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Fixed Assets

Register assets, read the depreciation schedule and SARS write-off rates, and post depreciation and disposals manually.

AccountantFinance ManagerSuper AdminLast reviewed 03 Aug 2026

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Data Import

Fixed assets are long-term items your business owns — vehicles, computers, furniture, equipment. Their cost is spread over their useful life through depreciation rather than being expensed at once. The asset register lives at Accounting > Compliance > Fixed Assets and has four tabs: Asset Register, Depreciation Schedule, Disposals and Reports.

Registering an Asset

Click the add button in the page header and complete the Add Asset form:

  1. Asset Name (required) and Category (required) — Property, Vehicles, Computer Equipment, Office Equipment, Furniture, Software or Other.
  2. Description, Location and Department — optional, for tracking where the asset sits and who uses it.
  3. Purchase Date and Purchase Price (ZAR) (both required).
  4. Supplier and Serial Number — optional.
  5. Depr. Method — Straight Line or Reducing Balance.
  6. Useful Life (Yrs) and Residual Value — the expected life in whole years and what the asset should be worth at the end of it.
  7. Used for Travel Operations — a tick box for assets used in the travel business itself.

The form has no account selector: you do not choose the balance sheet or depreciation account when registering an asset.

How Depreciation Is Calculated

For straight line, monthly depreciation is (purchase price − residual value) divided by the useful life in years multiplied by twelve. An asset costing R15 000 with no residual value and a three-year life depreciates by R416.67 a month. For reducing balance, the monthly charge is the current book value multiplied by the annual rate, divided by twelve. Depreciation is rounded to two decimals and never takes the book value below the residual value.

The Depreciation Schedule tab shows this month's charge, an annual estimate and a per-asset table with method, rate, opening value, monthly charge, closing value and the SARS rate for the category.

Depreciation is posted one month at a time, by you. The figures on the Depreciation Schedule tab are estimates from current balances. To post, an Accountant Admin or Super Admin chooses the month under Post Monthly Depreciation (last month by default) and selects Run Depreciation: the asset balances, the schedules and one journal (debit Depreciation Expense 6800, credit Accumulated Depreciation 1600) are saved together. The journal is dated the last day of the month it charges. Running a month again charges nothing twice, and a month whose charge was voided is corrected by running it again. The year-to-date tile is this month's estimate multiplied by the months of the calendar year so far, not what has been posted.

Disposals

The Disposals tab lists assets already flagged as disposed or written off, with their book value at disposal, the proceeds and the resulting gain or loss. There is currently no disposal action in the interface, so a disposal has to be handled as a manual journal entry: remove the asset cost and its accumulated depreciation, bring in the proceeds and post the difference as a gain or loss.

Reports and SARS Write-Off Periods

The Reports tab summarises count, cost and book value by category, and lists the standard SARS write-off rates per SARS Interpretation Note 47 — property 5%, vehicles 25%, computer equipment 33.33%, office equipment and furniture 16.67%, software 50%, other 20%. Use these as your default useful-life guidance when registering assets.

Tip: Record the serial number and location for every asset. It turns the register into a usable insurance and stock-take list, not just a depreciation calculator.