Expert: Ed McFarland - 10/30/2004

Question
I am taking accounting 1 on line. I need some help understanding depreciation expense vs. accumulated depreciation.  Which one does each one fall under? ex asset or liability, and how do you know which one is a debt or credit?

Answer
I usually don't do homework questions, because somebody is trying to get me to do their homework for them. But explainations like this is another story.

Depreciation expense is the expense taken during the period and appears on the income statement.

Accumulated depreciation is the total, accumulated, depreciation taken. This shows up on balance sheet as the offset to the asset being used up. Fixed assets-depreciation = net fixed assets.

Good luck.