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An accelerated depreciation method is appropriate when the asset's economic usefulness is the same each year. True or False?

User Lipsumar
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Final answer:

The statement is false because accelerated depreciation methods are suitable for assets that provide more economic benefits in the initial years, not for those with uniform usefulness each year.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that an accelerated depreciation method is appropriate when the asset's economic usefulness is the same each year is False. Accelerated depreciation methods, such as the double-declining balance method or the sum-of-the-years'-digits method, are more appropriate when the asset will be most useful or generate more revenue in the earlier years of its life. These methods allocate higher depreciation expense in the early years and less in the later years, which might correspond to an asset's higher maintenance costs as it ages or to its technological obsolescence.

Conversely, the straight-line depreciation method is used when an asset's economic usefulness and revenue-generating potential are relatively uniform over its useful life. This method spreads the cost of the asset evenly over its expected useful life.

For example, let's consider a truck used for delivery purposes. Under an accelerated depreciation method like the declining balance method, the deductions would be higher in the early years when the truck's value is considered higher due to its higher productivity and lower in later years when the truck's value is lower due to wear and tear.

User Ben Barreth
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