The quick answer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Revaluation, select the asset in Asset ID/Name, and enter the new number of periods in Adj Lifetime. Add a Transaction Date on or after the asset's last depreciation date and a Transaction Reference, click Calculate, then click Process Revaluation. Refresh FAM Process Status until the process is Completed with no errors. With the Current Period revision rule, FAM recalculates the depreciation already taken on the new lifetime and posts the difference as a Revaluation row and journal, and it deletes the old forecast. Run Precompute Depreciation Values on Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup to rebuild the future schedule, then check the depreciation history, the journal and the asset.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own asset, accounts and values when following the steps.
Before you start
This example extends the life of FAM000058, Labeling Machine - Line 3, a Production Equipment asset in the Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio subsidiary. It cost 36,000.00 on 01/01/2026 and depreciates straight line over 48 months with no residual value. January through September 2026 have posted at 750.00 a month, so cumulative depreciation is 6,750.00 and net book value is 29,250.00. A rebuild means the machine will run for six years instead of four, so the lifetime becomes 72 months.
You need Fixed Assets Management installed and a role that can run FAM processes and create journals. The example assumes one accounting book and one accounting depreciation method, with no alternate or tax methods, monthly depreciation periods that follow the calendar, no depreciation convention that changes the first or last period, an asset that is active for depreciation, standard journals with no approval (with approvals on, the journal can wait for approval instead of posting), and an open October 2026 period. Check the pending-process list too: no other revaluation or depreciation process for the asset should be queued. If your asset has alternate or tax methods, or you use Multi-Book Accounting, revaluation applies by book and method: check which section holds the Adj Lifetime you want, and check the others separately. A nonzero residual value, a mid-month convention or an annual depreciation period changes the amounts, the row count and the end date you'll see.
Changing the lifetime on the asset type doesn't revise assets that already exist, because the type only supplies defaults when an asset is created. Editing the asset's lifetime by hand doesn't touch depreciation already posted or create the correcting journal. Asset Revaluation does both in one FAM process, and you check the result afterwards.
01. Check the asset and its schedule
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click View on FAM000058. Note the starting values: Asset Original Cost and Asset Current Cost are both 36,000.00, Asset Lifetime is 48, Cumulative Depreciation is 6,750.00, Current Net Book Value is 29,250.00, and Asset Status is Depreciating.
Click the General subtab. Depreciation End Date is 12/31/2029, Last Depreciation Period is 9, Last Depreciation Amount is 750.00 (36,000.00 ÷ 48) and Last Depreciation Date is 09/30/2026. Nine months at 750.00 make up the 6,750.00. Revision Rules is Current Period, which decides what the lifetime change does to depreciation already posted.
Click the Depreciation History subtab, then click Depreciation Histories on the Accounting Method row. The forecast months run from 10/31/2026 at 750.00, with Net Book Value 28,500.00, to 12/31/2029, where Net Book Value reaches 0.00. They have no Posting Reference because nothing has been posted for them. The last posted month, 09/30/2026, sits just below on Journal #JE571. This is the schedule you're about to replace.
02. Enter the new lifetime on Asset Revaluation
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Revaluation. In Asset ID/Name, select FAM000058 Labeling Machine - Line 3. The page loads Asset Type Production Equipment, Current Book Value 29,250.00, Revision Method Current Period and Asset Status Depreciating. This asset has one depreciation method, Straight Line, with Current Cost 36,000.00 and Asset Lifetime 48. An asset with more methods shows a section for each.
Fill in the change:
- Adj Lifetime: enter 72. It's counted in depreciation periods, so for a monthly asset that's 72 months.
- Transaction Date: enter 10/06/2026. It dates the revaluation and its journal, and it can't be earlier than the asset's Last Depreciation Date of 09/30/2026. Its period needs to be open.
- Transaction Reference: enter Rebuild extends service life. It becomes the memo on the journal lines.
Leave Write-Down % and the other Adj fields blank. This revaluation changes the lifetime only. Click Calculate. Write-down Amount stays blank because no cost is written down. In the account used for this example you still have to click Calculate: Process Revaluation without it stopped with a message that the revaluation must be calculated first.
03. Process the revaluation
Click Process Revaluation. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status. Find the Asset Revaluation process by its name and the time you submitted it. In this example it's the first row, with status Queued, but the list can be long and ordered differently in your account, so refresh or sort it if you don't see the row. Click Refresh. The status changes to In Progress and Process Stage shows the current stage, here 1/5: Revalue Assets. Keep clicking Refresh until the status is Completed. If it ends Completed with Errors, read the error before you try again.
Click Details on that row. In this run, 1/5 Revalue Assets shows Assets/Tax methods revalued: 1, and 3/5 Delete Old Forecast Values shows how many unposted forecast rows were removed. The other stages are Not Required and the Errors column is empty. Stage names, numbers and counts depend on the asset, its methods and books and your FAM version, so treat them as this example's output and check that the revaluation stage completed and Errors is empty.
04. Read the Revaluation row
Go back to FAM000058, click the Depreciation History subtab, then click Depreciation Histories on the Accounting Method row. One new row is dated 10/06/2026: a Revaluation of -2,250.00 with Net Book Value 31,500.00 and Posting Reference Journal #JE588. There's no Write-down row, because cost didn't change. The nine posted Depreciation rows still show 750.00 each on their own journals, and the forecast rows are gone.
The -2,250.00 comes from the Current Period revision rule. FAM recalculates the depreciation already taken as if 72 months had applied from the start. 36,000.00 ÷ 72 is 500.00 a month, so nine months come to 4,500.00. 6,750.00 had already posted, so 2,250.00 reverses. The posted rows aren't rewritten. The Revaluation row carries the correction. With the Remaining Life rule, FAM doesn't recalculate posted months and spreads the net book value over the periods that remain, so there's no catch-up row.
05. Check the revaluation journal
Click Journal #JE588. Date is 10/06/2026, Posting Period is Oct 2026 and Subsidiary is Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio. On the Lines subtab this example has two lines, with debits and credits each totaling 2,250.00. The journal number and account names are this example's values, and the accounts come from the Accounts subtab on the asset:
- Credit the depreciation expense account, 6750 Depreciation Expense : Depr. Exp. - Production Equipment, for 2,250.00
- Debit the accumulated depreciation account, 1655 Accumulated Depreciation : Acc. Depr. - Production Equipment, for 2,250.00
This reverses the depreciation that was over-taken on the 48-month life. Both lines carry the memo Rebuild extends service life (FAM), from the Transaction Reference. A write-down would add lines for the write-down and asset accounts, but a lifetime-only change doesn't.
Open the journal's GL Impact and compare, because custom journals, multi-book accounting, approvals or required department, class and location values can change the lines you see. If the October period had been locked, the journal could land in a different period, so read Posting Period rather than assuming it.
06. Confirm the asset's new values
Go back to FAM000058. Asset Original Cost and Asset Current Cost are still 36,000.00. Asset Lifetime is now 72, Cumulative Depreciation is 4,500.00 (6,750.00 − 2,250.00) and Current Net Book Value is 31,500.00 (36,000.00 − 4,500.00). Asset Status is still Depreciating.
Click the General subtab. Depreciation End Date is now 12/31/2031, two years later than the 12/31/2029 you saw before.
07. Rebuild the forecast and check future depreciation
The revaluation deleted the unposted forecast, and it doesn't necessarily rebuild it in the same process. FAM creates replacement rows when a Generate Depreciation Schedule process runs. To see them now, go to Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup and click Precompute Depreciation Values. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with a Generate Depreciation Schedule process, status Queued. Click Refresh until it's Completed with no errors. Precompute generates forecast depreciation values and doesn't post depreciation journals. It can regenerate schedules for other eligible assets too, so run it deliberately, not in the middle of a close.
Reopen the depreciation history for FAM000058. The rows are listed newest first, and the Record selector now reads 1 - 50 of 74. The first page starts at the last forecast month, 12/31/2031, with Net Book Value 0.00.
Choose 51 - 74 of 74 in the Record selector. The first forecast month is 10/31/2026: 500.00 (36,000.00 ÷ 72), leaving Net Book Value 31,000.00. That's 63 forecast depreciation rows in all. None has a Posting Reference yet, because Asset Depreciation posts them month by month. Just below are the Revaluation row, the nine posted months at 750.00 and the Acquisition.
Check the result
- Asset Revaluation is Completed on FAM Process Status, with no errors in its Details.
- The depreciation history has one Revaluation of -2,250.00 on 10/06/2026, linked to JE588, and no Write-down row.
- JE588 posts to Oct 2026 with debits and credits of 2,250.00 each.
- Asset Lifetime is 72, Cumulative Depreciation is 4,500.00 and Current Net Book Value is 31,500.00, with cost unchanged at 36,000.00.
- Depreciation End Date is 12/31/2031.
- After Precompute, 63 forecast months of 500.00 run from 10/31/2026 to 12/31/2031, ending at Net Book Value 0.00.
Run Asset Depreciation only after the forecast looks right. From October the asset should depreciate 500.00 a month.
Common questions
Why is there a negative Revaluation row after I extended an asset's life?
The asset uses the Current Period revision rule, so FAM recalculates the depreciation already posted on the new lifetime. At 72 months the charge is 500.00 a month, so nine periods should total 4,500.00, but 6,750.00 had posted at 750.00. FAM books the 2,250.00 difference as a negative Revaluation amount and posts a journal that debits accumulated depreciation and credits depreciation expense.
What's the difference between Current Period and Remaining Life?
Current Period recalculates depreciation through the current period and adjusts what was posted before. Remaining Life leaves the posted depreciation alone and spreads the asset's current net book value over the periods that remain, so it doesn't create a catch-up row.
Why does Process Revaluation tell me to calculate first?
In the account used for this example, Process Revaluation wouldn't run until Calculate had been clicked after the inputs were entered, even though only Adj Lifetime was filled in and Write-down Amount stayed blank. Click Calculate, then Process Revaluation.
Why did the future depreciation rows disappear, and how do I get them back?
The revaluation deletes the unposted forecast rows, because the old schedule no longer fits the new lifetime. Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup and click Precompute Depreciation Values. In this example it rebuilt 63 forecast rows of 500.00 and posted no journals. It can regenerate schedules for other eligible assets as well.
Does changing the useful life change the asset's cost?
No. Asset Original Cost and Asset Current Cost stay at 36,000.00. What changes is the depreciation: Cumulative Depreciation drops to 4,500.00, Current Net Book Value rises to 31,500.00, and the Depreciation End Date moves from 12/31/2029 to 12/31/2031.
Is it enough to edit Asset Lifetime on the asset or on the asset type?
No. Editing the field by hand doesn't create the Revaluation row or the correcting journal. Changing the lifetime on the asset type only sets the default for assets created afterwards and doesn't revise existing ones. Use Asset Revaluation, enter Adj Lifetime, click Calculate, and process it.
What should I check before running Asset Depreciation?
Check that the revaluation shows Completed on FAM Process Status with no errors, that the forecast rows were rebuilt, and that the asset shows the new lifetime, cumulative depreciation, net book value, end date and first forecast amount. Also check that the period is open and that no other revaluation or depreciation process is pending. These checks assume one book, one method, no residual value, monthly depreciation, no convention and no approvals.