Peter Gratton, Ph.D., is a New Orleans-based editor and professor with over 20 years of experience in investing, economics, and public policy. Peter began covering markets at Multex (Reuters) and has ...

Amortization and depreciation are accounting methods used to allocate the cost of assets over their useful lives. Amortization applies to intangible assets like patents and trademarks. Depreciation ...

To continue reading this content, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings and refresh this page. For real estate investors, managing cash flow is king. You ...

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

There are several ways a business can depreciate an asset—namely through straight line or accelerated modes. For an accelerated depreciation schedule, sum-of-years digits is typically the most common.

In accrual basis accounting, when your business purchases a long-lived asset, such as a vehicle, a building or a piece of equipment, you don't immediately write off the full cost as an expense. Rather ...

When companies invest in assets, they expect those assets to last a certain number of years. Over time, they’re depreciated based on their remaining serviceable life and any potential saleable value ...

Computers, office chairs and factories all wear down and lose value over time. Depreciation is how accountants factor that fact into their number-crunching. A depreciated five-year-old computer isn't ...