Configure Depreciation Defaults (Schedule II)
Rather than typing a useful life and method for every single asset, you set them once per category and let Rentablez reuse them. Depreciation Defaults is that rulebook — a short list of “for this category, depreciate over this many years using this method.” When you apply depreciation to assets in bulk, Rentablez reads these rules to fill in the starting numbers for you.
Because Rentablez is India-first, the defaults are built around Schedule II of the Companies Act 2013 — and there’s a one-click button that fills the whole table in for you based on the standard useful lives.
Where to find it. Go to Settings → Depreciation Defaults. You need the Asset Depreciation — Write permission to add, edit, seed, or delete rows; with read-only access you can view the table but the action buttons are hidden.
Why Defaults Matter
Defaults do the heavy lifting when you set up depreciation for lots of assets at once:
- Consistency — every projector, every laptop, every scaffold pole in the same category depreciates the same way.
- Speed — bulk-applying defaults from the register fills in method, useful life, and salvage in one action instead of one asset at a time.
- Compliance — seeding maps your categories to the Companies Act useful-life table, so your books line up with Schedule II out of the box.
Defaults are only a starting point. When you apply them to an asset, Rentablez copies the values onto that asset’s own depreciation settings — you can still fine-tune any individual asset afterwards. Editing a default later does not rewrite assets you already set up.
Seed Schedule II Defaults (the fast way)
If your table is empty, start here.
- Open Settings → Depreciation Defaults.
- Click Seed Schedule II defaults.
- Rentablez fuzzy-matches your existing asset categories to the Companies Act useful-life table — for example Plant & Machinery → 15 years, Computers → 3 years, Furniture → 10 years — and adds one org-wide fallback row for anything that doesn’t match a category.
You’ll see a confirmation like “Seeded 6 per-category default(s) + 1 org-wide fallback.” If some categories couldn’t be matched, a second message lists them as Unmatched — just add a row for those manually (below) if you want a specific useful life.
Seeding is safe to run more than once. It updates matched category rows and keeps the single org-wide fallback — it won’t create duplicates.
Reading the Defaults Table
Each row is one rule. The columns are:
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Category | The asset category this rule covers, or an Org-wide default tag for the catch-all fallback. |
| Useful life | How many years the asset is depreciated over. |
| Salvage % | The share of the original cost the asset is expected to be worth at the end of its life. |
| Method | SLM (Straight-line) or WDV (Written-Down Value). |
| Rate (WDV) | The yearly depreciation rate — only shown for WDV rows; SLM rows show a dash. |
The Org-wide default row is the safety net: it applies to any asset whose category has no specific rule of its own.
Add a Default Manually
- Click Add default. A dialog opens.
- Category — pick a specific category, or choose Org-wide (no category) for the catch-all rule.
- Method — Straight-line (SLM) or Written-Down Value (WDV).
- Useful life (years) (required) — a whole number of years (1–100).
- Salvage value (% of cost retained at end of life) — 0–99%.
- Depreciation rate (% per year) — this field only appears when the method is WDV, and it’s required for WDV. Straight-line rules don’t need it.
- Click Add.
One rule per category. If you add a row for a category that already has one, Rentablez updates the existing row instead of creating a duplicate.
SLM vs WDV — which to pick?
| Method | How it depreciates | Needs a rate? |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-line (SLM) | Same amount every period across the useful life. | No |
| Written-Down Value (WDV) | A fixed percentage of the remaining book value each year — faster early on, slower later. | Yes — enter the yearly rate |
Edit a Default
- Click the pencil (edit) icon on the row.
- Adjust the method, useful life, salvage, or WDV rate.
- Click Save.
The category can’t be changed from the edit dialog — it’s fixed to that row. To move a rule to a different category, add a new one and delete the old.
Editing a default changes it for future bulk-applies only. Assets that already have their depreciation set up keep their current settings until you change them individually.
Delete a Default
- Click the trash (delete) icon on the row.
- Confirm in the dialog.
Removing a default only stops it being used for future bulk-applies — existing per-asset depreciation settings are not affected. If you delete the org-wide fallback, you can re-seed it any time.
Permissions
Depreciation Defaults follows the Asset Depreciation permissions:
- Asset Depreciation — Read lets you view the defaults table.
- Asset Depreciation — Write is required to seed, add, edit, or delete defaults (and to apply them in bulk from the register).