Fair value accounting is not the right answer

Depreciation would be a joke if it weren't such a disgrace ... but that's precisely what happens when accountants calculate depreciation expense in advance and then report it on future income statements. There is no valid justification for reporting assumed depreciation instead of actual observed amounts (including appreciation)."

Thus spoke Miller and Bahnson in the Oct. 25-Nov. 7, 2004, issue of Accounting Today (page 14). While the eminent professors probably know this, let's recap the fundamentals of depreciation, as shown in the authoritative Wiley GAAP Guide.