BA II Plus Depreciation: Straight-Line, Declining Balance and SYD

In this tutorial

• The DEPR worksheet fields: LIF, M01, CST, SAL, YR, DEP, RBV, RDV
• Choosing the method: SL, SYD, DB or DBX
• Example 1: 200% declining balance on a $300,000 machine (official TI example)
• Example 2: sum-of-years-digits on a $50,000 asset
• Reading DEP, RBV and RDV for any year
• Common mistakes and error traps

Opening the DEPR worksheet

Press [2nd] then [DEPR] (above the number 4). The top of the worksheet shows the current method: SL, SYD, DB or DBX. Scroll with the arrow keys through these fields:

• LIF — depreciable life in years (e.g. 7).
• M01 — starting month, 1–12 (1 = January). Partial first-year depreciation is prorated automatically.
• CST — the asset's cost.
• SAL — expected salvage value.
• YR — the year of depreciation you want to compute.
• DEP — the depreciation expense for that year.
• RBV — remaining book value after that year.
• RDV — remaining depreciable value (book value minus salvage).

Choosing the method

With the worksheet open, press [2nd] then [SET] to cycle: SL → SYD → DB → DBX. DBX is the declining-balance method that switches to straight-line in the year the straight-line amount would be larger — the behavior tax codes often require. In DB and DBX, the field order adds DB% before LIF where you enter the declining-balance percentage (200 = double declining).

Example 1: 200% declining balance on a $300,000 machine

This is the classic example from Texas Instruments' own knowledge base: a machine costs $300,000, has a 7-year life and zero salvage, and is depreciated with the 200% declining-balance method, starting in January. Find the first-year depreciation.

1. Press [2nd] then [DEPR] to enter the worksheet.
2. Press [2nd] then [CLR WORK].
3. Press [2nd] then [SET] until DBX appears, selecting the declining-balance crossover method.
4. Enter 200, press [ENTER] — the declining-balance percentage.
5. Scroll down once, enter 7, press [ENTER] — the life in years.
6. Scroll down once, enter 1, press [ENTER] — the starting month (January).
7. Scroll down once, enter 300000, press [ENTER] — the cost.
8. Scroll down once and confirm SAL shows 0.
9. Scroll down once and confirm YR shows 1.
10. Scroll down once — DEP for year 1 shows 85,714.29.
11. Scroll down once — RBV shows 214,285.71.
12. Scroll down once — RDV shows 214,285.71.

To get year 2, scroll back to YR, enter 2, press [ENTER], then scroll down and press [CPT] — the worksheet recomputes DEP, RBV and RDV for that year. Repeat for every year you need.

Example 2: sum-of-years-digits on a $50,000 asset

A $50,000 piece of equipment has a 5-year life and a $5,000 salvage value. Using sum-of-years-digits, find the first-year depreciation.

1. Press [2nd] then [DEPR].
2. Press [2nd] then [CLR WORK].
3. Press [2nd] then [SET] until SYD appears.
4. Scroll down, enter 5, press [ENTER] — the life.
5. Scroll down, enter 1, press [ENTER] — starting month (January).
6. Scroll down, enter 50000, press [ENTER] — the cost.
7. Scroll down, enter 5000, press [ENTER] — the salvage value.
8. Scroll down, confirm YR is 1.
9. Scroll down — DEP shows 15,000.
10. Scroll down — RBV shows 35,000.

Verify by hand: SYD denominator = 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15; year 1 factor = 5/15; depreciable base = 50,000 − 5,000 = 45,000; 45,000 × 5/15 = 15,000. The worksheet agrees.

Straight-line in three keystrokes

For SL, the same fields work with SL selected: a $20,000 printer, 4-year life, $2,000 salvage gives DEP = (20,000 − 2,000) ÷ 4 = 4,500 every year. You can also skip the worksheet entirely — SL is simple division — but DEPR keeps your year-by-year book value consistent across all four methods.

Reading DEP, RBV and RDV

• DEP is the depreciation expense for the year shown in YR — the number that hits the income statement.
• RBV is cost minus accumulated depreciation through that year — the balance-sheet number.
• RDV is what is left to depreciate after considering salvage — RBV minus salvage. When it reaches 0, depreciation stops.

For a mid-year purchase, M01 prorates year 1: a machine bought in July (M01 = 7) gets half a year of depreciation in year 1, and the depreciation extends past the "7th year" into the first months of year 8. Questions that test partial-year depreciation love this field.

Common mistakes and error traps

• Wrong method selected. If DEP looks like a straight-line amount when you wanted double-declining, cycle the method again with [2nd] then [SET] until the right label shows.
• Missing the DB% field. In DB/DBX mode, the percentage comes before LIF; forgetting it leaves the prior percentage, usually 150.
• Forgetting CLR WORK. Old cost or salvage values silently change every answer.
• YR greater than life. The worksheet returns the final-year value or zero once the asset is fully depreciated; set YR inside 1–LIF.
• Reading RBV as RDV. With a large salvage value the two differ; know which number the question asks for.

Related tutorials

Depreciation feeds financial-statement analysis, which also leans on the TVM and NPV/IRR tools in the basics and advanced functions tutorials. When an error code appears mid-entry, the reset and error-code guide lists every code and its fix. For projecting future book values or cash flows, see linear regression with STAT mode.

References

• Texas Instruments — Solution 11244: Depreciation Worksheet on the BA II PLUS Family Calculator
• Texas Instruments — BA II PLUS Guidebook (official user manual)
• BAIIPlus.com — How to Calculate Depreciation on Rental Property
• AEA — How to Use a BA II Plus Financial Calculator