Accounting theory and practice, Volume 2 (of 3) : a textbook for colleges and…

CHAPTER X

DEPRECIATION—APPRAISEMENT OF THE VARIOUS METHODS General Considerations No method of estimating depreciation will ever be devised which will be applicable under all conditions and to all kinds of property. Such a panacea for the ills of wasting assets can obviously never be found, for the very good reason that the same medicine will not suit all patients. What gives good results in one case may not be applicable or not equally so, in another case. In discussing the relative merits of the various methods, therefore, no dogmatic rules for their use can be laid down; furthermore, without a detailed knowledge of operating conditions, only their main points of strength and weakness can be pointed out, and this is all that will be attempted here. In a critical discussion of methods and their effects, the fact of depreciation may be considered from either the viewpoint of time or service. Depreciation when viewed from the aspect of time may be said to be due to: