How to register a fixed asset

What is it for?

The asset form holds everything needed to spread the cost of an item the company will use for more than a year: the cost, the date it started working, the useful life and the tax rate from Regulatory Decree (Decreto Regulamentar) no. 25/2009. When you put it into use, Odoo calculates the accounting plan and the tax plan.

Under the SNC, tangible fixed assets (equipment, vehicles, buildings) are depreciated and intangible assets (for example software) are amortised. Odoo uses the word “depreciation” in both cases; for an intangible, read “amortisation”.

When to use it?

• You bought equipment, a vehicle, furniture or software that you will use for more than a year.
• An asset has started working and does not have a form yet.
• Do not use it for day-to-day consumable purchases (office supplies, small repairs): those go to expenses on the supplier invoice.

Where to find it?

Accounting › Record › Fixed assets (in the Partners and assets group). The Fixed Assets list opens with the In use filter.

Before you start

• Your profile is Accountant.
• The purchase invoice is already posted (see How to post a supplier invoice), with the purchase in the asset account. You have to hand the supplier, the acquisition date, the date the asset started being used and the cost.
• The cost is the amount without the VAT that the company deducts. VAT that is not deductible (for example on a passenger car) is part of the asset's cost. Pending validation by a certified accountant: non-deductible VAT in the acquisition cost (NCRF 7 and VAT Code (CIVA), art. 21).
• You know the useful life and the DR 25/2009 rate code. If you do not, ask the certified accountant.
• The asset category exists (in the demonstration: Buildings and other constructions, Administrative equipment, Transport equipment and Computer programs). The category brings the accounts for the asset, the accumulated depreciation (or amortisation) and the expense.

How to use it

1. In the Fixed Assets list, click New. The form opens In preparation, on the General tab.

2. Type the Name, for example Computador da contabilidade, and choose the Category, for example Administrative equipment. After you type the name and move to the next field, the banner “Suggestion from the description: · [II-2240] Computadores” appears above the form, with Use the suggestion. It is the DR 25/2009 rate code that fiscaldoo proposes from the name: Use the suggestion selects it in the Tax board tab (step 6), and the Tax Rate (%) becomes 33.3300. Use it only if the code is right for the asset; if not, ignore the banner and choose the code in step 6.

3. Choose the Supplier and type the Acquisition Date and the Start of Use Date, in the example 01/07/2026 for both. If you want to link the form to the purchase, choose it in Source Invoice. Leave Condition on New.

4. In Processing, choose Monthly or Annual (it defaults to Annual):

   • Monthly creates one instalment per month, and the depreciation goes into each month's trial balance when you process the month. It suits a company that closes its accounts every month, and it is the choice in the example and in the next article;
   • Annual creates a single instalment per year, dated 31/12: interim trial balances do not show the asset's depreciation until the end of the year.

5. Open the Accounting board tab. In Acquisition Value, type 1.200,00. In Accounting Useful Life (years), type 3. The Accounting Method comes as Straight line and the Accounting Proration in the Year of Entry as Twelfths (months in use). Accounts of the category shows the accounts the category brings: in the example 435, 4385 and 6425 Equipamento administrativo.

6. Open the Tax board tab. In DR 25/2009 Rate, type part of the asset's name and choose the code, for example [II-2240] Computadores. If you clicked Use the suggestion in step 2, the code is already chosen: check it. The Tax Rate (%) becomes 33.3300 and, further down, the Maximum Annual Quota (€399.96), the Minimum Annual Quota (€199.98) and the Months in Use in the Year of Entry (6) appear. The same tab has Non-deductible VAT and the Low Value group (see “Important notes”).

7. Click Put in use.

Expected result

• The asset becomes In use and gets the next code, in the example AF/00011, with a Cost and Net book value of €1,200.00.
• The Depreciation plan tab shows the Planned instalments, one per month: €33.33 from 31/07/2026 to 30/06/2029 (36 months, with the cents adjusted in the last ones), and the tax instalments, also monthly.
• Nothing has been posted yet: the July, August and September instalments go into the accounts when those months are processed, in the next article, How to process the month's depreciation.

Demonstration video

The first video shows steps 1 to 4: New, the name Computador da contabilidade, the category Administrative equipment, the acquisition and start of use dates (01/07/2026) and Monthly processing. At the end it saves the form, which stays In preparation. The Supplier is left empty.

No telemóvel, rode-o para a horizontal e veja o vídeo em ecrã inteiro: o texto do ecrã fica legível.

Register an asset: name, category and dates · 30 s · sem som, com legendas · legendas (WebVTT)

Transcrição

The second video shows steps 5 to 7. It starts on the form already saved after step 4, with the name, the category, the dates and Monthly processing.

No telemóvel, rode-o para a horizontal e veja o vídeo em ecrã inteiro: o texto do ecrã fica legível.

Register an asset: values, tax rate and put in use · 30 s · sem som, com legendas · legendas (WebVTT)

Transcrição

Important notes

• Accounting quota and tax quota. In the example, one year's accounting quota (€400.00) is higher than the maximum tax quota (€399.96, 33.33% of €1,200.00). The Book vs tax tab shows, for each fiscal year end, Accounting Quota, Maximum Tax Quota, Accepted Quota and Not Accepted Quota. The non-accepted quota is an expense that Corporate Income Tax (IRC) does not accept: it is added back to taxable profit in the IRC return (Form 22 (Modelo 22)). Pending validation by a certified accountant: treatment of the non-accepted quota (table 07 of Form 22) and the DR 25/2009 rate applicable to each asset.
• Low-value assets. DR 25/2009 allows an asset with a unit value up to €1,000 to be depreciated in a single year, unless it is part of a set. The example (€1,200.00) is above that value and follows the normal plan. For an asset below it, see the Low Value group in the Tax board (Part of a Set?, Low Value Proposed?, Low Value (confirmed)?) and decide with the certified accountant. Pending validation by a certified accountant: application of the €1,000 limit (DR 25/2009, art. 19).
• Software. It is an intangible asset: it is amortised, and the category's accounts should be those for intangibles. Check them in Accounts of the category before putting it into use. Pending validation by a certified accountant: accounts and amortisation rate for software.
• Asset in use. After Put in use, the form has the Process accounting periods and Dispose of / Scrap buttons. Check the dates, the value and the Processing before putting it into use.

Common problems

“Why it is not depreciated: The asset is in preparation: it has not entered into operation yet.”

• Cause: the asset has not been put into use yet.
• What to do: check the data and click Put in use.

The DR 25/2009 Rate does not appear when typing the number

• Cause: the search is by the asset's name.
• What to do: type part of the name, for example computador, and choose the code from the list.

All the plan's instalments are dated 31/12

• Cause: Processing was left on Annual, the default value.
• What to do: if the company closes its accounts every month, the asset should be on Monthly. Check the Processing before Put in use; on an asset already in use, talk to the certified accountant.