The quick answer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Transfer and select the asset in Asset ID/Name. The upper part of the page shows its cost, book value and current Department, Class, Location and Subsidiary. Enter a Transfer Date, pick the new value in the lower Department field, leave the other fields alone and click Process Transfer. FAM runs an Asset Transfer process on FAM Process Status. When it completes, the asset shows the new department. Because depreciation was already posted through the month before the transfer, its cost, cumulative depreciation and net book value stay the same. In this example the transfer also posted a journal that moves the cost and accumulated depreciation from the old department to the new one, and it deleted the asset's forecast depreciation rows. Click Precompute Depreciation Values on Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup to rebuild the forecast.
The screenshots show sample data. The company, user, asset and department names are fictional. Use your own asset and departments when following the steps.
Before you start
Halloran Dental Labs bought a dental milling unit for its Portland lab. It's FAM000038, Milling Unit - Bay 2, Asset Type Lab Equipment, in the Halloran Dental Labs : Oregon subsidiary. It cost 36,000.00 and depreciates straight line over 36 months from 04/01/2026, so 1,000.00 a month. April through August 2026 are posted: Cumulative Depreciation is 5,000.00 and Current Net Book Value is 31,000.00. The asset sits in Department Milling, Class Production, Location Portland. In September the unit moves to the implants team, so it should move to Department Implants from 09/15/2026.
You need Fixed Assets Management installed and a role that can view assets and run Asset Transfer. Menus and permissions vary by role, so test with the role that will do the work. The example uses one subsidiary, one accounting book and no alternate depreciation methods, with depreciation posted through the month before the transfer. A subsidiary or asset type transfer does more: a subsidiary transfer always posts a journal and needs valid Asset Transfer Accounts, and an asset type transfer can change the accounts and useful life. The transfer date has to fall in a period you can post to, and a future-dated transfer needs future-dated depreciation allowed in FAM setup.
Whether a department change posts a journal depends on Post on Department Change on the Fixed Assets System Setup page (General subtab, Asset Management, Transfer section). There are matching settings for class and location changes. Post on Department Change is enabled in this example. If your account uses custom FAM journals or journal approval, the journal may wait for approval before it posts.
Don't move an asset by editing or inline-editing Department on the asset record. That changes the field, but the cost and accumulated depreciation already posted under the old department stay there, and no transfer journal is created.
01. Check the asset and its schedule before the transfer
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click View on FAM000038 Milling Unit - Bay 2. The header shows Asset Original Cost 36,000.00, Current Net Book Value 31,000.00 and Cumulative Depreciation 5,000.00. Asset Status is Depreciating.
Click the General subtab. Department is Milling, Class is Production and Location is Portland. Last Depreciation Period is 5, Last Depreciation Amount is 1,000.00 and Last Depreciation Date is 08/31/2026, so depreciation is posted through August.
Click the Depreciation History subtab, then Depreciation Histories on the Accounting Method row. The list is newest first. The 08/31/2026 row carries Journal #JE256 and Net Book Value 31,000.00. The 09/30/2026 row above it, 1,000.00 with Net Book Value 30,000.00, has no Posting Reference. It's a forecast row, and the rows above it continue the forecast to 03/31/2029.
02. Enter the transfer on Asset Transfer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Transfer. In Asset ID/Name, select FAM000038 Milling Unit - Bay 2. The page reloads with the asset's values, shown with one decimal place on this page: Original Cost 36,000.0, Current Book Value 31,000.0, Asset Lifetime 36, Last Depreciation Date 08/31/2026 and Asset Status Depreciating. The right column shows where the asset is now: Department Milling, Class Production, Location Portland, Subsidiary Halloran Dental Labs : Oregon. The lower fields start at those same values.
In Transfer Date, enter 09/15/2026. That's the date the new department takes effect. Check Last Depreciation Date first: if the asset isn't depreciated through the period before the transfer, the transfer process calculates catch-up depreciation for the missing periods. If you'd rather post that depreciation separately, run it before the transfer.
In the lower Department field, select Implants. Leave Class, Location and Subsidiary as they are. In this example Asset Type turned read-only once the department changed.
03. Process the transfer and follow the process
Click Process Transfer. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with the new Asset Transfer process at the top, status Queued. Click Refresh. The status changes to In Progress, and Process Stage shows 3/11: Create Journal Entries. Keep clicking Refresh until the status is Completed.
Click Details on that row and read every stage, not only the final status. In this run, 1/11 Validate Asset Transfer Values reports Assets validated successfully: 1, 2/11 Generate Depreciation Schedule Values reports Assets/Tax methods processed: 1, 3/11 Create Journal Entries reports Transactions created: 1, 7/11 Transfer Assets reports Assets transferred: 1 and 11/11 Delete Old Forecast Values reports DHRs deleted: 31. 4/11 Prepare Data to Update Records is Completed with no message. The other stages are Not Required, which means they had nothing to do, and the Errors column is empty. Stage names and counts vary by FAM version and setup.
04. Confirm the new department on the asset
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click View on FAM000038. Asset Original Cost is still 36,000.00, Cumulative Depreciation 5,000.00 and Current Net Book Value 31,000.00. On the General subtab, Department is now Implants. Class Production, Location Portland and Last Depreciation Date 08/31/2026 haven't changed.
05. Read the transfer in the depreciation history
Click the Depreciation History subtab, then Depreciation Histories. The top four rows are dated 09/15/2026 and all show Journal #JE271:
- Acquisition 36,000.00, Net Book Value 36,000.00
- Depreciation 5,000.00, Net Book Value 31,000.00
- Depreciation -5,000.00, Net Book Value 0.00
- Transfer 36,000.00, Net Book Value 0.00
Read them from the bottom up. The Transfer row and the -5,000.00 Depreciation row take the cost and accumulated depreciation out of Milling. The Depreciation 5,000.00 and Acquisition 36,000.00 rows bring them back in under Implants. They aren't a simple running balance, so confirm the net book value on the asset itself, which still shows 31,000.00. Below them are the five posted months and the original acquisition. The forecast rows from 09/30/2026 onward are gone.
This row pattern is what this account produced. It can differ with catch-up depreciation, tax methods, extra accounting books or compound assets.
06. Review the transfer journal
Click Journal #JE271. Date is 09/15/2026, Posting Period is Sep 2026 and Subsidiary is Halloran Dental Labs : Oregon. The Lines subtab shows 41,000.00, which is the total of the debits and also of the credits:
- Asset Transfer Out (FAM), Department Milling: credit 1520 Fixed Assets : Lab Equipment 36,000.00 and debit 1525 Accumulated Depreciation : Acc. Depr. - Lab Equipment 5,000.00.
- Asset Transfer In (FAM), Department Implants: debit 1520 36,000.00 and credit 1525 5,000.00.
Class Production and Location Portland are the same on all four lines. Across the journal, each account nets to zero. No expense account is touched and there's no gain or loss. The balances move from Milling to Implants.
Check the result
- Asset Transfer is Completed on FAM Process Status, and its Details show Transactions created: 1, Assets transferred: 1 and no errors.
- FAM000038 shows Department Implants, with cost 36,000.00, cumulative depreciation 5,000.00 and net book value 31,000.00 unchanged.
- Its depreciation history has four 09/15/2026 rows on JE271, ending at Net Book Value 31,000.00.
- JE271 moves 36,000.00 and 5,000.00 from Milling lines to Implants lines.
07. Regenerate the depreciation schedule
The transfer deleted the asset's forecast rows. Until they're rebuilt, reports and saved searches that read forecast depreciation rows won't show this asset's future depreciation. The scheduled Generate Depreciation Schedule process fills missing schedules when it next runs, but you don't have to wait for it.
Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup and click Precompute Depreciation Values.
NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with a Generate Depreciation Schedule process, here 5214. Click Refresh until it's Completed. Precompute only builds forecast rows. Your next depreciation run posts the journals.
Open FAM000038 again, click Depreciation History, then Depreciation Histories. The forecast is back above the transfer rows. The 09/30/2026 row is Depreciation 1,000.00 with Net Book Value 30,000.00 and no Posting Reference, and the list runs up to 03/31/2029 at 0.00. The remaining 31,000.00 depreciates at the same 1,000.00 a month over the remaining 31 months, now under Implants.
Common questions
Can I just edit the Department field on the FAM asset instead of using Asset Transfer?
You can change the field, but it won't move anything. The cost and accumulated depreciation already posted under the old department stay there, and no transfer journal is created. Asset Transfer changes the department and, with Post on Department Change enabled, posts the journal that moves those balances.
Does an asset transfer change depreciation?
Not a department transfer like this one. FAM000038 kept its 36,000.00 cost, 5,000.00 cumulative depreciation, 31,000.00 net book value, 36-month life and straight-line method. The regenerated schedule still depreciates 1,000.00 a month, now reported under Implants.
What journal entry does a FAM asset transfer create?
Here it created JE271, dated 09/15/2026 with four lines. Two lines with memo Asset Transfer Out (FAM) under Milling credit the fixed asset account 36,000.00 and debit accumulated depreciation 5,000.00. Two lines with memo Asset Transfer In (FAM) under Implants do the reverse. Each account nets to zero across the journal, so there's no gain, loss or expense.
Why did the depreciation schedule disappear after the transfer?
The transfer deletes the asset's unposted forecast rows because they were worked out for the old classification. Here the Delete Old Forecast Values stage reported DHRs deleted: 31. Posted history stays: the five posted months and their journals are still on the asset.
How do I regenerate the depreciation schedule after a transfer?
Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup and click Precompute Depreciation Values. It queues a Generate Depreciation Schedule process, and once that's Completed the forecast rows are back, here from 09/30/2026 at 1,000.00 a month. The scheduled Generate Depreciation Schedule process also fills missing schedules when it next runs.
Does Precompute Depreciation Values post depreciation?
No. It builds forecast rows only, with no Posting Reference. Your next depreciation run posts the journals for each month.
What if the asset isn't depreciated up to the transfer date?
The transfer process calculates catch-up depreciation for the missing periods before it moves the asset, so cumulative depreciation and net book value can change. Check Last Depreciation Date on the Asset Transfer page first. If you want that depreciation posted on its own, run depreciation and let it complete before the transfer.
Does every department transfer post a journal?
No. It depends on Post on Department Change on the Fixed Assets System Setup page, with matching settings for class and location changes. With the setting off, the department changes without a transfer journal. A subsidiary transfer always posts.