How to Create an Accounting Amortization Schedule

An accounting amortization schedule helps a business understand the costs of an intangible asset or loan over time. These schedules can help investors calculate the composition of loan payments and can also be used to deduct interest payments for tax purposes. By depreciating an asset over time, it reduces taxable income and tax liability, and gives investors a better idea of true earnings. A sample amortization schedule is provided below. You can use the information provided to create an amortization schedule for your own company.

The amortization schedule shows how much of a payment will be allocated to the principle and interest over the life of a loan. At the beginning of the payment schedule, the interest portion of the payment is greater than the principle amount. As the loan matures, the principle portion of the payment increases. This process can be automated in many ways, and is particularly useful in accounting. To use an amortization schedule, you need to set up a loan with a fixed interest rate and then allocate payments to the two components of the loan.

The basic concept of an amortization schedule is to reduce the value of an intangible asset over a set period of time. The amortization schedule starts with the carrying value of the asset on January 1 of the first year. This value is the face value of the bond plus the premium paid to obtain the bond. You can then set the amortization schedule to reflect the amount of the bond over the life of the loan. The amortization schedule is useful for recording loan payments and analyzing the value of an asset.

Amortization is a process that ties an intangible asset to revenue. It is similar to depreciation, which applies to tangible assets. A company amortizes an expense over a certain period of time. It helps tie an expense over the life of the asset, so that it reflects the true cost of an asset. It helps businesses tie their expenses to their revenue over a long period of time. It is a way for them to deduct costs over time and reap the benefits of the asset as a whole.

An amortization schedule is a table that lists the payments to be made over a set period of time. The amortized portion is the interest, and the principal portion is the loan balance. Each payment decreases the principal over time. It may take a few years, or even a lifetime, for the loan amount to reach zero. However, if the payments are made on time, the loan amount will be paid off.

Amortization is a tool used to write off intangible assets, steering them from the balance sheet to the income statement. For example, a $10 million patent may cost a company $1 million per year to develop. This expense would be written off over the period that the patent is expected to be in use. Typically, an amortization schedule is reported on the income statement as an expense. But in some cases, amortization is only applicable to intangible assets.