When companies invest in assets, they expect those assets to last a certain number of years. Over time, they’re depreciated based on their remaining serviceable life and any potential saleable value ...

The straight-line method depreciates an asset on the assumption that the asset will lose the same amount of value for the duration of its service life. The straight-line method requires you to ...

Straight-line depreciation involves reporting the same amount of depreciation expense each year. (If you were to draw the graph of the expense over time, it would form a straight horizontal line, ...

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 ...

While a company's financial reports - the income statement, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and the statement of owners' equity - represent the company's financial health and progress, they ...

Accelerated depreciation allows businesses to write off the cost of an asset more quickly than the traditional straight-line method. This can provide asset owners with potentially valuable tax ...

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