COMPUTE/UPDATE DEPRECIATION COMPUTATION DATA

The utility run from this screen should be especially helpful when you are initializing historical data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields in Asset Master records. These fields are especially prone to error due to misinterpretation of the system "rules" for this field and/or because of missing/inadequate historical data.

The relationship of initialization data in the Current Depr Yr, Days/Pds Remaining, and Depr Start Date fields is critical to the accurate calculation of depreciation, as is the data in the Amt Taken Purchase YTD field. For new Asset Master records, the system will automatically compute the values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields, provided you have not entered data in these fields, when depreciation is computed for the first time based on the date in the Depr Start Date field.

Regardless of the Date of Purchase or Fiscal Year basis assigned to any depreciation method, to ensure the accurate calculation of the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining data in this utility, you should set up all FY/Pd data in Costpoint Fixed Assets for the current fiscal year and for two future fiscal years.

If you want the system to calculate data for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields for historical assets, you must also set up all Fiscal Year/Period (FY/Pd) data in Costpoint Fixed Assets for each historical year that corresponds to the Depr Start Date field(s) of the G/L Book Info tab (and Other Books Info subtask, as applicable) on the Manage Asset Master Information screen.

Three screens are available from the Fixed Assets Calendar menu, as follows:

The system uses data from these screens to compute depreciation expense for the current accounting period and for future accounting periods. This screen, the Compute/Update Depreciation Computation Data utility also uses data from these screens to compute values for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields in the Asset Master records. (During the Fixed Assets posting process, however, data on the Configure Posting Settings screen is always validated against Fiscal Year/Period/Subperiod data in Costpoint General Ledger.)

Regardless of the basis for depreciation (Date of Purchase or Fiscal Year) linked with the depreciation methods used at your company, it is imperative that you add data to these screens during initialization before you compute depreciation for the first time and/or run this utility. (This step is required even if you use only Date of Purchase basis depreciation methods in your company.)

To assist you in entering the correct data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields in your Asset Master records, you can use this utility to verify the relationship of the Depr Start Date field to the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields. You can run this utility for any range of asset/item numbers, as well as for one or more books that can be selected individually. The utility produces a report, sorted by asset/item number and book, based on the depreciation start date. The report includes a side-by-side comparison of both the current values displayed in the Asset Master and the values that the system would have computed for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields.

For additional information, please refer to the specific documentation for the Depr Start Date, Current Depr Yr, and Days/Pds Remaining fields for the G/L Book Info tab of the Manage Asset Master Information screen.

The validations and rules by which depreciation is computed are followed in this report. For example, any record for which the Auto Calculate Depreciation check box is not selected for any book and/or for any asset in the G/L Book Info tab and the Other Books Info subtask of the Manage Asset Master Information screen will not be included in the report, just as any such record will be skipped during depreciation calculations.

This utility computes values assuming that the Depr Start Date field is correct. Based on the Depr Start Date value, the system displays computed values for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields.

Although you can print this report for all selected records, you can also print the report for exceptions only, which may make discrepancies easier to identify. After the report has printed, you can activate the option in this utility that applies the system-computed values to your Asset Master records. This process updates the existing data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields by replacing the existing data in these fields with the system-computed values.

If you do not apply the system-computed values, you may need to manually adjust some values in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields and/or, in some cases, the Depr Start Date field, to ensure the accuracy of depreciation calculations.

Because the Update portion of this utility will overwrite your existing data with system-generated data, you should always carefully review and agree with the reported results on a record-by-record basis before performing the Update process.

The Update process is similar to posting routines in that the report must first be printed before you can proceed with the Update process. Never run the Update process as a matter of routine unless you are in agreement with the system data field changes that will take place for each Asset Master record.

This utility has been designed as a simple diagnostic tool. It has not been designed to perform as a sophisticated system program. Under normal circumstances, fully depreciated records will also print on this report, but you can exclude them by selecting the Exclude Fully Depreciated Assets check box during the compute/update process. You can also create Change History records in the Asset Audit Log, if desired.

You must print the Verify/Update Depr Computation Data report before you can run the Update process. You can print the report for all selected records or for exceptions only. This report provides supporting detail to the Update process and should be retained as part of the system audit trail.

Either version of the report (all records or exceptions only) prints columns for the following data:

Asset Master Record Data

Values Computed by system

Although you must print the Verify/Update Depr Computation Data report before you can run the Update process, you can also print the report without updating to provide an opportunity to review the data first. If you exit from the selection screen or change your selections, however, you must print the report again before you can run the Update process.

This utility is a companion to the existing Compute/Update Amount Taken Purchase Year-To-Date utility. Please refer to the specific documentation for this utility for more specific information.

You can run this optional utility to verify and/or update your data after you initialize your historical records and reconcile the Detail Asset Account and Accumulated Depreciation Account values with your General Ledger and before you compute depreciation for the first time.

After initialization, you may want to run this utility each period as part of your company's standard procedures, before you compute depreciation, to confirm that your period additions have been initialized correctly.

This report provides supporting detail to the Update process and should be retained as part of the system audit trail.

Location

Identification

Use the fields in this block to create a new parameter ID or to retrieve a previously saved parameter ID. A parameter ID represents a set of screen selection parameters. After you have saved a parameter ID and its related parameters, you can retrieve them using Query.

You can use the retrieved parameters to produce reports and run processes more efficiently and with greater consistency. The saved parameters are also useful and necessary when you want to run the process as part of a batch job. Many users save a unique set of parameters for each different way they run a report or process. When you select a previously saved parameter ID or parameter description, the associated saved screen selection parameters automatically display as selection defaults. The page setup and print options are also included in the saved parameter ID if there are any. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.

Parameter ID

Enter, or click to select, a parameter ID of up to 15 alphanumeric characters. Choose characters for your parameter ID that help identify the type of selections you made in the screen, such as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.

When you save your record, all the selections made in the screen are stored with the parameter ID. Later, you can retrieve the parameter using Query.

You can use the parameter to run the process more efficiently because you can select the parameter ID with its previously defined screen selections. After the default selections display in the screen, you can override the defaults.

Description

Enter, or click to select, a parameter description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.

Selection Ranges

Asset/Item Numbers

Use the fields in this group box to select asset/item numbers for the report. If you enter a specific asset number, you must also enter a corresponding item number before you can run the report and/or update process. Selecting the Exceptions Only option in the Verify/Update Data For group box may modify which records from the selected asset/item number range are included in the report.

Because the following fields use standard Lookups to the ASSET table, make your selections carefully so that you will retrieve/update the expected data.

Option

Select the range option from the drop-down list. The available options are:

Start

Enter, or click to select, the beginning asset/item number for the range.

If you select All or From Beginning in the Option field, these fields will be inactive.

End

Enter, or click to select, the ending asset/item number for the range.

If you select All, One, or To End in the Option field, these fields will be inactive.

Options

Verify/Update Data For

In this group box, you can choose to verify/update data for exception records only (records in which current Asset Master data is different from the system-computed data) or for all selected records.

Exceptions Only

Select this option to only verify/update data for records that are exceptions. For this selection, the report only prints/updates data in which the current values displayed in the Asset Master data are different from the values that the system would automatically have computed for the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields (based on the Depr Start Date field).

All Selected Records

Select this option to print and potentially update data for all records within the selected asset/item number range. Both exceptions and non-exceptions will print on the report.

Select Books

Use the check boxes in this group box to select each book for which you want to the system to verify/update depreciation computation data.

G/L Book

Select this check box to verify/update depreciation computation data for the G/L Book.

Book 2 (or your label)

Select this check box to verify/update depreciation computation data for this book.

If you have not established this book on the Configure Fixed Assets Settings screen, this check box and its label will be grayed out.

Book 3  to Book 10 (or your labels)

Please refer to the documentation for the Book 2 (or your label) field.

Additional Options

Use this group box to control whether or not you want the system to exclude fully-depreciated assets from the verify/update process.

Exclude Fully Depreciated Assets

Select this check box to maximize the efficiency of the process and the readability of the report.

If you select this check box, the computation and update processes will not include fully depreciated assets. The system considers a book fully depreciated when the values in the Current Depr Yr and the Days/Pds Remaining fields are both 0.

Under normal circumstances, when an asset is fully depreciated and the last period of life for the asset is closed, the values in the Current Depr Yr and the Days/Pds Remaining fields automatically change to 0 and display as such in the Asset Master record (G/L Book Info tab and Other Books Info subtask of the Manage Asset Master Information screen).

If you clear this check box, fully depreciated records will also print as exceptions in the report. If you have logically named your depreciation method codes, however, it should be easy to match your codes against depreciation start dates to eliminate these records from the valid exceptions.

If you clear this check box so that fully depreciated records will print as exceptions on the report, you may not want to apply all the system-computed values to your Asset Master records. In this event, you can use the system-generated report to guide you in making manual adjustments to values in the Current Depr Yr, Days/Pds Remaining, and/or, in some cases, the Depr Start Date fields. If you have carefully reviewed the report and agree with the system-computed changes for assets that are fully depreciated in addition to those that are not fully depreciated, there will be no harm in also updating the system-computed changes for fully depreciated assets.

Verify/Update Depr Computation Data

Click drop-down on the toolbar and select Verify/Update Depr Computation Data to print the report data.

Process Update Asset Master Records

Click the on the toolbar and select Process Asset Master Records to update data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields in the Asset Master record in the G/L Book Info tab and the Other Books Info subtask of the Manage Asset Master Information screen, as well as in the corresponding columns on the Manage Asset General Ledger Book Information and the Manage Asset Other Books Information screens with the system-computed values displayed in the report. This icon selection will only be available if you have already printed the report.

Once you have printed the report and selected the button on the toolbar, the Update portion of this utility activates and applies the system-computed values to the Asset Master records. This process specifically updates the existing data in the Current Depr Yr and Days/Pds Remaining fields by replacing the existing Asset Master data with system-computed values.

Select this option with caution. Because the Update portion of this utility will overwrite your existing Asset Master record data with system-generated data, you should always carefully review and agree with the reported results on a record-by-record basis before performing the Update process.

If you have selected the Current Depr Yr and/or the Days/Pds Remaining fields in the Asset Audit Log column of the Configure Asset/Template Change Settings screen and selected to Write Change Details to Audit Log for Asset Master Records on that same screen, then changes applied using this utility will be captured in the Asset Audit Log and will be available for review or printing in the View Asset Change History screen and the Print Asset/Template Change History Report.  The Asset Audit Log selections should be made as part of your Fixed Assets initialization process, but in this particular case can be made any time prior to processing the update in this screen.