The quick answer
Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > Asset Types and click New FAM Asset Type. Enter a Name, Accounting Method, Residual Percentage and Asset Lifetime. On the General subtab set Depreciation Active, Include in Reports, Revision Rules, Depreciation Rules and Financial Year Start, and on the Accounts subtab choose the six accounts. Save it. Then go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets, click New FAM Asset and pick the new type in Asset Type. The method, lifetime, residual percentage, period, rules and six accounts fill in, and a cost fills in the residual value. Check them before you save, and check the saved asset afterwards.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own types, accounts and values when following the steps.
Before you start
This example adds a Conveyor Systems type for Kestrel Ridge Packaging: Straight Line, 5% residual, an 84-period life, and its own six accounts. It then creates one asset, Sortation Line - Dock 2, costing 42,000.00 in the Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio subsidiary, with a Depreciation Start Date of 11/01/2026.
You need Fixed Assets Management installed and a role that can create asset types and assets. The accounts you choose have to exist, be active and be valid for the asset's subsidiary. If your account requires department, class or location on assets, have those values ready. The example assumes one accounting method with no alternate or tax methods and monthly depreciation.
Asset Lifetime is counted in depreciation periods. With a Monthly Depreciation Period, 84 means 84 months. Check the period your method uses before you pick the lifetime.
Choosing an asset type fills in the asset's starting values, and the asset keeps its own values from then on. Editing the type later doesn't normally change assets that already exist, so it's worth checking a first asset against the type before you create many. Labels, defaults and required fields can differ by FAM version and account, so compare each screen with yours.
01. Check the existing asset types
Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > Asset Types. The FAM Asset Type List shows each type's Name, Description and Operating Lease value. Here there are five types and none for conveyors, which is why the new type is needed.
02. Enter the asset type header
Click New FAM Asset Type. In Name, enter Conveyor Systems, and in Description, Conveyors and sortation equipment. Select Straight Line in Accounting Method. In Residual Percentage, enter 5 and in Asset Lifetime, enter 84. Name, Accounting Method, Residual Percentage and Asset Lifetime are required. Leave Operating Lease unchecked: it marks types used for lease accounting and isn't a depreciation option.
03. Set the General defaults
Click the General subtab. Set Depreciation Active to True and check Include in Reports. Set Revision Rules to Current Period and Depreciation Rules to Acquisition, and Financial Year Start to January. Depreciation Period shows Monthly. Leave Custodian, Supplier and Disposal Item blank.
Revision Rules decide how a later revaluation treats depreciation already posted. Current Period recalculates depreciation to date and posts the difference as an adjustment, and Remaining Life leaves posted depreciation alone and spreads what remains. Depreciation Rules decide when depreciation starts relative to the acquisition. Acquisition starts in the acquisition period, and the other choices change when the first period starts or prorate it.
04. Choose the accounts
Click the Accounts subtab. It holds six accounts. Select the Asset Account Conveyor Systems, the Depreciation Account Acc. Depr. - Conveyor Systems (accumulated depreciation) and the Depreciation Charge Account Depr. Exp. - Conveyor Systems (expense). Then select the Write Off Account Loss on Asset Disposal, the Write Down Account Impairment Loss on Fixed Assets and the Disposal Cost Account Loss on Asset Disposal. A new asset picks these accounts up as defaults, and the asset's own Accounts subtab is where you check what later FAM processing, such as depreciation, revaluation, write-down, transfer and disposal, will use. The lists show account names, and the chart of accounts behind them is this example's. More accounts can be required in your configuration.
05. Save the asset type and read it back
Click Save. The FAM Asset Type record for Conveyor Systems opens with Residual Percentage 5.0%, Asset Lifetime 84 and Accounting Method Straight Line. The percentage now shows its decimal. Click the General subtab and check Depreciation Active, Revision Rules, Depreciation Rules and Financial Year Start. Then click Accounts and check that the six accounts are the ones you chose.
06. Create an asset of that type
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click New FAM Asset. In Asset Type, select Conveyor Systems. Before you type anything else, four fields fill in: Residual Value Percentage 5.0%, Depreciation Method Straight Line, Asset Lifetime 84 and Depreciation Period Monthly.
In Asset Original Cost, enter 42,000.00. Residual Value fills with 2,100.00, which is 5.0% of the cost, and Current Net Book Value shows 42,000.00, the cost before any depreciation. The percentage comes from the type, and the residual value is worked out from the percentage and the cost. You can enter a residual value yourself instead. In Name, enter Sortation Line - Dock 2.
Click the General subtab. Depreciation Active, Depreciation Rules, Revision Rules and Financial Year Start already carry the type's values. Select the Subsidiary Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio and enter a Depreciation Start Date of 11/01/2026.
Click the Accounts subtab. The Asset Account, Depreciation Account, Depreciation Charge Account, Write Off Account, Write Down Account and Disposal Cost Account are the type's six accounts.
07. Save the asset and verify it
Click Save. The FAM Asset record shows Asset Type Conveyor Systems, Asset Original Cost and Asset Current Cost 42,000.00, Residual Value Percentage 5.0%, Residual Value 2,100.00, Depreciation Method Straight Line, Asset Lifetime 84 and Depreciation Period Monthly. Cumulative Depreciation is 0.00, Current Net Book Value is 42,000.00 and Asset Status is New. Nothing has depreciated.
Click the General subtab. Depreciation Start Date is 11/01/2026 and Depreciation End Date is 10/31/2033, 84 months later. Last Depreciation Period is 0. Depreciation Active, Depreciation Rules, Revision Rules and Financial Year Start match the type.
Click Accounts and compare the six accounts with the type.
Finally, go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets. FAM000061, Sortation Line - Dock 2, is in the list with status New.
Check the result
- The Conveyor Systems type shows Residual Percentage 5.0%, Asset Lifetime 84 and Straight Line, with the General values and six accounts you chose.
- The new asset shows Asset Type Conveyor Systems with 5.0%, Straight Line, 84 and Monthly filled in from the type.
- Residual Value is 2,100.00 on a cost of 42,000.00, and Current Net Book Value is 42,000.00.
- Depreciation Active, Depreciation Rules, Revision Rules and Financial Year Start match the type, and the six accounts match.
- Asset Status is New, Cumulative Depreciation is 0.00 and Last Depreciation Period is 0.
- Depreciation Start Date is 11/01/2026 and Depreciation End Date is 10/31/2033.
Saving the asset doesn't post depreciation journals. Forecast depreciation rows come later, from a FAM process such as Generate Depreciation Schedule or Precompute Depreciation Values, and Asset Depreciation posts them. Also keep in mind that creating an asset record by hand doesn't create its acquisition journal. Check how the acquisition cost reaches the general ledger before you rely on the asset in your reports.
Common questions
What does a new asset inherit from its asset type?
Choosing the type fills in the asset's depreciation defaults. In this example that's the 5.0% Residual Value Percentage, Straight Line, an Asset Lifetime of 84, a Monthly Depreciation Period, the General settings and the six accounts. The cost isn't inherited. On a cost of 42,000.00 the Residual Value works out to 2,100.00.
If I change the asset type later, do existing assets change?
Normally not. The type supplies starting values when an asset is created, and the asset keeps its own from then on. If existing assets need new settings, change them on the assets, or use a FAM transaction such as Asset Revaluation or Asset Transfer.
What does Asset Lifetime mean?
It's the number of depreciation periods the asset is depreciated over. With a Monthly period, 84 means 84 months. For the Depreciation Start Date of 11/01/2026, the example asset's Depreciation End Date is 10/31/2033.
What do Revision Rules and Depreciation Rules do?
Revision Rules decide what a later change, such as a revaluation, does to depreciation already posted. Current Period recalculates depreciation to date and posts the difference as an adjustment, and Remaining Life leaves posted depreciation alone and spreads what remains. Depreciation Rules decide when depreciation starts. Acquisition starts it in the acquisition period.
Why is the saved asset New with no depreciation?
Saving the asset creates the record, not depreciation. Asset Status stays New and Cumulative Depreciation stays 0.00 until a depreciation run posts a period. Forecast rows come from a FAM process such as Generate Depreciation Schedule or Precompute Depreciation Values, and journals appear only when Asset Depreciation posts them.
Can I change the residual value on the asset?
You can enter a residual value yourself instead of the one worked out from the percentage. Check the Residual Value after you enter it, because it changes the depreciable amount. In this example the 5.0% default gives 2,100.00.
What should I check before creating a lot of assets from the new type?
Create one test asset first and compare it with the type, field by field: method, lifetime, residual percentage, period, General settings and the six accounts. Check that the Depreciation End Date is what you expect and that the status is New with no depreciation. Remember the example assumes one method, no alternate or tax methods and monthly depreciation, so confirm that matches how you'll use the type.