Fixed Assets Group - Fixed assets

The category an asset belongs to (Vehicles, Furniture, Plant and Machinery), and the two accounts that depreciation on those assets is posted to.

When to use it

Before you enter your first asset, so there is something to file it under.
When a new class of asset arrives that should be depreciated at its own rate or reported on its own line.

Before you start

Both accounts must already exist in your chart of accounts: a Depreciation Expense account and an Accumulated Depreciation account. You pick them here; you cannot create them here.

Where to find it

Setup > Fixed Assets Setup > Fixed Assets Group.

The fields on this screen

Field (on screen)	What to enter	Required
Group Name	Name of the asset group. Its depreciation rate and depreciation accounts apply to every asset in it.	No
Group Description	Optional note on what belongs in this group. It helps whoever files a new asset pick the right one.	No
Depreciation Expense Ledger	Debited when depreciation is posted for assets in this group.	Yes
Accumulated Depreciation Ledger	Credited when depreciation is posted for assets in this group.	Yes

How it works

Every asset picks a group on the Fixed Assets master. That is what ties the asset to a rate and to a pair of accounts.
The depreciation rates are set per group: one rate row per depreciation set, group and date window.
When a Depreciation Charge is posted, each line is booked to its own group's accounts. The Depreciation Expense account is debited and the Accumulated Depreciation account is credited.

A group with either account missing stops the posting. The check runs before anything is posted and names the groups that still need an account, so nothing half-posts. This is the most common reason a depreciation run refuses to post.

Changing the accounts changes where the next posting goes. Journals already posted are not moved, and no figure already in your books changes. If you switch a group's expense account mid-year, the year's depreciation ends up split across two accounts, which is usually not what you wanted.

Tips and common mistakes

Set both accounts when you create the group, not later. A group created by hand with the accounts left blank looks normal in the list, and fails only at posting time.
Do not reuse one group for assets on different rates. The rate is per group, so two rates means two groups.

Fixed Assets (the assets), Depreciation (rates per set and group), Depreciation Set, Depreciation Charge.