Often, we find items in the fixed asset base referring to labor, whether of a civil nature, such as renovations or small constructions, or services, such as installations and assembly.

The inclusion of items related to these services in the fixed assets basis is not necessarily incorrect. All costs incurred for the acquisition of a certain asset, such as installation by a technical professional or a possible work, necessary to adapt the space in production, for example, can and must be accounted for in the incurred cost of the item.

However, these costs must be added, initially to the capitalization project, also known as CAPEX, to add to the other costs, such as freight, for example, and compose the total cost of the asset activated.

There is also the possibility of controlling these additional costs as sub-items of the main good, detailing the total breakdown of costs. This method even facilitates, when reading the report of fixed assets, the visualization of what is the value of the main asset and the additional costs.

However, a problem occurs when additional costs are posted and accounted for, without linking to the main asset, forming part of the fixed asset base as if they were an individual item.

This error, in addition to implying distortions in the calculation of total depreciation, which ultimately may require a tax adjustment, on the occasion of an inventory, where we carry out the reconciliation of the assets, will be classified as “Surveys” and made available for adjustment.

One way to correct this distortion is, during the inventory, to identify the items in this category, and with an analysis work, proceed with their inclusion as sub-items of inventoried goods. In our inventories, we use our Android platform system, which allows the collector to register the sub-items associated with the main items, at the time of inventory.

In this way, service and labor items are related to the corresponding items, avoiding adjustments to Accounting Surpluses.