The quick answer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Revaluation and select the asset in Asset ID/Name. Enter a Write-Down %, a Transaction Date on or after the asset's last depreciation date, and a Transaction Reference, then click Calculate so FAM fills the Write-down Amount. Check the amount and click Process Revaluation. Refresh FAM Process Status until the Asset Revaluation process is Completed with no errors. Then open the asset's depreciation history and the journal it links. FAM lowers Asset Current Cost, leaves Asset Original Cost alone, and with the Current Period revision rule also posts a catch-up adjustment to the depreciation already taken.
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 writes down FAM000057, Shrink Wrapper - Line 2, a Production Equipment asset in the Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio subsidiary. It cost 86,400.00 on 03/01/2026 and depreciates straight line over 60 months with no residual value. March through August 2026 have posted at 1,440.00 a month, so cumulative depreciation is 8,640.00 and net book value is 77,760.00. A September impairment review decides the machine is worth less, and the cost is written down by 12.5%.
You need Fixed Assets Management installed and a role that can run FAM processes and create journals. The example uses one accounting method with no alternate or tax depreciation methods, standard journals with no approval, and an open September 2026 period. FAM000057 is a simple asset, not a compound one. Before you process anything, check that no other revaluation of the same asset is pending, that its depreciation history has no stray or duplicate rows, and that any department, class or location your account requires on journals will be filled in.
A manual journal can move the same amounts in the general ledger, but it leaves the asset's cost, net book value and future depreciation where they were, so the asset register and the ledger stop agreeing. Asset Revaluation updates the asset and creates the journal in one FAM process, which you then check.
01. Check the asset before the write-down
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click View on FAM000057. Note the starting values: Asset Original Cost and Asset Current Cost are both 86,400.00, Cumulative Depreciation is 8,640.00, Current Net Book Value is 77,760.00, and Asset Status is Depreciating.
Click the General subtab. Last Depreciation Period is 6, Last Depreciation Amount is 1,440.00 (86,400.00 ÷ 60) and Last Depreciation Date is 08/31/2026. Six months at 1,440.00 make up the 8,640.00. Revision Rules is Current Period, which decides what happens to that depreciation after the write-down.
Click the Accounts subtab. In this example the revaluation journal uses the accounts on the asset itself: Write Down Account Impairment Loss on Fixed Assets and Asset Account Production Equipment for the write-down, Depreciation Account Acc. Depr. - Production Equipment and Depreciation Charge Account Depr. Exp. - Production Equipment for any depreciation adjustment. The asset type only supplies defaults when an asset is created, so an asset can carry different accounts from its type. Check the asset.
02. Enter the write-down on Asset Revaluation
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Revaluation. In Asset ID/Name, select FAM000057 Shrink Wrapper - Line 2. The page loads Asset Type Production Equipment, Current Book Value 77,760.00, Revision Method Current Period and Asset Status Depreciating. Below them are sections for the asset's depreciation methods. With Multi-Book Accounting or linked tax methods you'll see more than one. This asset has one, Straight Line, with Current Cost 86,400.00 and Asset Lifetime 60.
Fill in the write-down:
- Write-Down %: enter 12.5. The percentage applies to Current Cost, and it can also write down linked tax methods if the asset has them.
- Transaction Date: enter 09/10/2026. It dates the revaluation and its journal, and it can't be earlier than the asset's Last Depreciation Date of 08/31/2026.
- Transaction Reference: enter Line 2 impairment review. In this example it shows up as the memo on every journal line.
Click Calculate. Write-down Amount in the Straight Line section fills with 10,800.00, which is 12.5% of 86,400.00. Check that number before you go on, because it's what posts. Leave the Adj fields blank. They change residual value, lifetime or depreciation method, and this revaluation changes cost only. If you click Process Revaluation without calculating first, NetSuite tells you the revaluation must be calculated.
03. Process the revaluation
Click Process Revaluation. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with the new Asset Revaluation process at the top, status Queued. 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 DHRs deleted: 54, the unposted forecast rows of the old schedule. The other stages are Not Required, and the Errors column is empty. Stage numbers and counts depend on the asset, its methods and books, and your FAM version, so read them as this example's numbers.
04. Read the new depreciation history rows
Go back to FAM000057, click the Depreciation History subtab, then click Depreciation Histories on the Accounting Method row. Two new rows are dated 09/10/2026: a Write-down of 10,800.00 and a Revaluation of -1,080.00. Both show Net Book Value 68,040.00 and Posting Reference Journal #JE586. Below them are the six posted Depreciation rows of 1,440.00, here each on its own monthly journal, and the Acquisition row for 86,400.00.
The -1,080.00 comes from the Current Period revision rule. FAM recalculates the depreciation already taken as if the new cost had applied from the start. The new cost is 75,600.00 (86,400.00 − 10,800.00), so the monthly amount becomes 1,260.00 (75,600.00 ÷ 60), and six months come to 7,560.00. 8,640.00 had already posted, so 1,080.00 reverses. With the Remaining Life rule, FAM doesn't recalculate posted months. For a straight-line asset like this one, it spreads the reduced net book value over the remaining periods instead.
The forecast rows for September onward are gone. FAM deleted them in stage 3/5, and they come back when a new schedule is generated. Check that the new schedule exists before you run September depreciation, and if it doesn't, generate it first.
05. Check the revaluation journal
Click Journal #JE586. Date is 09/10/2026, Posting Period is Sep 2026 and Subsidiary is Kestrel Ridge Packaging : Ohio. On the Lines subtab there are four lines, with debits and credits each totaling 11,880.00. The account numbers are this example's chart of accounts:
- 7120 Other Expense : Impairment Loss on Fixed Assets, debit 10,800.00
- 1650 Fixed Assets : Production Equipment, credit 10,800.00
- 6750 Depreciation Expense : Depr. Exp. - Production Equipment, credit 1,080.00
- 1655 Accumulated Depreciation : Acc. Depr. - Production Equipment, debit 1,080.00
The first pair is the write-down: impairment loss up, asset cost down. The second pair reverses the depreciation that was over-taken on the old cost. Every line carries the memo Line 2 impairment review (FAM), from the Transaction Reference.
If the September period had been closed, the journal could land in a later open period, so read Posting Period rather than assuming it. If your account requires department, class or location on journal lines, or uses journal approvals, check those too, and check GL Impact once the journal is approved.
06. Confirm the asset's new values
Go back to FAM000057. Asset Original Cost is still 86,400.00. Asset Current Cost is now 75,600.00, Cumulative Depreciation is 7,560.00 (8,640.00 − 1,080.00), and Current Net Book Value is 68,040.00 (75,600.00 − 7,560.00). Asset Status is still Depreciating.
Check the result
- Asset Revaluation is Completed on FAM Process Status, with no errors in its Details.
- The depreciation history has a Write-down of 10,800.00 and a Revaluation of -1,080.00 on 09/10/2026, both linked to JE586.
- JE586 posts to Sep 2026 with debits and credits of 11,880.00 each.
- Asset Original Cost is 86,400.00 and Asset Current Cost is 75,600.00.
- Cumulative Depreciation is 7,560.00 and Current Net Book Value is 68,040.00.
From September the asset should depreciate 1,260.00 a month (68,040.00 ÷ 54) over its remaining 54 months. Confirm the regenerated schedule shows that amount before the next depreciation run.
Common questions
Why is there a negative Revaluation row after I wrote down an asset?
The asset uses the Current Period revision rule, so FAM recalculates the depreciation already taken on the reduced cost and posts the difference. Here six months on 75,600.00 come to 7,560.00, but 8,640.00 had posted, so a Revaluation row of -1,080.00 reverses the extra. It isn't a second write-down, and it posts on the same journal as the Write-down row.
What's the difference between the Current Period and Remaining Life revision rules?
Current Period recalculates depreciation from the start as if the new cost had always applied, and books the difference in the revaluation. Remaining Life leaves the depreciation already posted alone and spreads the reduced net book value over the periods that are left. The rule is set on the asset, under Revision Rules on the General subtab, and shows as Revision Method on the Asset Revaluation page.
Does a write-down change Asset Original Cost or Asset Current Cost?
Asset Current Cost. Asset Original Cost keeps the acquisition cost, so in this example it stays 86,400.00 while Asset Current Cost drops to 75,600.00. Current Net Book Value is Asset Current Cost minus Cumulative Depreciation, which gives 68,040.00 here.
Why does Process Revaluation say the revaluation must be calculated first?
FAM won't process a revaluation until Calculate has run. Click Calculate after you enter the Write-Down % or change any value, check the Write-down Amount it fills in, then click Process Revaluation.
Why did the future rows disappear from the depreciation history?
The revaluation deletes the unposted forecast rows, because they were worked out on the old cost. They come back when FAM generates a new schedule. Check that the new schedule exists, here 1,260.00 a month for 54 months, before you run the next month's depreciation.
Can I enter a write-down amount instead of a percentage?
The page has a Write-down Amount field, but the revaluation still has to be calculated before it will process. In the account used for this example, clicking Calculate with Write-Down % blank cleared a typed amount, so entering the percentage and letting Calculate fill in the amount was the path that worked. Either way, check Write-down Amount after Calculate.
Should I use a manual journal instead of Asset Revaluation?
Not if the asset is tracked in FAM. A manual journal changes the general ledger but leaves the asset's cost, net book value, history and future depreciation as they were, so the register and the ledger drift apart and later depreciation runs use the old cost. Asset Revaluation updates the asset and creates the journal in one process.