Short answers to the questions that come up most often once book depreciation is running. Each one links to the article that covers it in full.
Where this is in the app
Dashboard → open the return → Assets tab → open the asset → GAAP Book tab. The return-wide view is the Book depr. tab.
Does setting up a book change my tax numbers?
No. The two calculations share only the asset's cost and, unless you override it, its in-service date. Nothing on the book side touches a tax figure.
Why is my fully depreciated asset showing a balance?
That is its salvage value. Book NBV is cost minus accumulated depreciation, so salvage is not subtracted from it. See Which book number appears where.
What is the difference between Book NBV and Depreciable Basis?
Book NBV is cost minus accumulated. Depreciable Basis is cost minus salvage. They are separate columns and the app never labels either one just "basis".
Can I use declining balance for book?
Yes. The Method dropdown offers Straight-Line, 200% and 150% Declining Balance, Sum-of-Years-Digits, and the MACRS methods. Declining balance switches to straight-line automatically once that recovers more. See Set up a GAAP book on an asset.
Can my book run MACRS?
Yes. Pick MACRS 200% DB, MACRS 150% DB, MACRS Straight-Line, or MACRS ADS with a Half-Year, Mid-Month, or Mid-Quarter convention, and the book computes from the same IRS tables as the tax side. This is for firms that keep one schedule and report the tax numbers as book.
One caveat: the book is an independent copy, not a link. Changing the asset's tax method later does not change its book, so keep the two in step yourself if that is your firm's treatment.
Why is life entered in months rather than years?
So a life can be anything you need. Multiply years by twelve: 60 months is five years, 468 is thirty-nine.
Does a new book start at any particular life?
Yes. Clicking Create GAAP book creates the book straight away with a useful life of 60 months, and it counts on the Book depr. tab and the reports at that life from then on. Set the life before you move on. See Set up a GAAP book on an asset.
Can I set books up in bulk?
Not directly. It is one asset at a time, or in bulk via an import that carries book columns. See Import assets that already carry book columns.
Why do some imported assets have no book?
The file gave no usable book useful life for them. Salvage or accumulated depreciation alone is not enough to build a book from. The asset still imports and carries an advisory.
My imported book lives look far too short. What happened?
The book life column is read as months, so a "Book Period" of 5 lands as 5 months rather than 60. It converts automatically only for recognized vendor formats, or when you accept the derived book-life column the mapping step offers.
The Book depr. tab is where you spot it. A life that divides by twelve shows as years, and one that does not shows in months, so the bad rows read "5 mo" among the "5 yr" ones.
How do I carry accumulated depreciation across?
Enter it with its as-of date and tick "Prior depreciation imported". Your figure is then used as the starting balance instead of a derived one. See Bring accumulated book depreciation across from another system.
What happens in the month I dispose of an asset?
The app takes no book depreciation that month. The last accrual month is the one before, pairing with the full month taken at in-service.
Why does the Book depr. tab show fewer assets than the Assets tab?
It lists only assets that have a GAAP book. The difference is your list of assets still to set up.
Why is the reconciliation showing a huge difference?
Check whether the asset has a book at all. Assets without one show book depreciation of 0.00 and are greyed, so their whole tax figure reads as a difference.
Where are the accumulated columns on the reconciliation?
Switched off by default. The report opens on Description, PIS Date, Cost, Tax Depr, Book Depr, and Temp Diff. Click Columns at the right of the bar above the table to add Tax Accum, Book Accum, Cum Diff, Tax NBV, and Book NBV.
I entered a salvage value and now the figures are gone
If salvage is higher than the asset's cost, the panel replaces the three figures with "Book depreciation calculation error: Salvage value exceeds original cost." Lower it and save again.
Do book figures drive anything else?
Yes. The journal entries, the disposal entries, and the GL roll-forward all read book figures. None of them substitutes a tax figure for an asset that has no book. A disposal entry that cannot be composed says "No GAAP book data — add a book to this asset to compose its disposal entry", and the GL roll-forward tracks no-book assets separately rather than putting a tax number in the accumulated columns.