Depreciation (AfA) Calculator
Enter the purchase price, useful life and start month, then pick straight-line or declining balance. The schedule shows annual write-off and residual book value per year.
About this tool
Depreciation (AfA) Schedules for German Bookkeeping
Spread the cost of equipment over its useful life and see the write-off and book value for every year.
Typical Useful Lives
Presets from the official AfA tables: computers 1 year, smartphones 3, company cars 6, machinery 8, fit-out 10 and office furniture 13 years — or your own.
Straight-Line or Declining
Declining balance switches to straight-line automatically in the year that gives the higher write-off, and the schedule names that year.
Low-Value Assets
Items up to EUR 800 net can be marked as low-value assets (GWG) and written off fully in the year of purchase.
How to use it
- Pick the asset type, or Custom useful life and enter the years.
- Enter the acquisition cost (net) and the month and year of purchase; the first year is counted pro rata.
- Choose the method: Linear (straight-line) or Declining balance with its factor.
- For items up to EUR 800 net, tick Low-value asset (GWG) instead.
- Read the schedule: opening value, depreciation, cumulative amount and book value for each year.
Frequently asked questions
Is my financial data uploaded to any server?
No. Every calculation, PDF and XML file is produced inside your browser tab with JavaScript and WebAssembly. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged — the tool also keeps working offline.
Which depreciation methods are supported?
Straight-line (equal annual amounts) and declining balance with an automatic switch to straight-line once that produces the higher write-off.
Is the tool really free to use?
Yes. The calculators, the invoice studio and the e-invoice tools are free to use, with no account and no watermark. The free plan has fair-use limits. Optional paid plans add higher limits and features such as customer management, reminders and bookkeeping.
Which declining-balance rate is allowed?
It depends on the purchase date (§ 7 (2) EStG), and the calculator applies the cap for the month and year you enter: three times the straight-line rate and at most 30 % a year for movable assets bought from July 2025 to December 2027, twice and 20 % for April to December 2024, and 2.5 times and 25 % for 2020 to 2022. For other dates declining balance is not allowed, so the schedule falls back to straight-line. Check with your tax adviser that your asset qualifies.