How to Calculate 200 DB

Asset depreciation is a category in accounting that indicates the asset reduction in price over time. Declining balance (DB) is the common method to calculate the depreciation that implies the constant depreciation rate. Two hundred DB is the 200 percent or double declining balance method, which simply doubles the normal depreciation rate. As an example, calculate the 200 DB depreciation of an asset over five years that had an initial value of $6,000.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Calculator

1. Divide one by the number of years to calculate the single declining balance rate. In our example, it is 1/5 = 0.2 or 20 percent.

2. Multiply the rate from Step 1 by 2 to calculate the 200 DB rate. In the example, it is 0.2 x 2 = 0.4 or 40 percent.

3. Multiply the current asset value by the 200 DB rate to compute the 200 DB depreciation value for the first year. In our example, the current asset value in the first year is $6,000 and the 200 DB depreciation value is $6,000 x 0.4 = $2,400.

4. Subtract the 200 DB depreciation value (Step 3) from the current asset value to calculate the end-of-year price. In our example, it is $6,000 minus $2,400 = $3,600. Note that the end-of-year price becomes the current value for the next year.

5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to compute the 200 Db depreciation and end-of-year values for the rest of years. In our example, calculations for the second to fifth years are given in the table (see figure).

References

• "Declining balance", SAS Institute Inc, 2000.