Already owned — enter the Cost, In use since (when it first came into use), Books start on, and the Depreciation taken before then. Its life runs from the day it came into use; depreciation continues over what is left from the start date. The opening balance posts on the start date: the cost to the asset account, the depreciation taken to accumulated depreciation and the rest to Opening Balance Equity. Add asset.
Built over time — choose a category with a work-in-progress account, give the asset its description and the date building started, and Start building. The asset opens on its Costs tab. Add cost for each cost as it comes in:
- A vendor's bill — Vendor, Amount before tax, Tax, Due date, and Paid now from if it was paid at once. The bill is created in Purchases, posting to work in progress; no separate asset is made from it.
- Stock from inventory — Item, Quantity and From warehouse. The stock leaves inventory at what it is carried at.
- Another account — an Amount that Comes from another account: wages, a cost first booked as an expense, a bank payment.
While the asset is being built, a cost can be taken out again (the bill is deleted, the stock returned, the journal reversed), and a bill edited or voided changes the total. When it is finished, Put in use: the total collected moves from work in progress to the asset account and depreciation starts. After that its bills can no longer change its cost.