Financial

Straight Line Depreciation

Straight line method. Free online Straight Line Depreciation. Calculate straight line depreciation online — fast, accurate, mobile-friendly, no signup needed.

Annual depreciation
$1,800.00

Derivation

  1. ├── 01Givencost = 20000, salvage = 2000, life = 10
  2. ├── 02Formula(e.cost-e.salvage) / e.life
  3. ├── 03Substitute(e.20000-e.2000) / e.10
  4. └── 04Compute Annual depreciation$1,800.00
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§01What is

Understanding the Straight Line Depreciation

The Straight Line Depreciation computes Annual depreciation from 3 inputs: cost ($), salvage ($), life (years). Straight line method.

Quick calculators for the math that shouldn’t need a notepad — instant, accurate, private to your browser. The Straight Line Depreciation sits in that toolkit — it straight line method. Enter your numbers above and the result updates instantly; every step of the math is shown in the Derivation panel so you can see exactly how the answer was reached.

§02The Formula

How it’s calculated

(e.cost-e.salvage) / e.life

Where

cost
Cost ($)
salvage
Salvage ($)
life
Life (years)
§03Practical Example

Step-by-step walkthrough

Scenario

Apply the formula to a realistic set of inputs: Cost ($) = 20000, Salvage ($) = 2000, Life (years) = 10.

  1. 01Start by noting the input — Cost ($): 20000.
  2. 02Start by noting the input — Salvage ($): 2000.
  3. 03Start by noting the input — Life (years): 10.
  4. 04Substitute these values into the formula: (e.cost-e.salvage) / e.life
  5. 05Compute Annual depreciation: the calculator returns 1800.
  6. 06Cross-check the answer by opening the Derivation panel above — every line of math is shown so you can follow the computation end-to-end.
§04Variants

Common Straight Line Depreciation Problems

The formula gets rearranged depending on which variable you need. Here are the patterns you’ll run into in the real world — find the one that matches your problem and follow the worked steps.

01 · PATTERN

Cost ($) halved

cost = 10000 (from 20000)

Keep every other input at its default and halve the cost ($). See how annual depreciation responds.

  1. 01New Cost ($): 10000
  2. 02Baseline Annual depreciation: 1800
  3. 03New Annual depreciation: 800
  4. 04Annual depreciation decreases by 55.6% → use this sensitivity to plan for real-world variation.
02 · PATTERN

Cost ($) doubled

cost = 40000 (from 20000)

Keep every other input at its default and double the cost ($). See how annual depreciation responds.

  1. 01New Cost ($): 40000
  2. 02Baseline Annual depreciation: 1800
  3. 03New Annual depreciation: 3800
  4. 04Annual depreciation increases by 111.1% → use this sensitivity to plan for real-world variation.
03 · PATTERN

Salvage ($) halved

salvage = 1000 (from 2000)

Keep every other input at its default and halve the salvage ($). See how annual depreciation responds.

  1. 01New Salvage ($): 1000
  2. 02Baseline Annual depreciation: 1800
  3. 03New Annual depreciation: 1900
  4. 04Annual depreciation increases by 5.6% → use this sensitivity to plan for real-world variation.
04 · PATTERN

Salvage ($) doubled

salvage = 4000 (from 2000)

Keep every other input at its default and double the salvage ($). See how annual depreciation responds.

  1. 01New Salvage ($): 4000
  2. 02Baseline Annual depreciation: 1800
  3. 03New Annual depreciation: 1600
  4. 04Annual depreciation decreases by 11.1% → use this sensitivity to plan for real-world variation.
§05FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The calculator implements the standard formula as documented and returns exact floating-point results. No approximations are used unless noted in the formula.
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