Adding a New Fixed Asset

 

Assets are everything the business owns that has a monetary or economic value and brings it a future benefit, such as equipment, vehicles, and furniture, or software, patents, and trademarks. This guide explains how to add a new asset in the system, whether it’s a tangible fixed asset or an intangible asset, and how to set up its depreciation or amortization.

How to access

1. From the main menu, click Accounting.
2. Click Assets.
3. Click Add Asset.

Or open the page directly: Add Asset.

Steps to add the asset

First: Basic information

Field	Description
Name	The asset name. Required.
Code	Generated automatically, and you can edit it.
Category Account	The accounting category of the asset, such as “Vehicles” or “Furniture”. Required. It lists the main accounts under Fixed Assets in the chart of accounts.
Useful Life	How long the asset will be used, in Years or Months. Example: 5 years.
In Service Date	The date from which the asset starts being used and depreciated. Required.
Serial Number	Optional, and can’t be repeated between two assets.
Barcode	Enter it manually, or click Generate Barcode next to the field. Optional, and can’t be repeated between two assets.
Quantity	The number of units of this asset.

Second: Custody information

• Select Used By: Not Assigned (default), Employee, or Storage. Required.
• When you select Employee, select the employee from the search list. Required in this case.
• When you select Storage, select the storage location. Required in this case.
• Select Physical Location from the list. Optional.

Third: Define individual unit details

If the quantity is more than 1, you can enable Define Individual Unit Details to record the details of each unit separately.

• Disabled (default): custody is tracked for the asset as a whole, and the Serial Number, Barcode, Used By, and Physical Location fields stay editable.
• Enabled: custody is tracked for each unit, the previous fields are disabled, and a custody details table appears with a number of rows equal to the quantity.

Unit field	Description
Serial Number	Enter the serial number or the barcode. They can’t both be left empty.
Barcode	Enter it manually or by scanning, or generate it for all units at once.
Custody Type	Not Assigned or Employee or Storage. Required.
Assigned To	The employee or the storage. Required when you select Employee or Storage.
Physical Location	Optional.

Fourth: Purchase details

Field	Description
Purchase Price	The purchase cost of the asset. Required.
Purchase Date	Required.
Cash Account	The account the asset was paid from, such as the treasury or the bank. It is the credit side of the asset purchase entry. Required.
Tax 1 / Tax 2	Purchase taxes. Optional.

Fifth: Asset depreciation

Field	Description
Depreciation Method	Required. The options: Straight-Line (a fixed amount each period), Declining-Balance (Percentage) (a percentage of the current value), Units of Production (based on the number of units produced), Without Depreciation (for assets that don’t depreciate, such as land).
Auto Depreciation Frequency	The depreciation recording period: Day or Week or Month.
Depreciation amount or percentage	Depreciation Amount / period with Straight-Line, or Depreciation Percentage / period with Declining-Balance.
Start Depreciation Auto Date	The date of the first automatic depreciation entry. Required with periodic depreciation methods.
Depreciation End Date	Optional.
Salvage Value	The expected value of the asset at the end of its life. The asset isn’t depreciated below it.
Accumulated Depreciation Account / Depreciation Expense Account	The two accounts the depreciation entry is recorded in. Optional.

Sixth: Notes and attachments

• Add the Description: the asset condition or any note. Optional.
• Upload attachments in PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and ZIP formats, up to 50 MB per file.
• Click Save.

When you save, the system automatically creates a sub-account for the asset in the chart of accounts under the category account you selected (example: Fixed Assets → Vehicles → asset name).

Adding an intangible asset

Intangible assets, such as software, patents, trademarks, and goodwill, are added from the same Assets screen, and they don’t have a separate section. They only need their own main account to appear in the Category Account field. Amortization in the system is the same as depreciation.

Step 1: Create a main account for intangible assets (one time)

1. Open Chart of Accounts.
2. Open Fixed Assets. It appears under Assets.
3. Click Add Account, and select Main Account.
4. Enter the name “Intangible Assets” and save the account.

Step 2: Add the intangible asset

1. Click Add Asset.
2. In Category Account, select “Intangible Assets”.
3. Enter the name, In Service Date, and Useful Life, and complete the Purchase Details.
4. In Depreciation Method, select Straight-Line, which is the usual amortization method. Or select Without Depreciation for an asset that doesn’t have a defined life, such as goodwill.
5. Enter the Salvage Value, which is usually zero for intangible assets.
6. Optionally, in Depreciation Expense Account select an account named “Amortization Expense”, and in Accumulated Depreciation Account select an account named “Accumulated Amortization”.
7. Click Save.

Recording the amortization entry

• Automatically: when you set Auto Depreciation Frequency, and Start Depreciation Auto Date, the system records the amortization entry every period without any action from you.
• Manually: from the asset page, add a depreciation with the required amount and date.

Rules and restrictions

• The name, category account, in service date, purchase price, purchase date, cash account, and depreciation method are required fields.
• The serial number and the barcode can’t be repeated. If they are linked to another accounting asset, the system prevents saving.
• When you enable individual unit details, you must enter the serial number or the barcode for each unit, and the number of units can’t exceed the quantity.
• To stop defining individual unit details, delete the added unit rows first.
• After the first depreciation of the asset is recorded, the purchase date and the cash account can’t be edited.
• The asset doesn’t require a cost center, and Physical Location doesn’t work as a cost center.

Impact on the system

Example: buying accounting software (an intangible asset) for 36,000 in cash, and amortizing it with the straight-line method over 3 years at 1,000 per month.

Asset purchase entry

Account	Debit	Credit
Asset account (a sub-account under “Intangible Assets”)	36,000	—
Cash account (treasury or bank)	—	36,000
Total	36,000	36,000

Depreciation or amortization entry (every month)

Account	Debit	Credit
Depreciation expense account (amortization expense)	1,000	—
Accumulated depreciation account (accumulated amortization)	—	1,000
Total	1,000	1,000

• When the asset is assigned to an employee or a storage, a matching record is created automatically in Employee Assets.
• If the serial number or the barcode already exists in Employee Assets, the system links the unit to the existing record and updates the custody details instead of creating a new record.
• All custody changes are recorded in the asset movement log and the activity log.

Statuses and settings

• The asset status is calculated automatically from the custody details: Employee or In Storage or Not Assigned.
• With Without Depreciation, no automatic depreciation is recorded, and no next depreciation date is set.
• The Define Individual Unit Details option appears only when the quantity is more than 1.

FAQs

Does a fixed asset (such as a car) need a cost center when it’s purchased?

No, the system doesn’t ask for a cost center when you add a fixed asset. Physical Location set in the custody details is a separate field for the asset’s location, and it doesn’t work as a cost center.

What is the difference between the physical location and the cost center?

Physical Location defines where the asset is, and next to it Used By defines the employee or the storage responsible for it. A cost center is used to classify and analyze revenues and expenses, and it’s set on accounts, entries, invoices, expenses, and revenues.

How do I add an intangible asset?

First, create a Main Account named “Intangible Assets” under Fixed Assets in the chart of accounts. Then click Add Asset and select it in Category Account. Details in Adding an intangible asset.

How do I record the amortization entry for an intangible asset?

Amortization in the system is depreciation. Select Straight-Line in Depreciation Method and set Auto Depreciation Frequency, and the system records the entry automatically. You can also add a depreciation manually from the asset page.

Why doesn’t the account I created appear in the Category Account field?

Because it isn’t a Main Account under Fixed Assets. Create it as a main account in this place to make it appear.

How do I add an asset that doesn’t depreciate, such as land?

Select Without Depreciation in Depreciation Method.

Does the system create an account for the asset in the chart of accounts?

Yes. A sub-account with the asset name is created automatically under the category account you selected.