Fixed Asset Classes
Fixed Asset Classes is the accounting catalog that classifies all of your Fixed Assets (machinery, vehicles, furniture, computer equipment, buildings, etc.) by whatever criteria makes sense for your company for depreciation purposes, for example "Computer Equipment", "Vehicles", "Furniture and Office Equipment" or "Production Machinery". AdmCloud doesn't ship with a fixed list out of the box — you decide how many classes to create and what to call them.
What is it and what is it for?
Each record in this catalog has a name, optional internal notes and, optionally, two ledger accounts: a Depretiation Expense Account and an Accumulated Depretiation Account. Once created, you pick the class in the Fixed Asset Class field on a Fixed Asset's record to place it in the class it belongs to.
Unlike Equipment Class (which groups your machinery and vehicles for maintenance, transportation and operational reports), Fixed Asset Class exists mainly for the accounting side: it lets you define, once per class, which depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation accounts should be used when calculating the monthly depreciation of every Fixed Asset that belongs to it, instead of having to configure them one by one on each asset.
Screens in this area
| Screen | What it does |
|---|---|
| List | All the registered classes, sorted by name. From here you open each one to view or edit it, or create a new one. |
| Create / Edit | A simple form with the class's name, its two optional depreciation ledger accounts and internal notes. |
| Details | A read-only view of the class's data with shortcuts to edit or delete it if you have the corresponding permission. |
How to create a class step by step
- Open the list and click New. You need the "add" level of the Fixed Assets permission.
- Enter the name. It's the only required field, for example "Computer Equipment" or "Vehicles". It must be different from any other class already registered.
- Pick the Depretiation Expense Account (optional). This is the expense ledger account used by default when calculating the monthly depreciation of the Fixed Assets in this class, when a specific asset doesn't have its own account assigned.
- Pick the Accumulated Depretiation Account (optional). This is the balance sheet (contra-asset) account where the depreciation of the Fixed Assets in this class accumulates, following the same fallback logic as the expense account.
- Add notes (optional) if you want to clarify for your team which kind of asset should use this class.
- Save. The class is immediately available in the "Fixed Asset Class" field on any Fixed Asset record.
Where it's used
- In the Fixed Asset Class field on each Fixed Asset's record, to classify it within your catalog.
- As the source of the depreciation ledger accounts when processing Depretiations (the automatic monthly run) and Depretiation Adjustments (manual entries): if the Fixed Asset doesn't have its own accounts assigned, AdmCloud falls back to its Fixed Asset Class's accounts before falling back to the Subsidiary's or the company's general configuration, and ultimately looks up or creates a suitable account in the ledger catalog.
Key fields
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Name | The class's description (for example, "Computer Equipment" or "Vehicles"). It's the only required field and cannot repeat with another class already registered. |
| Depretiation Expense Account | The expense ledger account proposed by default when calculating the monthly depreciation of the Fixed Assets in this class, when the asset doesn't have its own account assigned. |
| Accumulated Depretiation Account | The balance sheet account where the depreciation of the Fixed Assets in this class accumulates, following the same fallback logic as the expense account. |
| Notes | Free text to clarify the internal use of this class, visible only within this screen. |
Validations when saving
- Name is required.
- Name must be unique: it cannot repeat with another class already registered.
- You cannot delete a class if there are already Fixed Assets registered with it assigned; the system shows you the list of affected assets so you know which ones to reassign first.
Availability, plan and modules
- This screen is only available on the Enterprise plan, and only when your company has the Fixed Assets module active. If the module isn't active, neither the menu nor the screen will be visible.
- Access is controlled by the "Fixed Assets" permission of your user group (the same permission that governs the rest of the Fixed Assets module), with separate levels to view, add, edit and delete.
Tips and common pitfalls
Design your class catalog around depreciation. Group your assets by the ledger accounts they're actually posted against in your financial statements (for example, separating production machinery, vehicles and furniture), so account assignment stays consistent instead of having to be checked asset by asset.
Use the class's accounts to save yourself work. If every Fixed Asset in a class will depreciate against the same expense and accumulated depreciation accounts, set them here instead of repeating them on each individual asset — you'll only need to define an exception on the one asset that uses different accounts.
Can't delete a class? That's because one or more Fixed Assets already have it assigned. Reassign those assets to another class before trying to delete it again.
Don't confuse this with Equipment Class. Fixed Asset Class classifies any type of asset for depreciation and accounting purposes; if you need to group specifically your machinery and vehicles for maintenance, transportation and rate reports, use the Equipment Classes catalog instead.