How do I set the Start Date when transferring from an existing business

1

I have read the guide and followed the forum threads on Start Dates bu the Guides are confusing on this matter.

I am transferring the accounting system from another. I have the FY2022 closing balances ( as at 30Jun2022) and therefore the FY2023 Opening Balances.

From what I read the depreciation calculations start from the date of entry of the asset and as today is 4May2023 it will only calculated depreciation for 57 days. How do I tell the system that I am entering FY Opening Balances?

2

See these guides

Starting Balances: Enter starting balances | Fix starting balances

Actually I recommend reading all the table of contents for the guides so you know what is readily available
See Guides | Manager

3

Thanks Patch. I have read the guides and they say that the option to enter a start date is no longer available.

I have created Control Accounts, Fixed Asset and Depreciation controls and entered fixed assets and see no option to add any starting date.

A start date is usually necessary to properly calculate depreciation .

4

Read discussion at Fixed Asset - #12 by Tut

You should have first searched the forum before posting a topic, see FAQ - Manager Forum more specifically:

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5

The depreciation calculation worksheet calculated depreciation for the period you enter in that worksheet. Note the worksheet is Mangers starting point to support depreciation calculations. You may find in practice you need some external calculations also.

6

Also, Manager calculates depreciation using the Declining Balance method which may not be the procedure you use

7

Thanks, I read that. Diminishing Value is what I need so that’s great.

8

Thanks eko, I have read all that and that’s why the question.

9

Are you saying that Fixed Asset entries from last years C.W.D.V. just exist as entries without any relationship to any point in time?

If so, does that mean that running the depreciation calculation worksheet assumes that the Fixed Asset balances entered are used to calculate the depreciation from that date; whether or not that start date is the start of the financial year?

Does the worksheet then post the depreciation to the Fixed Assets and Depreciation Expense accounts?

10

Please build test businesses and experiment.

It is much more efficient than reading manuals or trying to get other people to explain how your use case will work.

1 Like
11

Please use terminology from Manager

What is C.W.D.V ?

12

Closing Written Down Value; the standard term.

13

Thank you

I think it would be clearer to add the acquisition cost and the accumulated depreciation when creating the fixed asset rather than just the closing written down value (7,500 in my example below)

In any case the depreciation calculation in Manager will be based on 7,500 and whatever % you enter

Any fixed asset acquired since the start of the year is added with 0 acquisition cost. The acquisition cost is then recorded using a Purchase Invoice, Cash Payment or Expense Claim depending on how it was paid for

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14

Thanks Patch. I agree with the test and experiment idea but in this case there seem to be too many issue to make sense of the.

I created a Custom Date field and assigned it to Fixed Assets with position 3.

The Fixed Asset entry form shows this Custom Date Field at the bottom of the form at what would be Tab Sequence 10. Changing the Position in the Custom Date Field definition does not change anything on the Fixed Asset Entry form. I can live with that, it’s just annoying to cause such a waste of time fault finding.

Contrary to the Guide The Custom Date Field does not show on the Fixed Asset Report. I have ticked the box to show on report as column. Have I missed something?

The Fixed Asset Entry form has entries for Acquisition Cost and Accumulated Depreciation. However, on the Fixed Assets at Valuation report it shows the Acquisition Cost as the Opening Balance instead of in the Acquisition Cost column… This is plainly incorrect. The Accumulated Depreciation in the Opening Balance column would be correct.

Have I missed something fundamental ??

15

Which is exactly why a test business is useful.

Create a simple test for each issue on it’s own to see how Manager behaves with just one issue at a time. That way you can work out a solution for one issue at a time.

Doing so may result in a roadblock somewhere but at least you will know exactly what Manager does so be able to discuss sensibly possible a work around to a specific issue.

The depreciation work sheet only calculates depreciation using the declining balance method. So calculated the set percentage of book value at the start of the period. I have found Managers calculated result for part of a year is reasonable. The calculation for multiple years requires an exponential decay function which is not implemented in Managers worksheet, so I don’t trust the worksheet for that use case.