Setting Up Assets
Asset models
An asset model is a template for equipment you'll register more than once: "Commercial Freezer", "Delivery Bike", "POS Terminal". The model carries the defaults — depreciation method, useful life, account mappings — so registering the fifth freezer is a matter of serial number, price and date, not accounting decisions. Build models for your common equipment first; one-off assets can be entered directly.
The account wiring
Every asset (usually via its model) names four ledger accounts:
| Account | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Fixed asset account | The asset's cost on the balance sheet. |
| Accumulated depreciation account | Depreciation to date, offsetting the cost — the two together are book value. |
| Depreciation expense account | Each period's depreciation charge on the P&L. |
| Expense account | The write-off destination at disposal. |
Set these once per model with your accountant, and every asset from that model posts consistently.
Registering an asset
An asset records: name and model, acquisition date and original value, its branch (location), a salvage value (the part that never depreciates), and the depreciation settings — method, useful life in months or years, and prorata handling (see Depreciation).
It enters as a draft: visible, editable, not yet in the books. Use drafts freely while gathering paperwork.
Activation — where the books begin
Activating a draft does two things atomically:
- Posts the acquisition entry — the asset's cost onto the fixed asset account.
- Generates the full depreciation schedule, period by period, from acquisition to the end of its useful life.
Activation refuses politely if the location or any account mapping is missing — an asset can't enter the books without knowing where its numbers go.
Existing equipment (bought before MahirRMS): register it with its real acquisition date and value; the schedule generates from that date, and the already-elapsed periods post as catch-up entries — so a three-year-old oven arrives with three years of accumulated depreciation, matching reality.