Depreciation analysis
The rates against the regulation, not against habit.
Depreciation is the part of the accounts most often carried forward out of habit. Assets that have stood in the register for years and were never depreciated. Rates that fluctuate from item to item. Special depreciation without the legal basis it relies on. A depreciation schedule that does not add up at the reporting date. Each of these points is a separate line of attack in proceedings.
Why here of all places
Because the audit has an easy time of it. A depreciation rate can be held against a table, an asset movement schedule can be recalculated against itself — no estimate and no plausibility test are needed for that. What the audit finds here, it finds reliably; what it finds goes into the report. And unlike an estimate, there is no methodological objection to it, only proof that it is nevertheless correct.
What is examined
| Test | How it shows | Why it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Assets never depreciated | items with an unchanged book value over years | The expense is missing in every year affected — and with it the result. |
| Fluctuating rates | similar assets carrying different rates | A deviation without a reason is a finding. |
| Special depreciation | a claim without a named legal basis | Without a provision there is no claim — and the dispute is lost before it begins. |
| The depreciation schedule | roll-forward against additions and disposals at the reporting date | If it does not add up, the whole asset movement schedule is in question. |
| Useful lives | the rate applied against the relevant regulation | Too short a life shifts expense into earlier years — with an interest effect. |
| Addition and disposal dates | date of acquisition against start of depreciation | To be checked to the month; rounding accumulates over the years. |
Rated by risk, not by where it was found
A list of forty points is no help. We rate every finding by what it can actually trigger in proceedings — and that includes the points that count against you. Anyone who only knows what speaks in their favour walks into the closing meeting unprepared.
What this examination does not do
It does not replace tax advice. Whether a treatment is permissible is for your tax adviser to decide; we establish whether the treatment agrees with the regulation and whether the asset movement schedule adds up in itself. The legal appraisal stays where it belongs.
What we contribute
We check every item against the relevant regulation, recalculate the asset movement schedule at the reporting date and rate the findings by risk. Every figure leads back to the document, every treatment to its provision.
The legal provisions cited here are given for information and do not replace legal advice.