Modified Half-Year Averaging Convention Calculation in Fixed Assets

Issue

I have an asset that is setup to use the Modified Half-Year Averaging convention with a Place in Service Date in the first half of the year. According to the manual, assets that have a Place in Service Date in the first half of the year will begin depreciating on the first day of the year. But when I look at the financial detail or the FA Depreciation Detail report, I notice that the asset starts depreciating on the Place in Service Date and not on the first day of the year. Is this convention calculating correctly?

Resolution

The Modified Half-Year Averaging convention will not physically change the Place in Service Date of the asset to the first day of the year, but will begin calculating the depreciation as of the first day of the year. In order to see what date the asset actually begins depreciating on you can look at the Depr. Begin Date field in the Expand Install Date window. This window can be found by going under Cards | Fixed Assets | Book. Once the Asset ID and Book ID have been selected in the Asset Book window click on the expansion button next to the Place in Service Date field. The system will use the day after the Depreciation Begin Date to determine how much depreciation to take in the first "prorated" year. Essentially, the assets with a Place in Service Date in the first half of the year will take a full year of depreciation, but will book the depreciation amounts beginning on the Place in Service Date.

This article was TechKnowledge Document ID: 19624