What it is
One row per asset carries cost, salvage, book life and the dates. The register calculates straight-line book depreciation by month and federal MACRS tax depreciation from the IRS tables: half-year and mid-quarter conventions for 3- to 20-year property, mid-month for 27.5- and 39-year real property, with section 179 and bonus entered per asset. The mid-quarter test is calculated from the register itself: when more than 40% of the depreciable basis of 3- to 20-year property placed in service in the year went into service in the last three months, the mid-quarter convention applies to all of it.
The Summary builds the cost and accumulated depreciation rollforwards two ways and ties both to the general ledger, computes book gain or loss on disposals, totals tax depreciation by class for the Form 4562 workpapers and measures the book-tax difference and the deferred tax liability at your rate. The percentage tables are those in IRS Publication 946, Appendix A, and the Legend lists what the register does not model.
When to use it
- Year-end fixed asset schedules for the financial statements and the tax return workpapers.
- Audit or review of property and equipment, depreciation expense and the book-tax difference.
- Setting up a register for a small entity that has no fixed asset software.
What’s inside
- Register: 60 asset rows, book depreciation, status, rollforward columns, gain or loss and capitalization flag
- Tax columns: class, section 179, bonus, convention, recovery year, MACRS rate and depreciation
- MACRS Tables sheet with Tables A-1 to A-5 percentages and cumulative rates, plus real property first-year rates
- Summary: cost and accumulated depreciation rollforwards, ledger tie-out, tax depreciation by class, deferred tax
- Settings with the calculated mid-quarter test
Standard cited
This template follows ASC 360-10; IRC 168; IRS Pub. 946. It is written in our own words, except for phrases the standard requires the document to contain, with [bracketed placeholders] for client details, amounts in USD and dates as MM/DD/YYYY. Check it against the current standard and your firm’s methodology before use.
Questions
When does the mid-quarter convention apply?
When the mid-month convention does not apply and the depreciable basis of MACRS property placed in service in the last three months of the tax year exceeds 40% of the depreciable basis of all MACRS property placed in service in the year. Nonresidential real property, residential rental property, property placed in service and disposed of in the same year and property depreciated under a method other than MACRS are left out. The basis is reduced for section 179 but not for the special depreciation allowance (Pub. 946).
What are the current section 179 and bonus rules?
Publication 946 shows a section 179 limit of $2,500,000 for tax years beginning in 2025, reduced dollar for dollar once the cost of section 179 property placed in service exceeds $4,000,000, and $2,560,000 with the reduction beginning at $4,090,000 for 2026. Under Pub. L. 119-21 the 100% special depreciation allowance applies to qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025; property acquired before January 20, 2025 and placed in service in 2025 is limited to 40%. The register takes the bonus percentage you enter for each asset.
Why can real property differ from the published tables in later years?
First-year amounts use the Table A-6 and A-7a percentages for the month placed in service. Later years use the straight-line rate for the class and the final year takes the remainder, so later-year amounts can differ from the published tables by rounding.
How are disposals handled for tax?
Assets with a disposal date in the tax year are excluded from the tax columns. Depreciation in the year of disposal follows the convention rules, and gain, loss and recapture are reported on Form 4797, so compute them separately. Book gain or loss on disposal is calculated in the register.
Related templates
- Fixed Asset Rollforward (Excel)
- Fixed Asset Additions Testing Workpaper
- Audit Program: Fixed Assets
- Deferred Tax Rollforward and Valuation Allowance Worksheet
Last updated 11/05/2026. All free templates.