Fixed Assets and depreciation
PeakBooks tracks capital assets — vehicles, equipment, buildings, software — and posts straight-line depreciation to your books on demand. Bonus depreciation under IRC §168(k) is built in, and there's a clean way to bring prior depreciation in when you're migrating from another system.
What counts as a fixed asset
Anything you own with a useful life beyond a year that you'd capitalize rather than expense in the month of purchase: vehicles, machinery, computers, office furniture, buildings, leasehold improvements, software licenses. PeakBooks ships with eight categories: Equipment, Furniture, Vehicles, Buildings, Land, Software, Leasehold Improvements, Other.
Land is special — it doesn't depreciate. Set its method to None when adding the asset and PeakBooks won't generate any depreciation entries for it.
Add an asset
- Click Fixed Assets in the sidebar, then + New Asset.
- Fill in: Name, Category, Purchase date, Cost basis, optional Salvage value, and Useful life (months). Common lives are pre-filled in the helper text — Vehicles 60, Furniture 84, Computers 36, Buildings 468 (39 years).
- Pick a Method. Straight-line is the default and covers ~95% of cases. Land or other non-depreciating items use None.
- Optionally set a Bonus depreciation % — see below.
- Click Add asset. PeakBooks creates the asset and immediately opens its depreciation schedule.
Post depreciation
PeakBooks doesn't auto-post depreciation. You decide when it hits the books. This is deliberate — it lets you reconcile your monthly close before the JEs land.
- From the Fixed Assets list, click 📅 next to the asset (or use the schedule that opens after adding a new asset).
- The schedule shows every month from purchase through end of useful life. Already-posted months are tinted green with a ✓.
- At the bottom: Post depreciation through [date]. Defaults to the current month-end.
- Click 📤 Post depreciation. PeakBooks posts one journal entry per unposted month up to the date you picked.
What lands on the books
Each posted month creates a paired journal entry:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Depreciation Expense (P&L) | $xxx.xx | — |
| Accumulated Depreciation (contra-asset on BS) | — | $xxx.xx |
The expense increases P&L depreciation. Accumulated Depreciation accumulates on the Balance Sheet as a negative under Assets — so Net Book Value = Cost − Accumulated.
Bonus depreciation (§168(k))
Bonus depreciation lets you immediately expense a percentage of cost in the first period, on top of regular straight-line on the remaining base. The federal phase-down:
- 2023 — 80% · 2024 — 60% · 2025 — 40% · 2026 — 20% · 2027+ — 0%
On the New Asset form, set Bonus depreciation % to your applicable rate (quick-select chips at 0/20/40/60/80/100 are right there). The live preview shows two lines:
- Bonus depreciation (40%): $4,000 — posted once, in the purchase month.
- Monthly depreciation: $100 — straight-line on the reduced base (cost − bonus − salvage), spread over the full useful life.
Worked example for $10,000 equipment, 60-month life, 40% bonus, $0 salvage:
| Period | Amount | Accumulated | NBV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase month (bonus) | $4,000.00 | $4,000.00 | $6,000.00 |
| Month 1 (straight-line) | $100.00 | $4,100.00 | $5,900.00 |
| Month 12 | $100.00 | $5,200.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Month 60 | $100.00 | $10,000.00 | $0.00 |
On the schedule modal, the bonus row is the first row with an amber ⚡ BONUS tag so it's clear it isn't a regular monthly entry. On the assets list, the row gets a ⚡ Bonus 40% chip next to the name.
Migrating from another system — prior depreciation
When you're onboarding an established company to PeakBooks, the asset already has accumulated depreciation on the old books. You don't want PeakBooks to re-post months that have already been recorded.
On the New Asset form, expand the Prior depreciation (migrating from another system) section and fill in:
- Amount already booked — total depreciation recorded on the old system for this asset
- Through date — last day of the most recent month already covered by that amount
What happens on save:
- The asset's accumulated depreciation starts at the prior amount
- Future Post depreciation picks up from the next unposted month forward — never duplicating the prior period
- The schedule modal shows a grey 🪙 PRIOR row at the top so it's visible where the seed amount came from
- The asset's row on the list gets a 🪙 Prior $X chip
- Bonus depreciation is treated as already included in the prior amount — no separate bonus entry will post
Create opening balance JE (checkbox)
By default, PeakBooks also posts a single seed journal entry dated as of the through-date so your Balance Sheet immediately shows the Accumulated Depreciation contra-asset at the right amount:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Balance Equity (equity) | $X | — |
| Accumulated Depreciation (contra-asset) | — | $X |
This uses QuickBooks's standard Opening Balance Equity convention — a holding account you reclassify to Retained Earnings during your year-end close. PeakBooks auto-creates the category the first time you use it.
If you'd rather enter opening balances another way (a manual journal entry, a single combined opening JE, or via the Edit Opening Balance flow on bank accounts), uncheck the box. The asset's prior accum still tracks correctly for the schedule and future posts — only the BS-side seed JE is skipped.
The badges on the assets list
Each asset row can carry up to three chips next to its name:
- ⚡ Bonus 40% (amber) — bonus depreciation is set on this asset
- 🪙 Prior $X (gray) — prior depreciation seeded from a migration
- Fully Depreciated (blue) or Disposed (gray) — status when accumulated reaches the depreciable base or the asset is sold
Plan limits
The number of assets you can track depends on your subscription:
- Starter — 1 fixed asset
- Standard — 7 fixed assets
- Pro — unlimited
Disposed assets don't count toward the cap — once an asset is sold and marked disposed, the slot frees up. The "Active Assets" tile shows your current usage (e.g., "Standard plan · 3 of 7 used"), and the + New Asset button greys out when you hit your limit.
For accountants viewing client books
Everything on this page applies when you're viewing a client's books too. Assets, depreciation entries, posted JEs, and auto-created categories (Depreciation Expense, Accumulated Depreciation, Opening Balance Equity) all land on the client's books — not on yours. The plan limit also gates on the client's subscription tier, so an accountant on Pro viewing a Starter client is still limited to 1 asset for that client.