-line will be the only one which >> is immediately available. My general approach is as follows: >> > > Chris, > > Looks pretty good for a start. I would recommend as a minimum in the > asset_item table a purchase_date column (as a point of reference for > performing the depreciation).
Ok. Added. > > I would think it would also would be advisable to consider the > double-declining-balance method of depreciation as (at least when I > had a company in the US) the most used depreciation scheme for tax > purposes in the states (can't talk to other countries' depreciation > methods). The structure allows us to plug in methods as necessary. In fact all that is necessary is to write a stored proc to do the depreciation and insert info to the depreciation method table. > > You might also want to consider a warranty_class for items with > warranties/guarantees as I find this has few convenient places to be > stuck. This warranty_class would probably have to xref to another > table as a one-to-many relationship as some items have multiple > warranties on them (computers, for example, have separate warranties > for hard disks, motherboards, power supplies, fans, etc., although > bought as one item). Let's keep this an open feature request for future versions. > > Or perhaps warranties and the like need to be handled somewhere else, > but where, I'm not sure. > > Also not sure how future purchases (additional memory/disks for > example) or maintenance/part replacement/additions (as in a car or a > building addition) would be handled. Personally, I'd handle them as > separate asset_items, but need a way to xref to the item they were > added to (and access to the original item would need to show these > additions/repairs) assuming they were capitalized and not expensed. > Unfortunately, not everything can be expensed (or we could forget this > para), some things must be capitalized (I no longer remember the > rules, but that's what accountants are for). Depends. Personally, I would handle most such purchases as straight expenses regarding the maintenance of the computer. I.e. if a memory stick dies and you replace it, that is fairly obviously an expense in maintaining the computer system as a whole (the financial worth of the computer remains unchanged except for depreciation). Personally (IANACPA), I would draw the line at what would be salvaged/discarded as a unit. However, I am interested in other viewpoints here. For those out there who do accounting regarding company cars, how do you track a new transmission? As a straight expense? Or as a depreciable asset? Best Wishes. Chris Travers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Ledger-smb-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ledger-smb-devel
