FreshLedger Pro ships with a complete fixed asset register and depreciation engine built into the general ledger - not bolted on as a separate paid module. You can track every asset your business owns, assign it to the correct MACRS recovery class, apply Section 179 expensing or bonus depreciation where it qualifies, and let the system post monthly or annual depreciation entries straight into your books. If you are switching from a prior system mid-life, you can import the asset list and prior-year accumulated depreciation from a CSV so book values are correct on day one. For small businesses, sole proprietors, and accountants tired of running depreciation in a spreadsheet (or paying extra for QuickBooks Desktop's Fixed Asset Manager), this gives you a single source of truth where the asset register, depreciation expense, and accumulated depreciation accounts all reconcile automatically. It is a Windows desktop application with a one-time license fee of $799.
When you acquire an asset, you add it to the Fixed Asset Register with its description, in-service date, cost basis, and account assignments (asset account, accumulated depreciation account, and depreciation expense account). You then pick the recovery class. FreshLedger Pro supports all MACRS GDS classes: 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, 10-year, 15-year, 20-year, 25-year, 27.5-year residential rental, and 39-year nonresidential real property. ADS straight-line is also available for assets that require or elect it. The convention is determined automatically based on the asset type and the in-service dates of all assets placed in service that year - half-year for most personal property, mid-quarter when more than 40% of personal property is placed in service in the last quarter, and mid-month for real property, per IRS Pub 946. If the asset qualifies, you can elect Section 179 expensing up to the current annual limit and/or apply bonus depreciation at the rate in effect for the in-service year (note: bonus is phasing down under current law - 60% in 2024, 40% in 2025, 20% in 2026 unless Congress changes it). The system computes the remaining basis after Section 179 and bonus, then applies the MACRS percentage table for the chosen class and convention to produce the annual depreciation amount. You can preview the full year-by-year schedule for any asset before saving. When you run the period-end depreciation post, FreshLedger Pro creates a single summary journal entry debiting depreciation expense and crediting accumulated depreciation, with a detail report behind it showing per-asset amounts. Dispositions are handled with a guided dialog that calculates partial-year depreciation under the applicable convention, removes the asset from the register, and books the gain or loss to the account you choose. To migrate from a prior system, use File > Import > Fixed Assets with a CSV containing asset details and prior accumulated depreciation; the engine resumes the schedule from the correct point.
Depreciation is not optional. The IRS requires you to recover the cost of business property over its useful life under MACRS for most assets placed in service after 1986, and the numbers flow directly onto Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) and into Schedule C, Form 1120, Form 1120-S, or Form 1065 depending on your entity. Getting it wrong means either understating expense (and overpaying tax) or overstating expense (and inviting an adjustment on audit, plus penalties and interest). The conventions matter. The half-year convention assumes assets are placed in service at the midpoint of the year. The mid-quarter convention kicks in automatically when more than 40% of your personal property basis is placed in service in the fourth quarter - miss this and every asset for the year is wrong. Real property uses the mid-month convention. Section 179 has annual dollar limits and a taxable income limitation that can carry disallowed amounts forward. Bonus depreciation applies before regular MACRS and is currently phasing down. A fixed asset register also gives you the supporting detail an auditor, lender, or new accountant will ask for: original cost, in-service date, recovery class, method, prior depreciation, current-year depreciation, and net book value per asset. If you ever sell or scrap an asset, you need basis to calculate gain or loss - Section 1245 recapture for personal property, Section 1250 for real property. Running this in a spreadsheet works until it doesn't; one formula error or one forgotten asset and the trial balance no longer ties to the schedule.
QuickBooks Online has no native depreciation functionality. The official Intuit guidance is to calculate depreciation manually (or have your accountant do it) and post a journal entry each period. There is no asset register, no MACRS tables, no Section 179 workflow, no automatic mid-quarter testing. Third-party apps like Asset Guru or Fixed Assets CS plug in at additional monthly cost. QuickBooks Desktop includes a Fixed Asset Item list, but the actual depreciation calculations live in Fixed Asset Manager, which historically ships only with QuickBooks Desktop Accountant or Enterprise Accountant editions - not Pro or Premier. If you are on Pro or Premier you are either calculating by hand or buying up to a higher edition. Xero, like QuickBooks Online, expects manual journal entries for depreciation. It does have a fixed assets module that handles straight-line and diminishing-value methods well for book purposes, but US MACRS support is limited - it is built primarily for Australian, New Zealand, and UK tax rules. Section 179 and US bonus depreciation are not first-class features. Wave does not handle depreciation at all. You record it as a manual journal entry if you record it. FreshLedger Pro puts the full US-focused MACRS engine, Section 179, bonus depreciation, and the asset register inside the base $799 license. There is no separate fixed asset module to buy and no monthly subscription.
Honest limits: FreshLedger Pro computes tax depreciation under MACRS and ADS. It does not maintain a separate book depreciation schedule in parallel with tax - if you need GAAP book/tax differences tracked per asset, you would record the book method as the primary schedule and reconcile tax outside the system, or vice versa. Asset impairment write-downs under ASC 360 are not automated; you book them as a manual journal entry. Like-kind exchange basis carryover (Section 1031, now real property only) is not automatically computed - you enter the substituted basis manually. The product is Windows desktop only; on a Mac you run it in Parallels or a VM. The file is single-user at a time, so two people cannot edit the asset register simultaneously. There is no mobile app for scanning asset tags.
One-time-purchase accounting software with built-in payroll, full depreciation handling, and a free Accountant Edition for your CPA.
Buy FreshLedger Pro — $799One-time purchase. No subscription. Free Accountant Edition included.