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A business pays a cash deposit to secure the acquisition of a property. At the end of the accounting period the contract is not completely satisfied and the deposit is held on the balance sheet as a current asset. Subsequent to the year end the property purchase is completed and the deposit is used in part settlement for the purchase.
When a business purchases an asset which includes several assets such as land, land improvements, and buildings which have dissimilar depreciation rates, it needs to be able to allocate the total cost of the asset to its component parts. The relative fair market value method is one technique used to carry out this allocation.
Accounting distinguishes between capital improvements and repairs and maintenance to an asset. A capital improvement is treated as a capital cost and included on the balance sheet of the business, whereas repairs and maintenance are treated as expenses and included in the income statement for the year.
A business will often purchase a number of long term assets for a single combined purchase price. In order to record the assets in the accounting records and to allow depreciation to be correctly calculated, the basket purchase price needs to be allocated in proportion to the fair market value of the assets.
