Split a fixed asset into several

An asset has been posted as one card, but in reality it should be several: for example split by departments, locations or individual parts. In BC you do this with the Fixed Asset Reclassification Journal, and it distributes acquisition cost and depreciation by percentage. It works, but it is manual work if there are many assets. Here are the procedure and the practical limits. It is a practical walk-through. The figures are indicative.

How to split one asset

According to Microsoft Learn, you use the Fixed Asset Reclassification Journal. First you create the new fixed asset cards and assign them a depreciation book. Then you create a journal line per new asset. Here you enter the new asset number and a percentage in the Reclassify Acquisition Cost % field.

You tick Reclassify Acquisition Cost and Reclassify Depreciation, and choose Reclassify. Lines are then created in the FA G/L Journal, which you post.

Example from Learn

An asset is distributed across three departments: 25 percent is moved to the second asset and 45 percent to the third. The remaining 30 percent stays on the original asset. In the steps themselves Learn uses 25 and 40, so do the arithmetic yourselves, and make sure the percentages fit what you want to achieve.

Many assets at a time

The procedure splits one asset with one journal line per new asset. If you have 40 assets, you have to create many journal lines and the new asset cards. This is a limitation of standard, and we have not found a bulk split.

In many journals you can use Edit in Excel to fill in many lines, and Learn mentions configuration packages for bulk import in other journals. Check for yourselves whether they are available for fixed asset reclassification in your version.

If you buy many identical assets, BC can create several asset cards automatically when you post the purchase invoice, if you specify the number of asset cards. It is a preventive solution that only works on purchases, and not on assets that have already been posted.

Before you start

Create new asset cards with the right depreciation books, dimensions and posting groups.
Decide on an allocation key, and write it down for the auditor.
Run the reclassification on one asset first, and check the result with the report Fixed Asset - Book Value 02.
Post the FA G/L Journal, and reconcile acquisition cost and depreciation before and after.
Check closed periods and the depreciation date.

When it is worth it

If you only split a few assets a year, the journal is fine. If you split many, for example after a move or a split of a building, the work quickly becomes large. Then try one asset, measure the time, and calculate what it means for all of them. Also consider whether the assets should have been created as several cards from the start, so that no reclassification is needed later.

Example

An asset costing 500,000 is distributed across three departments: 20 percent is moved to the second asset and 30 percent to the third. The remaining 50 percent stays on the original asset. You create two new asset cards and two journal lines, one per new asset. Learn's own example calculates the percentages from the original asset's acquisition cost, but check the amounts in the journal yourselves before you post.

The idea on our list

The idea Bulk Asset Split is about splitting many assets at once instead of one at a time. At Addverk we collect ideas for small apps that could close gaps like this. They are ideas we are considering, not something you can download or buy today. The list of 30 ideas is on the Coming up page, and you can see which of them look like what you are missing yourselves.