Manage your fixed assets and their depreciation

A vehicle, a machine or a computer is used for several years: it does not become an expense on the day you buy it, it loses value over time. The fixed asset register calculates this loss of value, the depreciation, and prepares its entries.

Before you start

• The purchase itself is entered as an expense, on the asset account (for example 1530 Vehicles). The register plans and books the depreciation, then the asset’s disposal.
• You need the right to manage the books to add an asset or book entries.

The register

Open Accounting › Fixed assets. The four figures at the top sum up your assets in use: Purchase value, Already depreciated, Current value and To book, the depreciation of ended periods that is not yet in the journal.

• The list opens on the assets In use. The Status filter also shows the assets Sold or Scrapped; Views offers Sold or scrapped and Acquired this year.
• Search for an asset by its name, inventory number or account. More filters filters by acquisition date or purchase value.
• The Next entry column shows the date and amount of the next depreciation, or N to book.

Add an asset

1. Click New asset (1).

2. Enter the Designation and, if you have one, the Inventory no.

3. Choose the Category. To Bill suggests the depreciation rate accepted by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) for that category, and the balance sheet account.

4. Enter the Purchase date and the Purchase price excl. VAT (CHF). The Residual value (CHF) is what stays on the balance sheet at the end, often 0.

5. Choose How to depreciate: Straight-line, the same amount every year, or Declining balance, a percentage of the remaining value.

6. Check the Annual rate (%) and the duration, then choose how often to Book: once a year, every quarter or every month.

7. The Depreciation plan, at the bottom, shows the depreciation for each financial year. Click Save.

   

Method	How it calculates	FTA rate
Declining balance	The rate, on the value remaining at the start of the financial year: a lot at first, less afterwards.	The rate in the notice, for example 40% for a vehicle or IT equipment, 25% for furniture.
Straight-line	The rate, on the purchase price: the same amount every year.	Half the declining-balance rate, for example 20%.

The first financial year is depreciated pro rata for the months of use, the month of purchase included. A rate higher than the FTA’s is possible; To Bill warns you that the excess may be added back by the tax authorities.

Accounts and takeover

The Accounts and takeover section sets the accounts: Indirect (recommended) keeps the purchase price visible and accumulates the wear on a value adjustment account (for example 1539); Direct reduces the asset account. For an asset taken over from previous books, tick Already depreciated before To Bill and enter from when To Bill continues and what has already been depreciated.

Book depreciation

1. In the register, click Book depreciation (2).

2. Choose Up to: Today, or the Closing date of your financial year.

3. Click Book. To Bill posts one entry per asset and per period ended by that date, never creating a duplicate.

   

Each entry debits account 6800 Depreciation and credits the asset’s value adjustment account, on the period’s end date. Remember this before closing: the year-end closing does not book depreciation for you. See Close the financial year.

A future date

The Closing shortcut books all the periods up to the end of the financial year in one go, even if that end is still to come. Use it when you close, not during the year.

An asset’s record

Click an asset to open its record: its figures, the share already depreciated and the Depreciation plan, financial year by financial year. Each period shows Booked with its entry number, To book or Planned.

• Book (1) books the depreciation of this asset only.
• Edit: once a depreciation has been booked, only the name, the inventory number and the notes can still be changed. To change the plan, first reverse its entries in the journal.
• Delete (the bin) only appears for an asset with no entry at all.

Sell or dispose of an asset

1. On the record, click Sell or dispose (2).

2. Choose Sold, or Scrapped for an asset lost, thrown away or given away.

3. Enter the Disposal date and, for a sale, the Sale price excl. VAT (CHF).

4. Check the VAT on the sale (%): 8.1% if the asset was used for a taxable activity. At 0%, To Bill asks why: Activity without VAT, Exported or Already abroad.

5. Choose the account the sale is Received on: by default your main bank account. For a sale on credit, choose the accounts receivable account; you will record the payment on the record when the buyer pays.

6. Read the entry proposed, then click Book the disposal.

   

To Bill first books the depreciation up to the month of disposal, then clears the asset and its value adjustment. The difference between the price and the remaining value is a Gain on disposal or a Loss on disposal. The asset’s status changes to Sold or Scrapped.

If your company is registered for VAT, the sale appears in the period’s VAT return, like any sale.

Attach the sale document

The record of a sold asset shows Sale document missing until you have attached proof of the sale. The register flags it too: 1 sale without a document.

Click Attach the sale contract (1) and choose the contract or the receipt signed by the buyer, as a PDF or a photo. The card becomes Sale contract attached. The sale entry is not changed: the document is linked to it. A new version is added with Attach a new version; the earlier ones are kept.

Legal basis

• An asset is recognised as such if it is used for more than twelve months: Art. 960d CO. It is valued at most at its acquisition cost; its loss of value through use and age is recorded by depreciation, according to generally accepted commercial principles: Art. 960a para. 1 and 3 CO.
• Every entry is supported by an accounting voucher: Art. 957a para. 2 no. 2 CO.
• The depreciation rates the FTA accepts for direct federal tax: notice A/1995 “Business enterprises” (FTA PDF, in German: the FTA publishes this notice in German, French and Italian, not in English). With straight-line depreciation, on the purchase price, the rates are halved.
• The sale of a business asset is a supply subject to VAT like any other sale: Art. 18 para. 1 VAT Act.