Gravity Hospital purchased a new item of equipment on January 1,20X1. The equipment has an estimated useful life of ten years an
d an expected salvage value of 20 percent. Gravity Hospital’s December 31, 20X5, balance sheet reports $10,000 of accumulated depreciation on this equipment. What was the cost of the equipment when it was acquired on January 1, 20X1?
If the salvage value is 20% of the cost, then 80% of the cost will be depreciated over 10 years. Over the 5 years from Jan 1 20X1 to Dec 31 20X5, the $10,000 accumulated depreciation represents 5/10 of that 80%, or 40% of the initial cost.
$10,000 = 0.40 × cost
$10,000/0.40 = cost = $25,000
The acquisition cost of the equipment was $25,000.
