Depreciation calculator for Companies Act 2013 and Income Tax Act 1961

One asset register in. Two statutory schedules out — Companies Act and Income Tax Act — with the pro-rata and half-rate rules already applied.

Most depreciation errors are not arithmetic errors. They come from running one schedule when you need two, from getting pro-rata wrong on mid-year additions, and from a fixed asset register that has drifted away from the ledger. Finatica computes both statutory schedules from a single asset register so the difference between them is deliberate, not accidental.

Both statutes, one upload

Schedule II useful lives and Income Tax block rates computed from the same register, so the deferred tax difference falls out of the working instead of being reverse-engineered.

Pro-rata and the 180-day rule

Mid-year additions and disposals are proportioned by date under the Companies Act and tested against the 180-day put-to-use rule under the Income Tax Act — automatically.

Audit-ready output

Opening WDV, additions, deletions, charge for the year and closing WDV per asset, exportable to Excel and traceable line by line.

WDV and SLM side by side

Run both methods on the same asset base to see the impact on the current year charge before you commit to a policy.

Why one depreciation schedule is never enough

An Indian company with a March year end needs its fixed asset note to follow Schedule II of the Companies Act 2013, and its tax computation to follow section 32 of the Income Tax Act 1961. Those two frameworks disagree on almost everything that matters: the unit of account, the rate, the method, and the treatment of assets bought part way through the year. Maintaining them in two separate spreadsheets is how registers drift apart — and drift is what an auditor finds. Finatica keeps a single asset register as the source of truth and derives both schedules from it.

Companies Act: per-asset useful life from Schedule II, SLM or WDV, pro-rata by date ready for use
Income Tax Act: block of assets, prescribed WDV rate per block, half rate if put to use under 180 days
The arithmetic difference between the two schedules is the input to your deferred tax working
Disposals are handled on both sides — profit or loss on sale under the Companies Act, block adjustment for tax

What the calculator actually computes

You upload a fixed asset register — asset description, category, date of purchase or date ready for use, cost, any residual value, and date of disposal where applicable. Finatica classifies each asset, applies the rate or useful life you have selected, and returns a full movement schedule for the period.

Opening written down value carried forward from the prior period
Additions during the year with the correct proportion of the annual charge
Deletions and disposals with the charge computed up to the date of sale
Depreciation charge for the year, per asset and rolled up by category or block
Closing written down value that ties to the balance sheet
A comparison view of WDV against Straight Line on the same asset base

The errors this removes

Manual depreciation workings fail in predictable ways, and every one of them is a review point. Automating the mechanical part means the reviewer spends their time on policy and estimate rather than on re-adding columns.

Assets capitalised in the year but depreciated for the full twelve months
The 180-day rule applied to the accounting schedule, where it does not belong
Residual value ignored, leaving assets depreciated below 5% of cost
Assets sold during the year still carrying a full year of charge
Opening WDV re-keyed from last year with a transposition error
A fixed asset register total that no longer agrees to the general ledger

Companies Act 2013 vs Income Tax Act 1961 — what changes

Unit of account — Companies Act 2013: Individual asset — Income Tax Act 1961: Block of assets
Basis — Companies Act 2013: Useful life (Schedule II) — Income Tax Act 1961: Prescribed rate per block
Method — Companies Act 2013: SLM or WDV, as per policy — Income Tax Act 1961: WDV
Mid-year additions — Companies Act 2013: Pro-rata from date ready for use — Income Tax Act 1961: Half rate if used under 180 days
Residual value — Companies Act 2013: Typically up to 5% of cost — Income Tax Act 1961: Not applicable at asset level
On disposal — Companies Act 2013: Profit or loss on sale recognised — Income Tax Act 1961: Sale proceeds reduce the block

How to calculate depreciation with Finatica

Four steps from a spreadsheet of assets to a schedule you can attach to the file.

Prepare your fixed asset register — Download the template, or bring your own sheet with asset description, category, cost, date ready for use, residual value and disposal date where relevant.
Choose the statute and method — Select Companies Act 2013 with Straight Line or WDV, or Income Tax Act 1961 block rates. You can run both against the same file.
Review the computed schedule — Check the per-asset movement — opening WDV, additions, charge, deletions, closing WDV — and the rolled-up totals by category or block.
Export and file — Download the Excel working for your audit file and carry the closing WDV forward as next year opening balance.

Who uses this

Practising chartered accountants preparing statutory financials and tax computations for multiple clients
Company finance teams closing a March year end with a large fixed asset base
Auditors who need a reperformable schedule rather than a spreadsheet with hard-coded numbers
Anyone maintaining a fixed asset register that has to satisfy both statutes

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between depreciation under the Companies Act and the Income Tax Act?

The Companies Act 2013 works from the useful life of each individual asset (Schedule II) and allows either the Straight Line Method or the Written Down Value method, with depreciation charged pro-rata from the date the asset is ready for use. The Income Tax Act 1961 works from blocks of assets at prescribed WDV rates, ignores individual asset identity within a block, and applies a half-rate rule to assets put to use for less than 180 days in the year. The two schedules will not agree, and the gap is what drives your deferred tax working.

Which is better, WDV or Straight Line Method?

Neither is universally better — they answer different questions. Straight Line spreads cost evenly and makes period-on-period comparison clean, which suits assets that deliver value steadily such as buildings and furniture. WDV front-loads the charge, which better matches assets that lose value fastest early on and that carry rising maintenance cost later, such as vehicles and IT equipment. For income tax purposes in India the choice is generally made for you: block-of-assets WDV.

How is depreciation calculated for an asset purchased mid-year?

Under the Companies Act, depreciation is charged pro-rata from the date the asset is available for use, so an asset ready in October carries roughly half a year of charge. Under the Income Tax Act the test is different: if the asset was put to use for fewer than 180 days in the previous year, only half of the normal block rate applies for that year, with no finer proportioning. Finatica applies both rules automatically from the date fields in your register.

Can I export the depreciation schedule to Excel?

Yes. The output downloads as an Excel workbook with opening WDV, additions, deletions, the depreciation charge and closing WDV per asset, so it can be tied directly to the fixed asset note in the financial statements.

Is the depreciation calculator free?

The calculator can be used without a paid plan. Creating a free account raises upload limits and lets you save schedules across periods so opening WDV carries forward instead of being re-entered each year.