What is disposal?
Disposal is how you remove a fixed asset from your books when you no longer use it. You might sell it, scrap it, give it away, or exchange it for something else.
Disposal methods
Sale – you sold the asset and received payment. The proceeds must be more than zero.
Scrap – the asset is worthless and you are writing it off
Donation – you gave it away to a charity or other organisation
Exchange – you traded it for another item or service
Which assets can be disposed?
Only Registered or Fully Depreciated assets. Draft assets should be deleted instead.
How to dispose of an asset
Open the asset
Click the Dispose button
Choose the disposal method
Enter the disposal date
Enter the proceeds (how much you received – enter 0 for scrap or donation)
Add any notes (optional)
Click Dispose to confirm
Screenshot needed: The disposal modal showing the disposal method radio buttons (Sale, Scrap, Donation, Exchange), date picker, proceeds field, and notes. Navigate to an active or fully depreciated asset > click Dispose.
Under Advanced Options you can change:
Proceeds account – where to record the money received (only shown when proceeds are more than zero)
Gain/loss account – where to record the profit or loss from the disposal
Important: The gain/loss account cannot be a main revenue (income) account. Use an "other income" or expense account instead. This is an accounting standard requirement.
Warning: You cannot undo a disposal. Double-check all details before confirming.
Automatic catch-up
If the asset has not been depreciated up to the disposal date, Cybooks runs catch-up depreciation first. This makes sure the book value is correct at the moment of disposal.
For example, if the last depreciation was January and you dispose in March, Cybooks automatically records February and March depreciation before processing the disposal.
Good to know: Non-depreciable assets like Land skip the catch-up step since they have no depreciation.
How the gain or loss is calculated
Gain or loss = Proceeds - Book value at disposal
Proceeds more than book value = gain (you made a profit)
Proceeds less than book value = loss (you lost money)
Proceeds equal to book value = no gain or loss
Example
Detail | Amount |
Original purchase price | EUR 10,000 |
Accumulated depreciation | EUR 7,000 |
Book value at disposal | EUR 3,000 |
Sale proceeds | EUR 3,500 |
Gain on disposal | EUR 500 |
Accounting entries
Disposal with a gain
Account | Debit | Credit |
Proceeds account (e.g. Bank) | Proceeds | |
Accumulated Depreciation | Total depreciation | |
Fixed Asset Account | Purchase price | |
Gain on Disposal | Gain amount |
Disposal with a loss
Account | Debit | Credit |
Proceeds account (e.g. Bank) | Proceeds | |
Accumulated Depreciation | Total depreciation | |
Loss on Disposal | Loss amount | |
Fixed Asset Account | Purchase price |
After disposal
The asset moves to the Disposed tab. It is no longer on your Balance Sheet. The asset page shows all the disposal details: method, date, proceeds, and gain or loss.
Disposal vs deletion
Disposal is the correct way to remove an asset you actually used. All depreciation history is kept.
Deletion is for correcting mistakes. It reverses everything as if the asset never existed.
If the asset was used by your business, always dispose, do not delete.