Fixed Asset Depreciation Rate Calculator & Life Lookup Tool

Calculate your fixed asset depreciation rate/effective life

This unique AssetAccountant™ search tool allows you to search fixed assets to determine the appropriate fixed asset depreciation rate, effective life and much more.

It is designed using the relevant Australian Tax Office (ATO) and New Zealand IRD references so you can rely on the calculations.

AssetAccountant™’s fixed asset depreciation calculator is quick and easy to use

It’s a quick and easy fixed asset depreciation lookup/calculation.

Just enter an asset description eg ‘motor vehicle’ and you will be given a range of options to choose from as per this example:

Basic machinery (ATO)

Categories: Motor vehicle manufacturing plant (not listed elsewhere)
Industry: Motor vehicle manufacturing
Effective Life: 10 years
Rate (Diminishing Value): 20.00%
Rate (Prime Cost): 10.00%
Applies from: 1 Jan 2001

ATO Reference

Why is it important to calculate the depreciation of assets?

Most businesses have assets that contribute to its ability to operate.

Think of machinery, buildings, vehicles, furniture, computer hardware AND software.

They all directly or indirectly contribute to a businesses’s revenue.

The definition of depreciation is: An allowance for businesses to allocate the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life or life expectancy.

But it generally does not make good sense to write-off all assets in their first year of use, notwithstanding recent generous legislation.

This opens up a whole other discussion on Tax versus Accounting depreciation. Visit the link for the deep dive on this topic.

But back to the question, why is it important to depreciate fixed assets?

  • Accuracy of financial information and reporting. Depreciation accurately states the incurred expense compared to the revenue contribution it makes. Under or over reporting depreciation can skew the financial position of a business so it is an important piece of compliance.
  • To delineate a tax value of an asset versus the book value. See again the above link if you haven't already.
  • Calculating the current book value of any/all assets net of wear and tear. This is achieved by subtracting the accumulated depreciation from the original purchase cost of the asset.
  • Taking advantage of business tax incentives. Governments often change and amend its rules for tax depreciation.

The calculator below will definitely help you to make sure you are depreciating for tax in the most effective way to lower the company’s annual taxable income thus increasing company tax savings.

Subscribing to AssetAccountant™ software will keep even the most complex fixed asset register accurate and accessible.

AssetAccountant™ – saving you from spreadsheets since 2019

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How to use the fixed assets depreciation calculator

  1. Use quotation marks to locate assets with words that must appear together. Otherwise, the search  will include fixed asset life and depreciation rates results where those words appear anywhere, and in any order.
    Example A: Search on car park signage using the ATO search tool. You will get 3 possible results.
    Example B: Now search on “car park” signage. You now only get one result.

  2. Use the plus (+) or minus (-) signs to refine your search. A plus sign indicates your search term or phrase must appear in the search results. A minus sign indicates words that must be absent in the search results.
    Example: If you are searching narrowly for a hand held welder, but not a mig welder, try this term welder -mig +portable and you will be returned with only one result.

Life/Rate Lookup

    This fixed asset depreciation calculator and rate lookup tool forms the basis of the AssetAccountant™ tax guide and rulings calculations for Australia and New Zealand.

    AssetAccountant™’s fixed asset depreciation software makes calculating depreciation of assets easy

    Fixed asset depreciation for businesses and firms should not be done on spreadsheets except for the most basic of applications (E.g. only a few assets being depreciated for tax only).

    AssetAccountant™ fixed asset depreciation software provides you with automated workflows & localised tax and accounting rules.

    Eliminate manual spreadsheets forever!

    Try this powerful, cloud-based software for free today.

    Why our clients love AssetAccountant™

    Up until 2021 we had been using Excel spreadsheets to calculate and manage fixed asset tax depreciation for the group's registers, which was not sustainable. To address this and to implement automation of the process, we researched solutions offered in the market, including by the large accounting firms and specialist software providers. After thoroughly vetting AssetAccountant as a vendor, testing the software and its calculations, and reviewing the company’s data security, we committed to implement the software for all tax fixed asset registers for the Whitehaven Coal group. Since implementation we have been very satisfied with the decision. The software is intuitive, robust, easy to use, and accurate. AssetAccountant’s commitment to ongoing development of the product's features has also been impressive.
    Greg Singh
    Greg SinghGroup Tax Manager, Whitehaven Coal Limited
    After being introduced to AssetAccountant in 2020 by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, I carefully reviewed the software's functionality to suit our complex fixed asset depreciation and lease accounting requirements. For example Buildsafe acquires, disposes and writes off thousands of assets including partial transactions. We also need flexible reporting and detailed journals. I have found the software to be enterprise standard, robust and precise. The software is a very elegant blend of beauty and smarts. The ongoing support, product development and assistance has been responsive and reliable. An amazing team and product. Thank you.
    Sharon Hughes
    Sharon HughesCFO, Buildsafe
    AssetAccountant (AA) has produced the ultimate Fixed Asset Management System. AA integrates seamlessly with Xero and produces reports that satisfies any auditor with easy to trace transactions that are verifiable. The real hidden gem is their Lease Accounting facility which takes all the heartache and time consuming issues out of AASB16.
    Fantastic product - has literally saved me hours of work.
    John Smith
    John SmithCFO & Company Secretary, Dateline Resources Ltd
    We love using AssetAccountant. The time savings for every client’s depreciation entries means not only is profit increased on every job, but our additional team capacity can be directed to more valuable work. There is literally no risk in the investment of AssetAccountant fixed asset depreciation software.
    Photo of Suzanne Walker- Clear Path Accounting Team Member
    Suzanne Walker Director, Clear Path Accounting
    Big Boy Jocks On....
    Ever wanted the big company fixed asset system without all the clunkiness and overthinking on the part of the software developers (I'm looking at you Thomson Reuters...)? Well then you need AssetAccountant. It provides just the right mix of complex depreciation calculations and beautiful user interface. It's a system designed by accountants and executed perfectly by developers. The integration is seamless with Xero (you can sign into AA with Xero credentials which is awesome if you are already running Xero on your browser) and journaling synchs are very flexible between the two applications. Then there is the price. I challenge you to find a more robust fixed asset system at these price points. Well done AssetAccountant.
    You get me.
    I now have my big boy jocks back on for fixed asset management....and they fit!
    Chris J Emerson CPA
    Chris J Emerson CPAEmerson Consulting Services LLC
    From the initial contact with the team at AssetAccountant to the final implementation, we have received prompt and positive responses. The effective support service and continuous improvement makes AssetAccountant a product highly recommended to a wide variety of industries as well as to accounting firms.
    Marco Abril - TPM Builders Team Member
    Marco AbrilFinancial Controller, TPM Builders
    It’s amazing we calculated this year’s depreciation in just a matter of minutes!
    Image of a Beca Group Team Member
    Veenith SinghGroup Finance Operations Manager, Beca Group
    Our organisation was looking for a standalone cloud-based fixed asset register that could calculate depreciation for multiple companies. AssetAccountant was a perfect solution that removed the need for tracking assets and calculating depreciation through spreadsheets. The team at AssetAccountant were very responsive throughout the implementation process. The system is straightforward to use and has various options for both asset tracking and depreciation to make it suitable for most organisations.
    Con Kirgianis
    Con KirgianisFinance Manager, KWP!
    Now that AssetAccountant is in our app store, our customers and sales team have a cloud option for fixed asset depreciation which has a strong integration with QuickBooks Online.
    Matt Pisarski - Intuit Team Member
    Matt PisarskiGlobal Business Development, Intuit Quickbooks
    After years of “paying a premium” for our Asset Management, we decided to go in-house. More than impressed with the ease and capability of the software, and the staff were a pleasure to deal with from go to whoa. Fabulous to have monthly reporting, as opposed to annual as well.
    Kim Stanton
    Kim StantonChief Financial Officer, Hardy Aviation
    I have seen a lot of niche products come and go but the one constant has been the lack of a decent fixed asset register. I was recently invited to see the latest incarnation and it did not disappoint. I am confident that both accounting firms and corporate clients will be lining up to use it – I have already been extolling the solutions’ virtues.
    Alan Fitzgerald - Practice Connections Team Member
    Alan FitzGeraldFounder, Practice Connections
    We initially came across AssetAccountant when researching potential replacements for the Xero asset register. AssetAccountant sparked our interest due to its ability to easily and transparently forecast depreciation, transfer assets between sites, revalue assets and asset part disposals. The AA team have been extremely helpful which has provided us with confidence in the product, we look forward to exploring additional features to find more efficiencies in our processes.
    Elspeth Mildren
    Elspeth MildrenAccountant, Lawson Grains
    We highly recommend the use of AssetAccountant. Our clients benefit immensely from accurate asset register records, making spreadsheet accounting (and typical errors) a thing of the past. We can easily maintain tax and accounting registers providing our clients with accurate and meaningful information. AssetAccountant is a breeze to use, and we love that it integrates with QBO and Xero.
    Leanne Spiteri
    Leanne SpiteriFounder, Virtue Private Advisory
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