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March 12, 2007

What would cause a decrease in accumulated depreciation?

A decrease in accumulated depreciation will occur when an asset is sold, scrapped, or retired. At that point, the asset’s accumulated depreciation and its cost are removed from the accounts. (The net of these two amounts—known as the book value or carrying value—is then compared to the proceeds to determine if there is a gain or loss on the disposal.)

Some accounting textbooks state that the cost of an expenditure that extends the useful life of an asset should be debited to the accumulated depreciation account instead of the asset account. Such an entry will also reduce the credit balance in the accumulated depreciation account.




Comments

2 Responses to “What would cause a decrease in accumulated depreciation?”

  1. hameed on August 5th, 2009 1:30 am

    can accumulated depreciation effected from the change in the life of the assets after the spending some amount on it

  2. Bill on October 9th, 2009 12:04 pm

    We have a production asset that was fully depreciated. The asset undewent a major overhaul in order to extend its working life. What are the journal entries to record this activity? I understand I cannot increase the original purchase price by the cost of the overhaul. Thanks!

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