List (a) the similarities and (b) the differences in the accounting treatments of depreciation and cost depletion.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Both represent an apportionment of costs under the process of matching costs with revenue. Depletion applies to natural resources, while depreciation applies to plants and equipment.

Step by step solution

01

Step-by-Step SolutionStep 1: Meaning of Depletion

The loss of natural resources as a result of access to them on a regular basis is called depletion.Hence, a company uses it when any kind of registered asset is involved, such as oil, coal, or gravel deposits.

02

(a) List all similarities in the accounting treatment of depreciation and cost depletion.

Depreciation and cost depletion are accounting concepts that are comparable in the following ways:

  1. The asset's cost serves as the starting point for calculating the amount of the periodic charge to operations.
  2. The estimated life is determined by the economic or productive life of the item.
  3. On the balance sheet, the amount of previous charges to operations is subtracted from the asset's initial cost.
  4. When using output techniques to calculate depreciation costs, the calculations are nearly identical to those used to calculate depletion charges.
  5. Both reflect a cost apportionment as part of the cost-to-revenue matching process.
  6. On the balance sheet, assets that are susceptible to either are classified as such.
  7. Depreciation is sometimes calculated using appraisal values, and depletion is calculated using discovery values.
  8. In assessing the charge to operations, salvage value is correctly recognized.
  9. If the associated asset contributed to the inventory's production, depreciation and depletion might be included in the inventory.
  10. If the anticipated productive life utilized in the initial rate computations is revised, the rates may be altered.
03

(b) Listing all the differences in the accounting treatments of depreciation and cost depletion

Depreciation and cost depletion are two accounting concepts that are not the same:

1. Depletion is nearly always calculated on the basis of production, whereas depreciation is calculated on the basis of time.

2. While several formulae are used to calculate depreciation, only one is employed in any way to calculate depletion.

3. Natural resources are subject to depletion, whereas plants and equipment are subject to depreciation.

4. Depletion relates to the asset's physical depletion or consumption, whereas depreciation refers to the asset's wear and tear and obsolescence.

5. Depreciation is frequently a compulsory deduction under legislation that premise the legitimacy of dividends on cumulative profits, whereas depletion is usually not.

6. Due to the increased uncertainty in predicting the productive life, the computation of the depletion rate is typically significantly less exact than the computation of depreciation rates.

7. A transitory disparity emerges from the timing of depreciation recognized under traditional accounting and under the Internal Revenue Code, resulting in the recording of deferred income taxes. The difference between cost depletion in traditional accounting and percentage depletion under the Internal Revenue Code, on the other hand, is permanent and does not need the recording of deferred income taxes.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

(Ratio Analysis) The 2014 annual report of Tootsie Roll Industries contains the following information.

(in millions)

December 31, 2014

December 31, 2013

Total assets

\(910.4

\)888.4

Total liabilities

219.3

208.1

Net sales

539.9

539.6

Net income

63.2

60.8

Instructions

Compute the following ratios for Tootsie Roll for 2014.

  1. Asset turnover.
  2. Return on assets.
  3. Profit margin on sales.
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Tan Chin Company purchases a building for \(11,300,000 on January 2, 2017. An engineer’s report shows that of the total purchase price, \)11,000,000 should be allocated to the building (with a 40-year life), \(150,000 to 15-year property, and \)150,000 to 5-year property. No residual (salvage) value should be considered. Compute depreciation expense for 2017 using component depreciation.

(Book vs. Tax (MACRS) Depreciation) Futabatei Enterprises purchased a delivery truck on January 1, 2017, at a cost of \(27,000. The truck has a useful life of 7 years with an estimated salvage value of \)6,000. The straight-line method is used for book purposes. For tax purposes, the truck, having an MACRS class life of 7 years, is classified as 5-year property; the optional MACRS tax rate tables are used to compute depreciation. In addition, assume that for 2017 and 2018 the company has revenues of \(200,000 and operating expenses (excluding depreciation) of \)130,000.

Instructions

  1. Prepare income statements for 2017 and 2018. (The final amount reported on the income statement should be income before income taxes.)
  2. Compute taxable income for 2017 and 2018.
  3. Determine the total depreciation to be taken over the useful life of the delivery truck for both book and tax purposes.
  4. Explain why depreciation for book and tax purposes will generally be different over the useful life of a depreciable asset.

(Depreciation and Error Analysis) A depreciation schedule for semi-trucks of Ichiro Manufacturing Company was requested by your auditor soon after December 31, 2018, showing the additions, retirements, depreciation, and other data affecting the income of the company in the 4-year period 2015 to 2018, inclusive. The following data were ascertained.

Balance of Trucks account, Jan. 1, 2015

Truck No. 1 purchased Jan. 1, 2012, cost

\(18,000

Truck No. 2 purchased July 1, 2012, cost

22,000

Truck No. 3 purchased Jan. 1, 2014, cost

30,000

Truck No. 4 purchased July 1, 2014, cost

24,000

Balance, Jan. 1, 2015

\)94,000

The Accumulated Depreciation—Trucks account previously adjusted to January 1, 2015, and entered in the ledger, had a balance on that date of \(30,200 (depreciation on the four trucks from the respective dates of purchase, based on a 5-year life, no salvage value). No charges had been made against the account before January 1, 2015.

Transactions between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, which were recorded in the ledger, are as follows.

July 1, 2015 Truck No. 3 was traded for a larger one (No. 5), the agreed purchase price of which was \)40,000. Ichiro. paid the automobile dealer \(22,000 cash on the transaction. The entry was a debit to Trucks and a credit to Cash, \)22,000. The transaction has commercial substance.

Jan. 1, 2016 Truck No. 1 was sold for \(3,500 cash; entry debited Cash and credited Trucks, \)3,500.

July 1, 2017 A new truck (No. 6) was acquired for \(42,000 cash and was charged at that amount to the Trucks account. (Assume truck No. 2 was not retired.)

July 1, 2017 Truck No. 4 was damaged in a wreck to such an extent that it was sold as junk for \)700 cash. Ichiro received \(2,500 from the insurance company. The entry made by the bookkeeper was a debit to Cash, \)3,200, and credits to Miscellaneous Income, \(700, and Trucks, \)2,500.

Entries for straight-line depreciation had been made at the close of each year as follows: 2015, \(21,000; 2016, \)22,500; 2017, \(25,050; and 2018, \)30,400.

Instructions

  1. For each of the 4 years, compute separately the increase or decrease in net income arising from the company’s errors in determining or entering depreciation or in recording transactions affecting trucks, ignoring income tax considerations.
  2. Prepare one compound journal entry as of December 31, 2018, for adjustment of the Trucks account to reflect the correct balances as revealed by your schedule, assuming that the books have not been closed for 2018.

(Depreciation Computations, SYD) Five Satins Company purchased a piece of equipment at the beginning of 2014. The equipment cost \(430,000. It has an estimated service life of 8 years and an expected salvage value of \)70,000. The sum of-the-years’-digits method of depreciation is being used. Someone has already correctly prepared a depreciation schedule for this asset. This schedule shows that \(60,000 will be depreciated for a particular calendar year.

Instructions

Show calculations to determine for what particular year the depreciation amount for this asset will be \)60,000.

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