Fixed assets and depreciation
Create fixed assets from incoming documents, post depreciation for each fiscal year, record disposals and create the fixed asset schedule for Anlage AVEÜR.
Under Accounting → Fixed assets, you keep your asset register. If you buy something that you use for more than a year and that costs more than €250 net (for example a laptop or office furniture), the purchase price is not a business expense in the income surplus calculation. It is spread over the years through depreciation (AfA) (§ 4 Abs. 3 Satz 3 EStG). The input tax paid counts immediately.
Leadmode suggests the depreciation method and useful life and only posts when you trigger it. This does not replace tax advice. For buildings, vehicles with private use and whenever in doubt, ask your tax advisor.
Whoever has ‘Accounting: View’ may view. Whoever has ‘Accounting: Post’ may create fixed assets, post depreciation and record disposals. Whoever has ‘Closing and export’ may download PDF and CSV.
How to create a fixed asset
- Record the incoming document as usual and select a fixed asset account in the line (account type ‘Fixed assets’, for example office furniture or business equipment) instead of an expense account. If an expense is over €800 net, the check points this out.
- Approve the document. The line is then ready under Fixed assets → Create from documents.
- Click Create. Leadmode makes a suggestion based on the amount and type of asset:
| Case | Depreciation | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| up to €800 net | low-value asset, fully at once | § 6 Abs. 2 EStG |
| over €250 up to €1,000 net, if you chose the asset pool for the year | asset pool, one fifth per year over five years | § 6 Abs. 2a EStG |
| computers, accessories and software | useful life of one year, fully in the year of acquisition | BMF letter of 22.02.2022 |
| everything else | straight-line over the useful life, in the first year from the month of acquisition | § 7 Abs. 1 EStG |
Leadmode suggests the useful life according to the official depreciation table (AfA-Tabelle) (office furniture 13 years, office machines 7, vehicles 6). You can change the method and useful life as long as nothing has been posted.
The asset pool is a choice for the whole fiscal year: if one asset is in the asset pool, all assets over €250 up to €1,000 of that year belong there. If you have already depreciated an asset over €250 as a low-value asset, there is no asset pool for that year. Leadmode takes care of this.
If you posted a fixed asset differently (for example directly via the bank or as an opening balance), create it manually with Create fixed asset.
Posting depreciation
The Depreciation card shows, for the selected fiscal year and each fixed asset, the plan, what has already been posted and what is still open. Post posts exactly this preview: depreciation account to fixed asset account, on the last day of the fiscal year. A second run only posts what is missing. Locked months cannot be posted to; as always, a correction is made with a reversing entry in the journal.
It is best to post depreciation at year end before you transfer Anlage EÜR.
Disposal
If you sell, withdraw or scrap an asset, click Disposal. Leadmode posts depreciation up to the month of disposal and the residual book value to the selected account (template: ‘Disposals of tangible fixed assets (residual book value on book loss)’). Record the sale proceeds as usual as an invoice or bank entry on a revenue account for asset sales. Assets in the asset pool continue to be depreciated by one fifth per year despite the disposal (§ 6 Abs. 2a Satz 3 EStG); the disposal is only noted.
Fixed asset schedule and Anlage AVEÜR
The table shows, for each fixed asset, the acquisition cost, the opening book value, the depreciation for the year and the closing book value. Below it are the totals per group of Anlage AVEÜR, the fixed asset annex to Anlage EÜR (intangible assets, motor vehicles, office equipment, other movable assets), plus the asset pool and low-value assets. PDF and CSV contain the fixed asset schedule for the year; it is your asset register under § 4 Abs. 3 Satz 5 EStG.
In Anlage EÜR, depreciation appears via the accounts: Kz 130 (movable assets), 131 (software), 132 (low-value assets), 137 (asset pool) and 135 (residual book value).
Accounts
Accounts and mapping → Apply template adds the fixed asset and depreciation accounts without overwriting anything:
| SKR03 | SKR04 | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | 0027 | 0135 |
| Cars | 0320 | 0520 |
| Business equipment | 0410 | 0635 |
| Office furniture | 0420 | 0650 |
| Low-value assets | 0480 | 0670 |
| Asset pool | 0485 | 0675 |
| Other operating and office equipment | 0490 | 0690 |
| Depreciation of intangible assets | 4822 | 6200 |
| Depreciation of tangible fixed assets | 4830 | 6220 |
| Immediate write-off of low-value assets | 4855 | 6260 |
| Depreciation of asset pool | 4862 | 6264 |
| Residual book value on asset disposal | 2310 | 6895 |
| Proceeds from asset sales 19 % | 8820 | 4845 |
What is not included
Declining-balance depreciation, special depreciation and investment deduction amount (§ 7g EStG), buildings and private use of vehicles. You enter these values yourself with your tax advisor.
Sources
- Einkommensteuergesetz (Income Tax Act): § 4 Abs. 3, § 6 Abs. 2 und 2a, § 7 Abs. 1 EStG (gesetze-im-internet.de/estg)
- BMF letter (Federal Ministry of Finance) of 22.02.2022, IV C 3 - S 2190/21/10002 :025 (useful life of computer hardware and software)
- Depreciation table for generally usable fixed assets (AfA-Tabelle, BMF 15.12.2000)
- BMF letters on Anlage EÜR with Anlage AVEÜR (29.08.2025 and 01.09.2026)
- DATEV charts of accounts SKR03 and SKR04 2026
Tax figures
Advance VAT return, annual VAT return and Anlage EÜR from your bookkeeping, ready to transfer to ELSTER.
Intercompany settlement with your own organisations
Pay costs on behalf of another organisation you are also a member of, hand the document over to it and reconcile the open amounts on both sides.