A depreciation schedule template is the year-by-year table for one asset: the opening book value, the depreciation charge for the year, the accumulated depreciation and the closing book value, one row per year of the useful life. It is the working behind a single line of the fixed asset schedule, and it is what an accountant or an auditor asks to see when a book value looks wrong. This page gives the columns, works one asset through by the straight-line and the double-declining-balance methods, and explains where the template stops and the register begins. It is bookkeeping arithmetic; which method your tax return may use is a separate question for your preparer.
The columns a depreciation schedule template needs
Year, from the in-service year to the end of the useful life. Opening book value. Depreciation rate or method. Depreciation charge for the year. Accumulated depreciation at the year end. Closing book value. The closing value of one year is the opening value of the next, and the final closing value is the salvage value. The schedule also names the asset, its cost, its salvage value and its life at the top, because the table is meaningless without them.
Straight-line, worked: a $18,500 asset over five years
Cost $18,500, salvage value $1,500, life five years: the depreciable amount is $17,000 and the charge is $3,400 every year. Year one opens at $18,500 and closes at $15,100; year two closes at $11,700; year three at $8,300; year four at $4,900; year five at the $1,500 salvage value, with $17,000 accumulated. Every row is the same charge, which is why straight-line is the method most small organisations use for their books and the one the fixed asset register worksheet on this site shows first.
Double declining balance, worked: the same asset
The rate is twice the straight-line rate, two fifths of the opening book value a year for a five-year life, and the salvage value is not deducted first. Year one charges $7,400 and closes at $11,100. Year two charges $4,440 and closes at $6,660. Year three charges $2,664 and closes at $3,996. Year four would charge $1,598 and close at $2,398. Year five cannot go below the $1,500 salvage value, so the charge is $898 and the schedule closes at $1,500. The front-loading suits assets that lose most of their value early, such as computers; the arithmetic is on the worksheet.
Where the template stops and the register begins
A template shows one asset in isolation for its whole life, assuming nothing changes. A register holds hundreds of lines, each with a schedule like this one, and records what does change: a transfer, a write-off, a disposal in year three, a life revised after a repair. The register prints the fixed asset schedule for any date by reading each line's table to that date. The template is useful for checking one line; the register is what the organisation keeps.
Questions people ask about depreciation schedule template
Is a depreciation schedule template the same as a fixed asset schedule?
No. The depreciation schedule is one asset year by year; the fixed asset schedule is every asset for one date. The second is built from the first for each line.
Which method should the template use?
The one the books use, consistently by class. Straight-line for most assets, a declining balance where the organisation has chosen to front-load computers or vehicles. The method for the tax return is your preparer's question.
Why does double declining balance not deduct the salvage value?
Because the method applies a rate to the falling book value rather than spreading a fixed amount; the salvage value acts as a floor the book value cannot fall below, which is why the last year's charge is adjusted.
Can I download a depreciation schedule template as a spreadsheet?
The worksheet on this site works one line and its worked example downloads as a CSV. The year-by-year table for every asset is what Depreo Pro keeps and prints.