Create and capitalise an asset
Record an asset from a typed acquisition, a supplier bill line or an opening balance, then have a second person capitalise it.
Before you begin
- An active asset category exists. See Set up asset categories and books.
- For a bill line: the supplier bill is posted.
- For a typed acquisition: you know the account the asset is paid from or owed to.
- The acquisition date falls in an open accounting period.
Steps: create the draft
- Open Fixed Assets > Assets and press New.
- Enter the Name (up to 200 characters) and choose the Category. The asset takes the category's method, life, rate and residual unless you override them.
- Optional: Tag (unique in the company, up to 60 characters), Serial number, Location and Department.
- Choose Comes from:
- A typed acquisition: enter the Cost and Paid from / owed to (account). The account must be an active posting account of kind asset, liability or equity.
- A supplier bill line: choose the Bill line. Leave Cost blank to take the line's net amount.
- An opening balance (migration): enter the Cost, the Depreciation already taken, and the Last month it covers.
- Enter Acquired on and In use from (on or after the acquisition date). Depreciation starts in the month of use, or the month after, as the category says.
- Optional overrides: Method, Life (months), Residual value, Annual rate (%) for declining balance, Units expected over its life for units of production.
- Press Save. The asset is a Draft with its number. A draft has no schedule and no journal. You can still Edit it.
Steps: capitalise
- A different user with asset.approve opens the draft.
- Press Capitalise.
What happens next
The asset becomes Running, with "Capitalised by" showing the approver. The monthly schedule is planned. The ledger entry depends on the source:
| Source | Entry |
|---|---|
| Typed acquisition | Debit asset cost, credit the paid-from account |
| Supplier bill line | Debit asset cost, credit the account the bill line was charged to; no entry if it was already charged to the cost account |
| Opening balance | None. It is already in the opening trial balance |
Worked example (typed). A laptop costs AED 1,200.00, acquired on 01/07/2026, paid from account 3000, 12 months straight line, no residual. On capitalising, the system debits asset cost AED 1,200.00 and credits 3000 for AED 1,200.00. Twelve rows of AED 100.00 are planned from July 2026.
Worked example (opening balance). Cost AED 5,000.00 acquired 01/10/2024, depreciation already taken AED 2,000.00 through 30/09/2026, category life 60 months. Book value is AED 3,000.00. Twenty-four months are counted as used, so 36 rows start in October 2026: 35 of AED 83.33 and a last row of AED 83.45.
Good to know
- A bill line can be capitalised only up to its net amount across all its assets. If two assets use the same AED 1,200.00 line, the second is refused with "Only 0.00 of that bill line is left to capitalise."
- The list of bill lines shows only the newest 300 posted-bill lines.
- A preparer cannot capitalise their own asset: "Somebody other than whoever prepared a capitalisation must approve it."
- Posting into a locked period is refused: "This accounting period is locked."
- Once Running, an asset is no longer edited. Use a transfer, estimate change or disposal. See Transfer, impair or revise an asset.
- Edit conflicts: if someone changed the record first, you are asked to reload it.