問20
頻出度★★★
A 社は, 自社の通常の業務に利用するためにソフトウェアを購入し, 資産計上した。このソフトウェアの減価償却方法として, 最も適切なものはどれか。
平成24年度 春期 ITパスポート試験 問20
ストラテジ系企業活動 › 会計・財務
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 20
Incorrectア
A depreciation method is not something a company may pick as it likes every year. Accounting has the principle of consistency, so a method once adopted cannot be changed at will. Furthermore, software is an intangible non-current asset and the law specifies the straight-line method for it, so “freely selecting a method each year” is wrong on two counts. If the method could be changed freely, profits could be manipulated to suit the company, and financial statements could no longer be compared across periods.
Incorrectイ
Amortization that switches methods from year to year — the straight-line method in the first year and the declining-balance method from the second year onward — is not permitted. As a rule, one method is applied continuously to one asset. Splitting the amount in half and applying a different method to each half exists in neither accounting standards nor tax law, and is never done in practice.
- ウ
正解 The correct answer is “ウ Amortize it using the straight-line method.” Software purchased for use in the company’s own normal business operations and recorded as an asset has no physical form, so it is treated as an intangible non-current asset. Amortization of intangible non-current assets is required to follow the straight-line method (dividing the acquisition cost evenly over the useful life and charging the same amount as an expense every year), and the statutory useful life of software for a company’s own use is 5 years in principle. Therefore, software with an acquisition cost of 5 million yen, for example, is amortized at 1 million yen per year over 5 years. Unlike tangible non-current assets such as machinery or vehicles, software is not regarded as losing value sharply in the early period of use, so the straight-line method, which spreads the cost evenly over the period, is considered the most appropriate.
Incorrectエ
The declining-balance method charges depreciation by multiplying the undepreciated balance by a fixed rate, so more expense is recognized early on and less later. It is a method that may be selected for tangible non-current assets such as machinery and equipment or tools and fixtures other than buildings, and it cannot be applied to software, which is an intangible non-current asset. The value of software does not fall sharply in the early period through physical wear, so it does not match the premise of the declining-balance method either.
ここがポイント
- Software acquired for a company’s own use is classified as an intangible non-current asset, and it is amortized using the straight-line method (statutory useful life is 5 years in principle). The declining-balance method can be used only for part of tangible non-current assets; the fact that tangible and intangible assets use different methods is the heart of this question.
- A depreciation method cannot be re-selected at will by the company each year, nor switched partway through a period. Under the principle of consistency, continuing to apply the method once adopted is what makes financial statements comparable across periods.
用語