How do you record accumulated depletion?
Jackson Reed
Updated on December 30, 2025
To record depletion, debit a Depletion account and credit an Accumulated Depletion account, which is a contra account to the natural resource asset account.
What type of account is accumulated depreciation?
contra asset account
The accumulated depreciation account is a contra asset account on a company’s balance sheet, meaning it has a credit balance. It appears on the balance sheet as a reduction from the gross amount of fixed assets reported.
Is accumulated depletion a debit or credit?
The cumulative amount of depletion expense pertaining to the natural resources shown on the balance sheet. The account has a credit balance and will be reported on the balance sheet as a contra asset.
Is Accumulated depreciation a nominal account?
While the depreciation expense is a temporary or nominal account reported on the income statement and closed each accounting period, accumulated depreciation is a real or permanent balance sheet account that accumulates the asset depreciation expense from year to year.
Which assets are depleted?
Examples of natural or wasting resources are timber, coal, oil, precious metals such as gold and silver, and gemstones such as diamonds, rubies, and emeralds — oh my!
What is the purpose of the accumulated depletion account?
Accumulated depletion is the amount of depletion expense that has built up over time in relation to the use of a natural resource. This amount is paired with the natural resource asset on the balance sheet as a contra account.
Where is accumulated depreciation on a balance sheet?
Accumulated depreciation is presented on the balance sheet just below the related capital asset line. The carrying value of an asset is its historical cost minus accumulated depreciation.
How are resources depleted?
Resource Depletion occurs when the renewable and non-renewable natural resources become scarce because they are consumed faster than they can recover. The term resource depletion is commonly associated with water usage, fossil fuel consumption, trees and fishing.
What is wasting assets in accounting?
What Is a Wasting Asset? A wasting asset is an item that has a limited life span and irreversibly declines in value over time. Examples include depreciating fixed assets such as vehicles and machinery and securities with time decay such as options, which continually lose time value after purchase.
What types of assets are depleted?
Where does accumulated depletion go on a balance sheet?
Why are resources getting depleted?
What are the major causes of depletion of resources?
Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and consumption of fossil fuels. Major causes of resource depletion are: Population growth: With the increase in population the depletion of natural resources will also increase.
What are examples of wasting assets?
A wasting asset is one that declines in value over time. Vehicles and machines are examples of fixed assets that are wasting assets. Other examples of wasting assets include exhaustible resources such as an oil well or a coal mine.