Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment - and Depreciation

When it comes to determining depreciation for Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E), there are many considerations that exist for accountants and business owners.

Defining Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment

FF&E refers to expenses for business items that are not affixed to the building where that business operates. Real world examples of depreciable assets includes chairs, desks, phones, tables, cabinets, etc., which are used to perform business-related tasks, directly or indirectly. These types of items are associated with long-term use generally more than 12 months, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Understanding How It Works

When it comes to accounting for the expense of the item, it can be depreciated equally and discreetly over its useful life. According to the IRS' General Depreciation System (GDS), these office items such as safes, desks and files, are expected to have a seven-year life.

While there are different approaches to calculate depreciation, a common way to do so is through straight-line depreciation. This method is used by many organizations, including The Federal Reserve, and it works by starting with how much the item cost to acquire or its adjusted basis. From there, the item's cost is reduced by the salvage value, or the asset's value after its useful life. The resulting figure is divided by the number of months of the asset's useful life. Once the asset has exhausted this amount of time, it remains on the books as its salvage value until it's sold or removed from service.

Using the straight-line method, a company might find the monthly depreciation charge for a truck purchase like this. The company purchases a new truck for $40,000; assuming a 60-month useful life allowable by the IRS and a 20 percent salvage value, the formula would be as follows:

1. $40,000 – (20 percent x $40,000) / 60 months
2. $40,000 – ($8,000) / 60 months
3. $32,000 / 60 = $533.33 per month for monthly depreciation

Special Considerations

In addition to tangible property, some intangible property also can be depreciated under the right circumstances. Examples the IRS cites of this primarily intellectual property includes copyrights, patents and software. Conditions for depreciation of this type of intangible property include that it must be owned by the business owner, used within the business or for profit-related activities, have a useful life and can be used by the business for more than a year.

The IRS gives an example of an individual buying a patent for $5,100. Using the straight-line method, the IRS permits this type of non-section 197 intangible property to be depreciated under certain conditions. The owner then must reduce any salvage value from the non-section 197 intangible property's adjusted basis and depreciate it over the patent's useful life, prorating terms less than a year, if applicable.  

Eligible Intangible Property Example

Assume the individual bought a patent in May to be used starting June 1 of the same year. The patent was bought for $5,100, has a 17-year useful life and won't have any salvage value.

The first year of depreciation must be prorated for six months, since it will be used from June to December of the first year. Taking these circumstances and rules from the IRS, the first year's depreciation available is $150. Each subsequent year, the 16 remaining will be $300 each.

While there are many intricacies for depreciation, understanding how it applies to each business’ operations will help give a fair assessment of an equipment’s value.

Sources

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p946.pdf

These articles are intended to provide general resources for the tax and accounting needs of small businesses and individuals. Service2Client LLC is the author, but is not engaged in rendering specific legal, accounting, financial or professional advice. Service2Client LLC makes no representation that the recommendations of Service2Client LLC will achieve any result. The NSAD has not reviewed any of the Service2Client LLC content. Readers are encouraged to contact their CPA regarding the topics in these articles.

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