Department of Accounting Education

Mabini Street, Tagum City

Davao del Norte
Telefax: (084) 655-9591, Local 116

Big Picture in Focus: ULOc. Apply MS Excel Depreciation function in

making accounting reports

Metalanguage
In this section, the most essential terms relevant to the study of accounting software
and to demonstrate ULOc will be operationally defined to establish a common frame of
reference as to how the texts work in your chosen field or career.

Please proceed immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part since most of the definitions
were presented in that part.

Essential Knowledge
MS Excel has a number of Depreciation functions as part of its financial functions. All
these function have similar features: initial cost, salvage value, and the numbers of years.
Excel has five depreciation functions:

• SLN. Short for "straight line." You know what this one does: it divides the
depreciable value of an asset equally across its useful life.
• SYD. Short for "sum of years' digits." The most basic of the accelerated
depreciation functions.
• DDB. Short for "double declining balance." Again, it is possible to use this function
in the usual way, to double the straight-line rate, but you can optionally supply other
rates.
• VDB. Short for "variable declining balance." Establish greater control over start and
end depreciation periods, and optionally switch to straight-line depreciation.
• DB. Short for "declining balance." The accounting literature often refers to this as
"double declining balance," and the DB function can work in this way.

The arguments common to all the depreciation functions include the following:
• cost: It is the initial cost or purchase price of the asset
• salvage: It is the value of the asset at the end of its useful life.
• life: the useful life or the number of periods over the asset is depreciated.
• Period: The period for which the depreciation is calculated. Required by all
depreciation functions, except SLN

Straight Line Depreciation. This function assumes the same, or a uniform, depreciation rate
for all of the years of the economic life of the asset. The Excel syntax of the function is:
SLN(cost,salvage, life).
1. Open file “Depreciation Functions”
2. Select sheet “SLD”
3. In cell B7 enter the following:

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 Department of Accounting Education
Mabini Street, Tagum City
Davao del Norte
Telefax: (084) 655-9591, Local 116

4. Press enter.
5. Save your work.

Sum of the Years Digits (SYD). This is an accelerated depreciation function. The
depreciation rate is different from year to year. The Excel syntax of the function is:
SYD(cost,salvage,life,per).
1. Open file “Depreciation Functions”
2. Select sheet “SYD”
3. In cell B8 enter the following:

4. Press enter.
5. Copy cell B8 to cell B9 to B12 but change the period to 2 to 5.
6. Save your work.

Double Declining Balance. This is an accelerated depreciation function that doubles the
depreciation rate of straight line method. The Excel syntax of the function is:
DDB(cost,salvage,life,period).
1. Open file “Depreciation Functions”
2. Select sheet “DDB”
3. In cell B8 enter the following and then press enter.

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 Department of Accounting Education
Mabini Street, Tagum City
Davao del Norte
Telefax: (084) 655-9591, Local 116

4. Copy cell B8 to cell B9 to B11 but change the period to 2 to 4.

5. In cell C8 enter the following and then press enter.

6. In cell C9 enter the following and then press enter.

7. Copy cell C9 to cell C10 to C11.

8. Save your work.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you
further understand the lesson:
*Carlberg, C. (2007). Excel for accountants: Tips, tricks & techniques. Philadelphia: CPA911
Publishing. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/2131804553?accountid=31259

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 Department of Accounting Education
Mabini Street, Tagum City
Davao del Norte
Telefax: (084) 655-9591, Local 116

*Gottlieb, I. (2013). Next generation excel: Modeling in excel for analysts and MBAs (for MS
windows and mac OS) (2nd ed.). Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2131348741?accountid=31259

*Hari, P. K. (2012). Excel for the cfo. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com

Let’s Check

Activity 1. True or False. Write “TRUE” if the statement is true otherwise write “FALSE” if
the statements is incorrect.

_________1. DB Function used to double the straight-line rate.

_________2. Salvage is the cost of the asset.
_________3. The period for which the depreciation is calculated. Required by all depreciation
functions, except DDB
_________4. SYD is the most basic of the accelerated depreciation functions.
_________5. Excel syntax for SYD is =SYD(cost,salvage,life).
_________6. SLN Function returns the straight-line depreciation of an asset for one period.
_________7. The return value of the formula “=SYD(85000,10000,5,3)” is 10,000.
_________8. The return value of the formula “=DDB(30000,2000,4,2)” is 7,500.
_________9. The return value of the formula “=SLN(60000,10000,5)” is 10,000
_________10. DB Function returns the depreciation of an asset for a specified period by
using the fixed-declining-balance method

Let’s Analyze

Activity 1. It is interesting to note that different assets have different “economic lives” or
guidelines for depreciable life. Land, for example, is not depreciable. Buildings have
different life spans of 20–60 years. Certain machinery could be depreciated in five years
and computers in four years.

1. The initial cost of the asset is $200,000. Its salvage value is $30,000.
• Calculate the SYD function for five years.
• Calculate it for seven years.
2. The initial cost of the asset is $30,000. Its salvage value is $3,000.
• Calculate the SLD for six years.
• Calculate it again for 10 years.
3. The initial cost of the asset is $50,000. Its salvage value is $6,000.
• Calculate the DDB for five years.
• Calculate it again for eight years.

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 Department of Accounting Education
Mabini Street, Tagum City
Davao del Norte
Telefax: (084) 655-9591, Local 116

In a Nutshell
In this part you are going to jot down what you have learned in this unit. The said
statement of yours could be in a form of concluding statements, arguments, or perspective
you have drawn from this lesson.

1. ________________________________________________________.
2. ________________________________________________________.
3. ________________________________________________________.
4. ________________________________________________________.
5. ________________________________________________________.

Q&A List
In this section you are going to list what boggles you in this unit. You may indicate your
questions but noting you have to indicate the answers after your question is being raised and
clarified. You can write your questions below.

Questions/Issues Answers

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Keyword Index
• Depreciation Function
• Straight Line Depreciation
• Sum of the Years Digit
• Double Declining Balance