Understandably, the most common question we get asked is, ‘How much is a Depreciation Schedule?’

Our answer is, ‘It depends’.

Don’t you hate that reply. But it does depend on a few things: location, age of the property and the amount of information you have on costs are the main variables.

The great thing is that when you call us, the person you speak to in your very first call will be able to work out the best way to tackle your job and they will quote you a fee – they can even email you an invoice (often during that conversation).

Our costs range from $275 to $715. We’re not the most expensive, but we’re also not the cheapest. We’re not the cheapest because we use quantity surveyors and not ‘data collectors’ to carry out inspections.

There are some discount suppliers out there who don’t use quantity surveyors to inspect properties. They say they do, but they’re fibbing – we’ve caught a few of them out. So they use a data collector to gather information that is then sent to someone else to cost. In one case, this ‘someone else’ is a data entry operator in another state. We prefer that the person who inspects the property is the person who calculates the construction cost and values the Assets (fixtures and fittings). The Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) and the ATO also take this view.

And of course, some of the cheaper Schedules are duds. That’s because often the people who put them together are duds. They don’t keep up with the rules and include non allowable items as Assets – it takes us (and the ATO) about 30 seconds to spot the errors there.

Many Schedules don’t provide an opening written-down value for Assets. And if that’s not in the Schedule, your accountant will have to calculate it, at your cost.

We’ve even seen Schedules where the Low Value Pool is not included.

We think it’s crazy saving a hundred or so tax deductible dollars and getting something that is wrong. But you would expect us to say that.