Chapter 15. Recording Your Assets

What You'll Do

Reconcile to Your Bank Statement

Record Automatic Teller Withdrawals

Track Petty Cash

Receive Credit Card Payments

Record Deposits As Assets

Purchase Fixed Assets

Enter Depreciation

Sell Fixed Assets

Anything your company owns that has value is considered to be an asset. Assets can be used in the production of income and they are available to pay your company's debts. They include cash, investments, receivables, inventory, prepaid amounts, and fixed assets.

Fixed assets are belongings of yours that are expected to last for more than a year and that are used for the production of goods and services including such items as buildings, furniture, farm animals, vehicles, machinery, land, and mineral resources. The management of fixed assets in your QuickBooks company file includes recording the cost of the assets and monitoring their use and deterioration through regular deductions of depreciation.

Use a depreciation expense account to record the current expense associated with the use of your fixed assets. Rather than taking an expense deduction for the entire cost of the asset in the year in which it is acquired, accounting and tax rules require us to spread the cost of the asset over the asset's useful life, associating the cost of the asset with the income it produces over a period of years.