How does the straight-line depreciation method work?

Straight-line spreads the depreciable base evenly across the useful life: expense per year = (cost − salvage) / life. A machine that costs 10,000 with a 1,000 salvage value over 9 years depreciates (10000 − 1000) / 9 = 1,000 every single year. After year one the book value is 9,000, after year nine it is exactly the 1,000 salvage. It is the simplest method and the one most small businesses default to.

What is the double declining balance method and how is the first year computed?

Double declining balance is an accelerated method that doubles the straight-line rate and applies it to the remaining book value, so it writes off more in the early years. The rate is 2 / life, and the first-year expense is 2 / life × cost. For a 10,000 asset over 5 years the rate is 0.4, so year one takes 0.4 × 10000 = 4,000. Each later year applies 40% to the shrinking book value, and the final year is trued up so the book value lands exactly on salvage.

How does the sum-of-years-digits method calculate each year?

Sum-of-years-digits is accelerated but smoother than declining balance. Add the year numbers: for a 5-year life that is 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15. Year one uses 5/15 of the base, year two 4/15, down to 1/15 in the last year. With a 9,000 base, year one is 5/15 × 9000 = 3,000 and year five is 1/15 × 9000 = 600. It front-loads expense like declining balance but every year is a fixed fraction of the same base.

What is salvage value and how does it affect the schedule?

Salvage value (also called residual or scrap value) is what the asset is expected to be worth at the end of its useful life. Depreciation only ever writes down the asset to this floor, never below it. The depreciable base is cost minus salvage, so a 10,000 asset with a 2,000 salvage depreciates only 8,000 total. Raise the salvage value and every method depreciates less per year; set it to zero and the asset writes down to nothing.

What is book value and why does it end exactly at salvage?

Book value is cost minus accumulated depreciation: what the asset is carried at on the balance sheet after each year of write-down. It starts at the full cost and drops by each year's depreciation. Because total depreciation over the life equals cost minus salvage, the book value in the final year lands exactly on the salvage value. This calculator trues up the last year of every method so rounding never leaves the book value a few cents off.

Which depreciation method writes off value the fastest?

Double declining balance is usually the most aggressive in the very first year because it applies double the straight-line rate to the full cost. Sum-of-years-digits is also accelerated but spreads the front-loading more gently. Straight-line is the slowest and most even. For a 10,000 asset over 5 years, year one is 4,000 under declining balance, 3,000 under sum-of-years-digits and 2,000 under straight-line. Total depreciation is identical across all three; only the timing differs.

Build a depreciation schedule for a tax return

You bought a 25,000 delivery van and need the depreciation line for this year's filing. Enter the cost, a salvage estimate of 3,000 and a 5-year life, switch between straight-line and declining balance, and read the exact expense for each year. The accumulated column tells you how much has already been written off, and the book value column gives the carrying amount you report on the balance sheet — no spreadsheet formulas to debug.

Compare methods before choosing one

A new business asset can often be depreciated several ways, and the choice changes how much expense lands in each year. Put the same cost, salvage and life into all three methods one after another and watch year one swing from 2,000 under straight-line to 4,000 under double declining balance. Seeing the full schedules side by side makes the timing trade-off concrete before you commit on the books.

Forecast book value for a financing or sale decision

A lender or a buyer wants to know what a machine is carried at three years in. Enter the original cost, the salvage value and the life, pick the method your books use, and read the year-three book value straight off the table. That carrying amount is the starting point for a gain-or-loss calculation if you sell, or for the collateral value a lender will accept.

Teach or check a depreciation homework problem

Accounting students grind through straight-line, declining balance and sum-of-years-digits by hand and need a way to check the answer. Enter the textbook figures, flip through the three methods, and confirm the year-by-year expense, the accumulated total and the closing book value. The schedule shows the working, not just a single number, so it doubles as a study aid for seeing where the formulas diverge.

Depreciation Calculator — Schedule, Book Value, Three Methods

Straight-line, double declining balance and sum-of-years-digits — full year-by-year depreciation schedule with book value — browser-only

Runs locally
Category Calculator
Best for Getting a realistic range before a purchase, plan, workout, or schedule decision.

Enter the asset cost, salvage value and useful life, then pick a method. Straight-line spreads (cost − salvage) evenly across the years; double declining balance and sum-of-years-digits front-load the expense. The table shows each year’s depreciation, the running accumulated total and the remaining book value, which always ends exactly at the salvage value.

Asset costOriginal purchase valueSalvage valueResidual value at end of lifeUseful life

years

Whole years

Method

Depreciation schedule

Depreciable base

9,000.00

Annual (straight-line)

1,800.00

Depreciation schedule — Straight-Line
Year	Depreciation	Accumulated	Book value
1	1,800.00	1,800.00	8,200.00
2	1,800.00	3,600.00	6,400.00
3	1,800.00	5,400.00	4,600.00
4	1,800.00	7,200.00	2,800.00
5	1,800.00	9,000.00	1,000.00
Total	9,000.00

What this tool does

Free depreciation calculator that builds a full year-by-year schedule for any fixed asset using three textbook methods: straight-line, double declining balance and sum-of-years-digits. Enter the asset cost (original value), the salvage value (what it is worth at the end) and the useful life in years, pick a method, and read each year's depreciation expense, the running accumulated depreciation and the remaining book value. The straight-line method spreads the depreciable base evenly; the two accelerated methods front-load the expense for tax timing or to match an asset that loses value fast early on. Every schedule ends with the book value exactly on the salvage value and the total depreciation equal to cost minus salvage, so the numbers reconcile. Copy the table in one click or share a URL that reopens the same inputs. Everything runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.

Tool details

Input: Numbers; The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
Output: Live result + Copy; The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
Privacy: Browser-side processing; The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
Save / share: Shareable URL state; Key settings are encoded in the URL so another person can reopen the same setup.
Performance budget: Initial JS <= 10 KB; No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
Best fit: Calculator · Finance; Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.

How to use

1. Input

Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
2. Process

Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
3. Copy / Download

Copy the result or download to disk in one click.

How Depreciation Calculator fits into your work

Use it for fast estimates, comparisons, and planning numbers before you make the final call.

Calculation jobs

Getting a realistic range before a purchase, plan, workout, or schedule decision.
Comparing scenarios by changing one input at a time.
Turning rough assumptions into a number you can discuss.

Calculation checks

Double-check units, dates, rates, and rounding assumptions.
Treat health, finance, tax, and legal outputs as planning aids, not professional advice.
Save the inputs that produced an important result so you can reproduce it later.

Good next steps

These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.

Real-world use cases

Build a depreciation schedule for a tax return
You bought a 25,000 delivery van and need the depreciation line for this year's filing. Enter the cost, a salvage estimate of 3,000 and a 5-year life, switch between straight-line and declining balance, and read the exact expense for each year. The accumulated column tells you how much has already been written off, and the book value column gives the carrying amount you report on the balance sheet — no spreadsheet formulas to debug.
Compare methods before choosing one
A new business asset can often be depreciated several ways, and the choice changes how much expense lands in each year. Put the same cost, salvage and life into all three methods one after another and watch year one swing from 2,000 under straight-line to 4,000 under double declining balance. Seeing the full schedules side by side makes the timing trade-off concrete before you commit on the books.
Forecast book value for a financing or sale decision
A lender or a buyer wants to know what a machine is carried at three years in. Enter the original cost, the salvage value and the life, pick the method your books use, and read the year-three book value straight off the table. That carrying amount is the starting point for a gain-or-loss calculation if you sell, or for the collateral value a lender will accept.
Teach or check a depreciation homework problem
Accounting students grind through straight-line, declining balance and sum-of-years-digits by hand and need a way to check the answer. Enter the textbook figures, flip through the three methods, and confirm the year-by-year expense, the accumulated total and the closing book value. The schedule shows the working, not just a single number, so it doubles as a study aid for seeing where the formulas diverge.

Common pitfalls

Depreciating below salvage value. Every method floors the asset at salvage and stops; the book value can never drop under it. If you keep applying a declining-balance rate past that point you over-depreciate. This tool clamps each year at salvage and trues up the final year so the schedule ends exactly on the residual value.
Forgetting that total depreciation equals cost minus salvage, not the full cost. The depreciable base is cost − salvage. A 10,000 asset with a 2,000 salvage only ever depreciates 8,000 across its life, no matter which method you choose. Treating the full 10,000 as the base inflates every year's expense.
Entering a fractional or zero useful life. Depreciation here is annual, so a life of 4.5 or 0 produces a meaningless schedule. Use whole years and at least one year; the tool floors the life to an integer and shows an empty result for a zero or negative life rather than dividing by zero.

Privacy

Every number — the straight-line, declining-balance and sum-of-years-digits formulas, the accumulated totals and the book values — is computed by plain JavaScript in your browser tab. No asset cost, salvage figure or schedule ever leaves the page, and nothing is logged. The one caveat: the shareable URL encodes the cost, salvage, life and method in the query string, so a link pasted into chat records those figures in the recipient server's access log. For a confidential asset valuation, use the copy button and paste the text rather than sharing the URL.

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Depreciation Calculator — Schedule, Book Value, Three Methods

What this tool does

Tool details

How to use

1. Input

2. Process

3. Copy / Download

How Depreciation Calculator fits into your work

Calculation jobs

Calculation checks

Good next steps

Real-world use cases

Build a depreciation schedule for a tax return

Compare methods before choosing one

Forecast book value for a financing or sale decision

Teach or check a depreciation homework problem

Common pitfalls

Privacy

FAQ

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