# Record a first asset

Record a meeting room screen bought for 3,600.00, let a template fill its method and accounts, confirm it and read the depreciation schedule that spreads its cost over three years.

An asset is something the firm buys to keep for several years: a laptop, a screen for the meeting room, the reception furniture. **Assets & Deferrals** records it once and spreads its cost over its useful life, one depreciation entry per period, so that each month carries its share instead of the month of the purchase carrying it all. This walk-through records a meeting room screen of 3,600.00, kept three years.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- You need the **Administrator** access right on **Accounting**. It includes **Show Full Accounting Features**, which **Confirm** and the other actions of an asset need. The read-only access right opens the list and the records without changing them.
- The templates carry the accounts the entries use. Check them once in [Fixed asset settings](fixed-asset-settings) before relying on them.

## Step 1: open the list {#list}

Open **Accounting/Accounting/Assets & Liabilities/Assets & Deferrals**. The list holds every asset and deferral of the company with its **Acquisition Date**, **Original Value**, **Method**, **Number of Periods**, **Book Value** and **State**. Click **New**.

![Every asset and deferral of the company with its book value; New starts a record.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11220-b1cee013/fixed-assets-first-asset-assets_list-en.png)

## Step 2: name it and pick a template {#template}

Type the **Asset Name**, here *Asset demo: Meeting room screen*. Under the name, the field without a label that reads **Select a template to auto-fill settings...** takes a template: type *Computers* and choose **Computers & Phones** (three years). The template fills the **Type** (**Asset**), the **Category**, the whole **Depreciation Method** tab and the accounts. The template field shows only while the record is a draft.

![The template fills the type, the category, the method and the accounts.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11224-08777f65/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_template-en.png)

## Step 3: the value and the date {#value}

Enter the **Original Value**, the price paid: 3,600.00. **Book Value** and **Depreciable Value** follow it at once. **Acquisition Date** is today; change it to the day the screen was bought or put to use, because the first entry falls at the end of that month.

**Salvage Value** is what you expect to get back at the end, from a resale for instance. It is never depreciated: with 600.00 of salvage, only 3,000.00 would be spread. **Salvage (%)** shows the same amount as a share of the original value.

![The price paid for the asset; the book value starts from it.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11228-61c05fdb/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_value-en.png)

## Step 4: the method {#method}

The **Depreciation Method** tab says how the cost is spread:

- **Method**: **Straight Line** gives equal amounts; the two declining methods charge more at the start (see [How assets and deferrals work](how-assets-and-deferrals-work)).
- **Duration**: the number of entries, 36 here, and **Every**: how often one falls, **Monthly**. Thirty-six monthly entries make three years.
- **Entry Posting**: with **Auto-post at Date**, each entry is posted by itself once its date has come; with **Keep as Draft**, the entries wait for someone to post them. [Fixed asset automations](fixed-assets-automations) explains the daily job behind it.
- **Pro-rata**: this template uses **Constant Periods**: the first entry counts only the days from the acquisition date to the end of its month, and the part it leaves out is added to the last entry.

![Duration counts the entries and Every sets how often one is posted.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11232-91805ed9/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_duration-en.png)

## Step 5: the accounts {#accounts}

Open the **Accounting** tab. **Asset** is the account where the cost stays, **Depreciation** the account where the depreciation adds up, and **Expense** the account each entry charges. Every entry debits **Expense** and credits **Depreciation**; the **Asset** account keeps the original value until the asset leaves the books. **Journal** is the journal the entries are posted in, **Depreciation** here.

![The three accounts of the depreciation entries and the journal they are posted in.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11236-a89d1eaf/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_accounts-en.png)

## Step 6: save and confirm {#confirm}

Click the cloud icon **Save manually**, then open the **Actions** menu and choose **Confirm**. **Confirm** refuses while an account or the journal is empty and names the missing fields; it also checks that the **Asset** account is an asset account.

Once confirmed, the asset is **Running**. The **Entries** counter at the top shows how many entries are posted out of all those written, 0 / 36 for now; on a phone, it sits behind the lightning button at the top of the form.

![Confirmed, the asset is running and its schedule is written.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11240-0fea2cdb/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_running-en.png)

## Step 7: read the schedule {#schedule}

Open the **Schedule** tab. It lists the 36 entries, the latest date first: the **Date**, always the last day of a month, the **Reference** *Depreciation: Asset demo: Meeting room screen*, the **Amount** and what remains to depreciate after it (**Remaining**). With the acquisition in the middle of a month, the first entry is the smaller one, each following month carries 100.00 and the last one carries the rest. The entries stay drafts until their date.

![One entry per month with its amount and what remains to depreciate after it.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11244-01340a66/fixed-assets-first-asset-asset_schedule-en.png)

## Step 8: back in the list {#back}

Open **Accounting/Accounting/Assets & Liabilities/Assets & Deferrals** again. The screen is **Running** with a **Book Value** of 3,600.00: the book value goes down only when an entry is posted.

![The new asset in the list, running, with its full value still on the books.](https://jaah.app/web/image/11248-0373f8e5/fixed-assets-first-asset-assets_list_new-en.png)

## What comes next {#next}

At the end of each month the entry of that month is posted and the book value drops by its amount. To stop or change the plan, see [Pause or change an asset](pause-or-change-an-asset); when the screen is sold or thrown away, [Sell or dispose of an asset](sell-or-dispose-of-an-asset). An asset can also come straight from a vendor bill: [Create assets from a vendor bill](create-assets-from-a-vendor-bill). Costs paid in advance, such as a year of rent, follow the same path as a deferral: [Spread a prepaid cost or income](spread-a-prepaid-cost-or-income).

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/fixed-assets/first-asset
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- Version: Fixed assets 19.0.1.5.0
- Verified: 2026-10-23