The site of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, but few of the news stories marking the anniversary have explained the event's full significance. The Cold War had been raging for 14 years before the wall went up on Aug. 13, 1961.
Depreciation Defined. Depreciating an asset means allocating the asset's cost over its useful life. The useful life of an asset, or economic resource, is the period of time over which a company intends to use this asset in operating activities or manufacturing processes. Funded Depreciation Defined. Funded depreciation is a fixed asset management method that helps a company set aside funds to renew machinery and equipment that it uses in operating activities. For instance, a company buys a new truck valued at $100,000 and records $10,000 in annual depreciation expense over 10 years.
Depreciation is an accounting concept that applies to a business' fixed assets, such as buildings, furniture and equipment. It spreads the cost of the fixed asset over its useful life so that the expense of the asset can be matched to income.