Help! My monthly depreciation is wrong!
Here are some variations of that issue:

• My depreciation is too high
• The General Ledger (GL) Posting number is wrong
• How to correct the Prior Thru Column (of the Depreciation Expense Report)
• Disposed an asset, depreciation is showing the entire value or no depreciation
• Deleted Last Transaction, now depreciation is showing the entire value of the asset

Let's start off with saying that there is no such thing as monthly depreciation in Sage Fixed Assets. The program is actually flexible enough that you can calculate Depreciation this run for a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or yearly – it all depends on how depreciation is calculated.

So, what is this Depreciation This Run number, anyway?

The User’s Guide defines it as:

“Depreciation this run (DTR) is the amount that was calculated for the period between the next-to-last depreciation calculation (the Prior Thru date) and the last depreciation calculation (the Current Thru date). For example, if you calculated depreciation through 01/2014 and then calculated depreciation through 03/2014, the DTR column includes depreciation for February and March 2014.”

The Depreciation Expense Report includes several dates within it to help determine what the amount in the DTR column represents. There is an 'As of' date at the top of the report page which indicates the current depreciation calculation date. There is a column named 'Prior Thru'. This Prior Thru Date represents the last time depreciation was calculated before the current run. On an added note the GL Posting Report gets its numbers from the DTR column of the Depreciation Expense Report. The Prior Thru column should not be confused with Prior Accum, which is the depreciation at the end of the prior year (and is also the result of Current Accumulated minus Current YTD numbers).

Ideally, if you run depreciation on a monthly basis, the Prior Thru would be the end of the month before (the “as of” date) in order for the DTR to show a monthly number. In the same manner if depreciation is run quarterly then the Prior Thru will be the end of the prior quarter, and so on.

If the Depreciation Expense Report or GL Posting report is run and the calculations are “incorrect” always start with calculating depreciation back to the prior period and then again for the current period.

A period can be a month, quarter, year, and so on.

When calculating depreciation, ensure that only “Update current reporting period” is checked. Having “Force recalculation” checked will reset the Prior Thru back to a Period Close, Beginning Date, or Placed-in service date (this is when Prior Thru is blank) and will produce DTR that is too high. Force recalculation is only used on a number of different occasions.

Now to some examples:

Example #1, if the asset's last depreciation calculation date was December 2014 and then depreciation is run for January 2015, the amount shown in the DTR column will represent one month's (January) depreciation.

Example #2, if the last depreciation calculation date was September 2014 and then depreciation is calculated for January 2015, the Depreciation This Run will reflect four months’ worth of depreciation (Oct 2014 through January 2015).

What if the Prior Thru date is incorrect? How can that be fixed?

Same concept, calculate depreciation back to the previous period (this is done to set the Prior Thru), and then immediately calculate depreciation for the current period.

The same process is followed if the Prior Thru is blank (which usually happens when you “Delete Last Transaction”, or depreciation is calculated backwards to a prior period.

Does this mean that I can calculate depreciation on any period?

Since the Sage Fixed Assets program only stores the most recent depreciation run (Current Thru information), the program allows calculating depreciation for any prior or future period for reporting purposes. Prior to proceeding, always perform a backup (we cannot stress that enough). After that, you just need to know what period you need to report on, and the process is the same – calculate for the prior period (month, quarter, year, etc.) to set the Prior Thru, and then immediately calculate depreciation for the period you need to report on. For more information on calculating depreciation for a past or future period, refer to our previous blog article here http://sagecity.na.sage.com/support_communities/sage_fixed_assets/b/sage_fixed_assets_blog/archive/2014/08/19/running-reports-for-past-or-future-periods.aspx.

Oops, I calculated depreciation for the wrong period/month. How to undo? Technically, there is no "undo" of depreciation, but you can always run depreciation for another period. It is just a matter of the order depreciation is ran.

Same steps – calculate depreciation back to the month prior the month you needed to calculate for, and then calculate depreciation again for the month you needed to report on.            

If and when Depreciation This Run is too high (or too low) or any other questions about reports, always start your troubleshooting with the same steps repeated far too many times above, and more often than not this should correct the problem.