How to determine the useful life of a computer or laptop – depreciation in accounting and tax accounting

A personal computer (PC) is a familiar and familiar thing even to children. Its purpose is very clear. Its capabilities have been studied quite well. But when it comes to computer technology as an object of accounting, then doubts and questions arise.

If it's a laptop, then it's clear that it's one object. But if this is a stationary computer, which consists of several easily separated elements (monitor, system unit, keyboard, mouse), then how to properly register it: as one PC or as several independent types of computer equipment? Let's try to figure it out.

Depreciation of office devices and nuances of effective accounting

Classification by depreciation groups is necessary for tax purposes and is associated with the process of accounting for costs included in tax calculations under the appropriate taxation system. In accounting, depreciation can be set arbitrarily, but in practice they are guided by the same standards as for NU.

It is known that for the purposes of accounting, depreciable equipment is considered to be equipment that is used in the production process for more than a year and has a cost of more than 100 thousand rubles; in accounting accounting, the cost limit is 40 thousand rubles. and the same period of use.

Question: How to reflect the modernization of a computer in accounting if it is accounted for as one inventory item of fixed assets (OS) with all accessories (devices)? The cost of a computer in accounting and tax accounting is fully depreciated. The organization applies FSBU 5/2019 “Inventories”. A computer used in the main activity (providing services) is included in the operating system at an initial cost of 102,000 rubles. The organization uses the straight-line method (method) of depreciation. The monitor, which was purchased for 19,500 (excluding VAT), was in working condition. During the modernization process, the organization replaced it with a new one with better consumer characteristics. The acquisition cost was RUB 39,600, including VAT RUB 6,600. The previous monitor was transferred to the warehouse as a spare. The cost of similar monitors is 10,000 rubles. (without VAT). The useful life of a computer in accounting and tax accounting upon acceptance for accounting was set at 25 months, and after replacing the monitor it was increased by 10 months. In accordance with the Classification of fixed assets, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 1, 2002 N 1, the computer is classified in the second depreciation group. The organization uses the accrual method of tax accounting and does not apply premium depreciation. Interim financial statements are prepared at the end of each calendar month. View answer

In tax and accounting, various methods of depreciation are defined. There are only two of them in NU - linear and nonlinear. In accounting, in addition to the linear method, reducing balance methods are used, based on the sum of the number of years of use, in proportion to the volume of production.

In practice, when depreciating office equipment, the same method is often adopted for NU and BU - linear, so as not to account for additional differences that arise.

Office equipment's cost often falls in the range of 40-100 thousand rubles, and the question arises of how best to take it into account for the purposes of accounting and accounting.

How to calculate depreciation on fixed assets ?

There are two ways out of this situation:

1. Write off such office equipment immediately upon commissioning in the NU and charge depreciation on it after registration in the BU. The method is not very convenient and involves the occurrence of temporary differences that are subject to additional accounting.
2. Write off as expenses in NU, but not at once, but in parts (this opportunity is provided to the taxpayer by Article 254 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1, clause 3). At the same time, accrue depreciation for accounting purposes. Equipment that costs less than 40 thousand rubles can be written off as expenses immediately, without depreciation, both in tax and accounting.

When choosing a code according to OKOF and a depreciation group of equipment according to the OS Classifier, it is important to remember that the equipment must be a single system, a single device that collectively performs certain office functions. A depreciation group is selected in which the component parts of the device are included by the legislator to the maximum extent possible.

The depreciation policy, due to its heterogeneity and many nuances, must be spelled out in the accounting policy as its important component.

The procedure for writing off office equipment

• direct inspection of the object subject to write-off, using the necessary technical documentation and budget accounting data;
• establishing the feasibility (suitability) of its further use, the possibility and effectiveness of its restoration;
• establishing the reasons for decommissioning an object (physical and moral wear and tear, violation of operating conditions, etc.);
• identifying persons through whose fault the premature disposal of an object occurred, making proposals to bring them to justice established by law;
• determining the possibility of using individual components, parts, materials of the disposed object and their assessment based on the current market value;
• control over the removal of non-ferrous and precious metals from decommissioned objects, determination of their weight and delivery to the appropriate warehouse, and subsequently to the organization for the reception of recyclable materials;
• drawing up acts on the write-off of fixed assets.

The institution wrote off obsolete and physically completely worn-out equipment (computer monitor), purchased using funds from income-generating activities (residual value - 7,000 rubles). The main assets were dismantled by the institution. After dismantling, parts containing precious metals were removed. In its pure form, their mass was 40 g, worth 4,000 rubles. An act of acceptance and transfer of parts (assemblies) of the refining organization has been drawn up. After completion of the work, the submitted passport indicates the content of precious metals - 35 g for the amount of 3,500 rubles. (including VAT - 534 rubles). This amount was transferred to the institution’s personal account, opened for it in the territorial body of the Federal Treasury to record transactions with funds received from income-generating activities. Please note that in this case, in the “Purpose of payment” field of the payment order, indicate the name of the source of income or the item of the General Permit issued to the institution. When funds are received into the personal account for income-generating activities, the institution must transfer the specified funds to the federal budget revenue to account 40101. In field 104 of the payment order indicate the budget classification code 000 1 1400 440 “Income from the sale of property under the operational management of federal institutions ( with the exception of the property of federal autonomous institutions), in terms of the sale of material reserves for the specified property,”
indicating in 1–3 digits of the income code the code of the chief income administrator (federal executive body), which has the right to dispose of federal property. And in the “Purpose of payment” field, indicate the code 000 3 0200 440 and the basis for the transfer: “Transfer to the federal budget of income from the sale of property under operational management.” In this case, the General Permit for opening personal accounts to account for funds received from income-generating activities must contain indications of the source of income received in the personal account: “Sale of scrap and waste of non-ferrous metals and (or) income from refining, with subsequent transfer of received sources of federal budget revenue." Subsequently, the institution transferred the funds to the federal budget. The accountant needs to make the following entries:

Computer

It is impossible to imagine a modern office without a computer. The cost of modern PCs of various modifications can reach the marginal cost of classifying an object as fixed assets, and, therefore, such office equipment is depreciated.

OKOF code for computers is 330.28.23.23, which corresponds to depreciation group 2, with a useful life of more than 2 years, up to 3 years inclusive. The organization has the right to independently determine a specific period based on the specified range of values. This group also includes:

• Stationary PC;
• laptop;
• monoblock

All named devices are ready-made working complexes and are accounted for as a single inventory object.

On a note. A monitor, unlike an all-in-one, cannot be accounted for as a separate inventory item. This device can bring economic benefits only in combination with other parts that make up the “computer” object. The purchased monitor is accounted for as inventory (as material or as goods).

Some companies, to avoid depreciation costs, ship PCs in parts. The Ministry of Finance is against this practice (see letter dated 01-04-05 No. 03-03-01-04/2/54.). Officials believe that companies in this way artificially accelerate the decommissioning of an object and create undue benefits for themselves.

OKOF 330.28.23.23 “Office machines, etc.” also applies to:

• servers;
• modems of various modifications;
• systems designed for storing information arrays.

Depreciation groups of fixed assets in 2021

So, in the OK 013-94 classifier the code is 142912131. Now this code should be designated in the OS Classification. After studying the document, you can see that pumps/compressor equipment with OKOF code 142912131 are classified as depreciation group No. 3 in 2020. This group includes property that has a useful life of more than three years, but less than five years (inclusive). For this reason, the accountant has the right to set any period within this interval for the purchased compressor. For example, Prazdnik LLC set a period of 4 years/48 months.

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To correctly establish the period, you need to know exactly which depreciation group this or that asset belongs to - this is where the asset classifier will help. This article will provide examples of how you can do this in 2021. switch to updated depreciation groups. The most convenient way to get acquainted with this is through examples: what happened in 2021. and what changes have occurred in 2021.

MFP, printer, scanner, shredder

Multifunctional office devices and MFPs are not mentioned in the classifier, so you will have to determine their service life (UF) yourself.

Most experts recommend using the third depreciation group, which mentions OKOF 330.28.23.22 “Copying machines... for offices.” At the same time, there is OKOF 330.28.23.23, which we discussed above. It belongs to the second group of depreciation and includes, among other things, printers as components of a PC.

Since the MFP, in addition to printing functions, is used as a fax machine, a copy machine, etc., it is advisable to collectively use the maximum depreciation group - the third, the SPI for which is 3-5 years.

It is possible to correlate the MFP with OKOF 320.26.20.15, which characterizes machines containing (or not containing) one or more of the named devices in a single shell: storage, input or output devices.

The printer and scanner can be classified into the second depreciation group. The basis is OKOF 330.28.23.23, which includes not only the computer itself, but also the printing equipment for it. In addition, if the laser printer is equipped with a processor, then OKOF 320.26.20.13 is applicable to it. SPI for the 2-3 year group. These devices are taken into account as separate depreciation objects only if they are not part of the “computer” object.

A shredder, or paper shredder, is also recommended to be included in the 2nd depreciation group.

Motherboard

The connecting link of all PC elements is the motherboard. For some users it “lives” for only a year, for others – 10 years. However, the average service life of motherboards is usually 5-6 years. Much depends on the intensity of operation of this board, and if you use the computer moderately and do not load it with games around the clock, then the motherboard can last even 15 years.

In general, this component in the system unit is the longest-lived. In fact, there is practically nothing to break there with the exception of bridges.

Cash machine

An organization providing services may have a cash register as part of its office equipment and use it for settlements with clients. Such a device is accounted for by the sum of all costs for its acquisition and, depending on the final cost, acquires the status of a fixed asset or is written off as an expense as inventory.

A cash register can be accounted for under code 330.28.23.13 “Counting machines, cash registers... and other similar machines.” They belong to the fourth depreciation group, SPI 5-7 years.

Is it possible to send a “low-value” PC to production and household inventory?

Some believe that an inexpensive (less than 40,000 rubles or other limit) computer can be counted as technical or production equipment. There is no regulatory confirmation of this version.

Indeed, several OKOF groups have such a component as inventory. But his transcript does not even contain a hint of a computer. Even the Educational Equipment category in Group 3 cannot directly refer to office equipment.

The only logical way to account for “low-value” PC is to consider it part of the inventory. Such values ​​and their movement need to be controlled (clause 5 of PBU 6/01, paragraph 4). You should not use fixed asset accounting cards for this.

The Ministry of Finance has authorized the use of primary documents for inventory accounting: receipt order (F. No. M-4), demand invoice (F. No. M-11), materials accounting card (F. No. M-17), etc. (Letter dated 30.05 .2006 No. 03-03-04/4/98). Thanks to such simple accounting, staff will treat equipment more carefully.

Accounting and example of calculating depreciation charges

Standard accounting entries for office equipment look like this:

• Dt 08 Kt 60 – the cost of office equipment and software settings for it is fixed.
• Dt 01 Kt 08 – equipment put into operation.
• Dt 20(26.44) Kt 02 – depreciation has been accrued (from the month following commissioning).

As noted above, in the vast majority of cases, for both NU and BU, it is advisable to use the linear method of calculating depreciation.

Example

The organization purchased a computer, the total cost of the PC is 137,000 rubles. The operating period is determined by local regulations at 32 months (depreciation group 2).

Monthly deduction rate: At = 1/32*100%= 3.125% or 137000*3.125% = 4281.25 rubles. The annual amount is determined by multiplying by 12.

Main

1. Depreciation of office equipment is carried out according to the general rules for calculating depreciation charges, in accordance with the standards of the OS classifier currently in force and OKOF codes.
2. For office equipment not mentioned in the classifier, the maximum depreciation group is selected according to the number of device elements included in it.
3. For some types of office equipment, it is possible to use different OKOF options.
4. It is recommended to account for a computer as a single depreciation object, which includes all its components.

The procedure for writing off computer equipment (nuances)

1. The act must be agreed upon with the founder of the budgetary organization if the property being written off is attributed to particularly valuable property that is assigned by the owner to the budgetary institution or which was acquired by the budgetary institution at the expense of funds allocated by the owner for its acquisition (clause 3 of Article 298 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, the Ministry of Health of Russia, the Ministry of Labor of Russia, the Ministry of Sports of Russia, and Rosreestr of Russia included computers in the list of especially valuable movable property, regardless of its value. Therefore, if these structures have provided a budget institution with computers, then their write-off must be agreed upon with the founders.
2. If particularly valuable movable property was acquired using funds received from income-generating activities, a budgetary institution has the right to dispose of it independently (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 26, 2021 No. 02-06-10/3912). Coordination of the write-off of such property with the founder is not required.

Information about the presence of precious metals in decommissioned computer equipment can usually be found in the technical passport for this equipment. If the company's technical passport is lost, an examination should be carried out to determine the content of precious metals. To do this, you need to attract specialists from a licensed company.

Examples

Let's look at several examples of purchasing computer equipment and establishing a useful life for it in accounting and tax accounting.

Purchasing a laptop

The company bought a laptop for 50,000, which has a minimum set of computer software.

Delivery costs amounted to 1,000, payment for programmer’s services for setup - 3,000 rubles.

What useful life can be estimated?

Solution:

Initial cost of the laptop = 50,000 + 1,000 + 3,000 = 54,000.

A laptop is recognized as a fixed asset for accounting purposes only.

For tax purposes, its value of 54,000 is less than the 100,000 limit.

After analyzing the totality of factors influencing the operation of the laptop, the company decided to set the SPI for it = 24 months.

Buying a PC

• computer components for 118,000 (including VAT 18,000) - motherboard, video card, hard drive, RAM, processor;
• keyboard – 944 (including VAT 144);
• monitor – 23,600 (including VAT 3,600);
• mouse – 590 (including VAT 90);
• delivery costs – 1,180 (including VAT 180);
• payment for PC assembly services – 3,540 (including VAT 540);
• software – 11800 (including VAT 1800).

How to determine the useful life of a personal computer assembled from components?

Initial cost = 100,000 + 800 + 20,000 + 500 + 1,000 + 3,000 + 10,000 = 135,300.

The computer is assigned to depreciation group 2 and has a useful life of 25 months.

In accounting, the same SPI is adopted as in tax accounting = 25 months.

The depreciation method is linear.

Depreciation rate = 1 / 25 * 100% = 4%

Monthly depreciation = 135,300 * 4% = 5,412.

How to write off a battery: timing, malfunctions, reasons, standards, instructions

Spare parts for cars, which are issued instead of those that have reached the end of their service life, are placed on off-balance sheet accounting. For this purpose, there is account No. 9, which is called “Spare parts for transport issued to replace worn-out ones.” As for the list of spare parts to be replaced, it is compiled and established by the management of the enterprise and enshrined in the accounting policy.

When it comes to cars with lead-acid starter batteries, the company needs to determine their service life in accordance with the organization's accounting policies. An example is company cars. Their normal mileage is about 112,000 km per year, while the battery life of this vehicle at this figure is two and a half years.

Certificate of decommissioning of power tools

Property tax has to be paid for equipment that has not been written off but is out of order or obsolete. You can write off fixed assets gradually - through depreciation, but there is a shorter way - drawing up an equipment write-off act. It is recommended to write off material assets that:

In addition, it is necessary to clearly formulate the reason for the write-off. This reason will later become the basis. In case of write-off due to breakdown, damage received, etc., it is necessary to obtain a technical examination report before write-off. This act, in turn, will become the basis for write-off.

How quickly do computer technologies change each other today?

At the same time, it is difficult to indicate the service life of laptops, so often they are simply thrown away without waiting for their service life to expire. This is partly due to "planned" obsolescence - a cunning move by manufacturers, supported by marketing strategies, to make us quickly fall out of love with our laptops and part with them in favor of newer models. In IT, “planned” obsolescence is driven by the need to update software that is considered compatible only with the latest PC models. Want the best software? Then get ready to shell out for a more modern car.

Heat is the main enemy of Moore's Law. All transistors packaged into chips must be cooled to maintain their functionality. And energy consumption growth for huge and ever-increasing data storage centers is growing at 12% annually since 2021.

Average laptop lifespan

When purchasing a new laptop, many owners rush to unpack the battery and quickly connect it to the device. Only by constantly working in the office or at home, near an electrical outlet, do users day after day reduce the life of the laptop, or rather, the battery, eliminating one of the basic parameters of the device - mobility. There are only two options to solve this problem:

1. If you prefer to work indoors, you should not remove the battery from the box at all. A battery in a preserved state can be stored for many years. At any time, if necessary, it can be connected to a laptop and made the device mobile.
2. The second option requires the user to work offline. Two or three times a week, the laptop owner must unplug the mobile device from the outlet and discharge the battery to 3-5%, performing a full battery charging cycle. This is the only way to extend the life of batteries.