Financial Ratios Part 19 of 21: Depreciation-Expense ratio (2024)

Adam Kantrovich, Michigan State University Extension -

How quickly does a business or farm go through its capital assets?

Financial ratios & indicators can assist in determining the health of a business. There is a minimum of 21 different ratios and indicators that can be looked at by many financial institutions. You cannot look at a single ratio and determine the overall health of a business or farming operation. Multiple ratios and indicators must be used along with other information to determine the total and overall health of a farming operation and business. This series of articles will look at 21 commonly used ratios and indicators.

Depreciation-Expense Ratio is a measurement of Financial Efficiency and is determined based on information derived from a business’ or farm operations financial statements specifically using the financials that determine gross farm income. The term Financial Efficiency refers to how effectively a business or farm is able to generate income. Looking at the Financial Efficiency of a business or farm assists the owner(s) in determining how the various aspects of the business such as production, financing, marketing, etc. effects the gross income of the business.

Depreciation-Expense Ratio is measured as a percentage, the lower the percentage the stronger the ratio. The Depreciation-Expense Ratio intimates the amount of income that is required to maintain the capital being used by the business or farm. The lower the percentages the better, a business or farm should be no higher than 5% to be considered strong. Any percentage higher than 15% means that the business or farm may be wearing out its capital to quickly.

When you take the following financial ratios and add them up they should total 100%:

  • Operating-Expense Ratio
  • Depreciation-Expense Ratio
  • Interest-Expense Ratio
  • Net Income Ratio

The following equation(s) will determine your Depreciation-Expense Ratio:

Depreciation-Expense Ratio = Depreciation / Gross Income

You can read the other articles in this series:
Part 1: The current ratio
Part 2: Working capital.
Part 3: Working capital to gross revenues
Part 4: Debt-to-asset ratio
Part 5: Equity-to-asset ratio
Part 6: Debt-to-equity ratio
Part 7: Net farm income
Part 8: Rate of return on assets
Part 9: Rate of return
Part 10: Operating profit margin
Part 11: The EBITDA measurement of profitability
Part 12: Operating profit margin
Part 13: Capital debt repayment margin
Part 14: Replacement margin
Part 15: Term debt coverage
Part 16: Replacement margin coverage ratio
Part 17: Asset turnover rate
Part 18: Operating-expense ratio
Part 20: Interest-expense ratio
Part 21: Net income ratio

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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Financial Ratios Part 19 of 21: Depreciation-Expense ratio (2024)

FAQs

Financial Ratios Part 19 of 21: Depreciation-Expense ratio? ›

The Depreciation-Expense Ratio intimates the amount of income that is required to maintain the capital being used by the business or farm. The lower the percentages the better, a business or farm should be no higher than 5% to be considered strong.

What is the depreciation expense ratio? ›

In the realm of asset management, the depreciation expense ratio plays a crucial role. It's determined by dividing the yearly depreciation expense of a company by its total revenue. This metric sheds light on the proportion of a company's revenue that is allocated to cover the depreciation of its assets.

How do you calculate depreciation expense? ›

Tracking the depreciation expense of an asset is important for reporting purposes because it spreads the cost of the asset over the time it's in use. The simplest way to calculate this expense is to use the straight-line method. The formula for this is (cost of asset minus salvage value) divided by useful life.

Is it better to depreciate or expense? ›

Expensing an item may bring in more money in the short term, but once you have expensed it, it does not qualify for write-offs on future tax returns. Depreciating an asset may result in less money upfront, but could result in fewer taxes owed in the future.

Where is depreciation expense recorded? ›

Depreciation expense is reported on the income statement as any other normal business expense, while accumulated depreciation is a running total of depreciation expense reported on the balance sheet.

What is the ideal ratio for depreciation? ›

The Depreciation-Expense Ratio intimates the amount of income that is required to maintain the capital being used by the business or farm. The lower the percentages the better, a business or farm should be no higher than 5% to be considered strong.

What is an example of a depreciation expense? ›

The method takes an equal depreciation expense each year over the useful life of the asset. For example, Company A purchases a building for $50,000,000, to be used over 25 years, with no residual value. The annual depreciation expense is $2,000,000, which is found by dividing $50,000,000 by 25.

What is the normal balance of depreciation expense? ›

Credit balance is the normal balance of an accumulated depreciation account. Accumulated depreciation has a credit balance because it aggregates the amount of depreciation expense charged against a fixed asset.

What is the formula for depreciation with example? ›

Each period's depreciation amount is calculated using the formula: annual depreciation rate/ number of periods in the year. For example, in a 12 period year, if an asset's expected life is 60 months, the annual depreciation rate for the asset is: 12/60 = 20%, and the depreciation rate per period is 20% /12 = 0.0167%.

What is the formula for depreciation deduction? ›

You subtract the salvage value from the cost basis. Divide that number by the number of years of useful life. This will give you your annual depreciation deduction under the straight-line method.

Is depreciation expense a tax deduction? ›

Depreciation is an annual income tax deduction that allows you to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time you use the property. It is an allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence of the property.

Does depreciation affect net income? ›

Depreciation allocates the cost of an item over its useful life. It impacts net income. Net income is the amount of revenue left after all expenses, depreciation, taxes, and interest have been accounted for.

Is depreciation added back for tax? ›

Tax rules governing depreciation fall under the umbrella of capital allowances. In essence, depreciation in itself is not tax deductible. But, capital allowances are tax deductions that businesses can claim for the effective depreciation of certain assets.

What is the formula for the expense ratio? ›

This is represented by the expense ratio formula, which is calculated by dividing total expenses by the total assets of the funds. The higher the asset base, the smaller the ratio, and vice versa, assuming total expenses stay constant.

Is depreciation tax deductible? ›

Introduction. Depreciation is an annual income tax deduction that allows you to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time you use the property. It is an allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence of the property.

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