Fixed Assets

Track equipment, vehicles, furniture and other capital assets over their useful life under Accounting → Fixed Assets. The list shows Total cost, Current value and Value used up across all assets.

Add an asset

Click Add item (or New Asset in the top bar) and fill in:

Adding an asset does not post its purchase. The purchase is already in your books from the bill or bank line that paid for it, coded to the asset account.

Depreciation Methods

Straight Line

Equal depreciation each month:

Monthly = (Purchase Price - Residual Value) / Useful Life Months

Declining Balance

Double-declining rate applied to net book value:

Monthly Rate = (2 / Useful Life Months)
Monthly = Net Book Value × Monthly Rate

Recording depreciation

Anchor posts depreciation automatically once a month: on the first night of each month (about 04:00 South African time) it records one period for every active asset that has not been written down that month yet, dated that day. Assets depreciated by units of production need a usage reading, so record those yourself. A month that falls in a locked period is skipped.

You can also record it yourself, for example to see it before the night run:

• One asset: open it and click Record value drop. This posts the asset's depreciation for the period.
• All assets: on Accounting → Fixed Assets, click Record value drops. This posts depreciation for every active asset that has not already been written down this month, so running it twice in a month, or after the night run, does nothing extra.

Each posting is a journal entry: debit the depreciation expense account, credit accumulated depreciation. The asset's Current value (net book value) drops by the same amount.

Recorded the wrong period? Open the asset and choose More actions → Undo last value drop. It reverses the most recent depreciation entry.

Revaluation and impairment

Under More actions on an asset:

• Record a higher value: the asset is worth more than its current value (revaluation).
• Write down to a lower value: the asset is worth less (impairment).

Enter the new value, the date and, optionally, a note explaining why. The new value must be higher (or lower) than the current value.

Assets still being built

An asset created as work in progress (for example a building under construction) is not depreciated yet. Add the money spent on it as it is incurred, then click Bring into use when it is ready. Depreciation starts from that date.

Asset categories

Accounting → Asset Categories holds reusable templates: name, how it loses value (straight line, declining balance, units of production or sum of years' digits), when depreciation starts counting, lifespan, leftover value, yearly rate and the asset, expense, accumulated depreciation and work-in-progress accounts. Turn off Available for new assets to hide a template without deleting it.

The New Fixed Asset form uses straight line or declining balance and does not pick a category yet. Categories are applied when assets are created through the API or MCP (categoryId).

Opening balances and conversion

When loading a register after a conversion journal has already posted cost and accumulated depreciation to the chart:

• Create assets with purchase price, accumulated depreciation, and net book value that match the year-end register (do not post a second set of opening journals unless the GL is empty).
• Run monthly depreciation only for periods after the register as-at date so you do not double-count historical dep already in the conversion.
• Capital purchases after conversion that hit the cost account via bank categorization (amount excluding VAT) should be added to the register promptly so Run Depreciation includes them.

Matching the general ledger

Periodically compare total purchase price by cost account on the register to the cumulative balance on that chart account (e.g. Computer Equipment @ Cost). Differences usually mean a bank categorization to the cost account was never registered as a fixed asset.

Fixed asset register report

For year-end packs and advisor export, open Reports → Fixed asset register. Choose an as at date (and optionally a depreciation period), then download PDF or Excel. See Financial Reports.

Disposal

When you sell or scrap an asset, open it and choose More actions → Record as sold or written off. Enter the Amount you got for it (0 if nothing) and the date. Anchor first records any depreciation still due up to the disposal date (not again for a month already depreciated), then removes the asset (its cost, plus any revaluation and less any write-down) and its accumulated depreciation from your books, and posts the difference between the amount received and the net book value as a gain or loss on disposal. An asset still being built must be capitalised first, and a disposal cannot be dated in a locked period.

Delete removes an asset from your records entirely. Use it only for an asset entered by mistake; use disposal for one you actually sold.

Ask ARIA

Ask "Add a laptop bought 1 October for R18 000, 3 years, Computer equipment", "Depreciate FA-0003" or "We sold FA-0003 for R80 000". ARIA shows a card first; a disposal shows the net book value and the gain or loss and asks you to check it. See ARIA.

Asset Status

• Active — In use, being depreciated
• Fully Depreciated — Net book value equals residual value
• Disposed — Asset sold or scrapped

MCP tools

list_fixed_assets, create_fixed_asset, run_asset_depreciation, rollback_asset_depreciation, revalue_fixed_asset, impair_fixed_asset, capitalize_cwip_asset, dispose_fixed_asset, and list_asset_categories / create_asset_category / update_asset_category / delete_asset_category.