What counts as a critical field
Sage Fixed Assets treats the fields that drive the depreciation calculation as critical: property type, placed-in-service date, acquired value, depreciation method, estimated life, salvage value, Section 179 and the other book information fields. When one of them changes on an asset that has already been depreciated, the software needs to know how the past should be treated, so it asks when the change takes effect. The options you see depend on what the asset already has on it.
The four effective-date options
| Option | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Placed-in-Service Date | Resets current, beginning and period-close depreciation to zero and recalculates from the in-service date, as if the new value had always been there. The next run includes the full catch-up. | The original entry was simply wrong and nothing has been posted that you need to preserve, or you are prepared to post the catch-up. |
| Current Thru Date | Keeps the depreciation already taken and applies the change going forward from the next run. | The change is genuinely prospective, such as a change in estimate, and earlier periods are closed. |
| Beginning Date | Keeps the beginning accumulated depreciation and recalculates from the beginning date. Only offered if the asset already has a beginning date. | Assets converted from another system, where the beginning balances are the starting point you trust. |
| Period Close | Keeps everything through the last period close and recalculates after it. Only offered if the asset has a period close date. | You lock periods with Period Close and want the correction to respect the closed books. |
Exact wording and availability can vary by version, so check the prompt on your screen against this table.
The trap: under-depreciated assets
Choosing Current Thru on a straight-line asset changes the basis but not the remaining schedule, so an increase in cost or a longer life can leave the asset with depreciation left over at the end of its life. Sage's own guidance is to switch such assets to the RV method (remaining value over remaining life), or the RM and RH variants, so the new remaining basis is spread over the remaining life. Sage's Depreciation Adjustment report lists under- and over-depreciated assets, and it is worth running after any batch of critical changes. Before applying a method change in a tax book, confirm with your tax adviser that the method is acceptable for that book.
Before you change anything
- Back up the company in Sage Fixed Assets, and print or export the asset detail for the assets you are changing.
- Decide the effective-date rule per group of assets, not per keystroke, and write it down for your auditors.
- Decide which books change. A GAAP correction often should not touch tax books that tie to filed returns.
- Run depreciation and the Depreciation Adjustment report afterwards, and reconcile the change in accumulated depreciation to your GL entry.
When there are too many assets to do by hand
Custom Import can't change book fields on existing assets, and Bulk Edit covers only method and estimated life. For everything else, the Critical Field Updater applies these same four rules to hundreds or thousands of assets in one controlled run, with validation before and a report after. These pages cover the most common cases:
- Changing placed-in-service dates on multiple assets
- Updating acquisition cost on multiple assets
- Salvage value, Section 179 and accumulated depreciation
- Purchase accounting after an acquisition
- Revaluations and restatements
- CIP placed-in-service corrections
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Placed-in-Service and Current Thru in Sage Fixed Assets?
Placed-in-Service wipes the depreciation already calculated and recalculates from the in-service date, so the change is retroactive. Current Thru keeps the depreciation already taken and applies the change going forward.
Why don't I see the Beginning Date or Period Close option?
Those options only appear when the asset already has a beginning date or a period close date. Assets entered new in Sage Fixed Assets usually have neither.
Why is my asset under-depreciated after I changed the cost?
Most often because the change was applied with Current Thru on a straight-line method. Switching to RV, RM or RH spreads the remaining basis over the remaining life.
Can I change critical fields on many assets at once in Sage Fixed Assets?
Bulk Edit handles depreciation method and estimated life. Other critical fields are changed asset by asset in the software, which is why we built the Critical Field Updater.