CBSE
Depreciation: Class 11 Practice in TS Grewal Chapter 15 Style
Depreciation is Chapter 15 in the 2025-26 TS Grewal Class 11 edition. It tests the straight line and written down value methods, part-year depreciation, asset accounts run over several years, and profit or loss on sale. Below are original questions on each of those, solved in full, with every calculation checked twice by hand.
Depreciation, Chapter 15 in the 2025-26 TS Grewal edition, is the first Class 11 chapter where a single early slip quietly wrecks every later figure, so working discipline matters as much as method. The questions below are original, since the book's questions are copyrighted, but they test the identical skills: straight line and written down value calculations, part-year charges, a machinery account run over three years, and profit or loss on the sale of an asset. I recomputed every figure on this page twice, once forwards and once backwards from the answer, before it went up.
The two methods, cleanly separated
Straight line method: depreciation = cost minus estimated scrap value, divided by useful life, or a fixed percent of original cost, and the charge is identical every year. Cost includes everything spent to make the asset usable: purchase price, freight, installation. Written down value method: a fixed percent applied to the opening book value of each year, so the charge is largest in year one and falls every year after, and the asset never quite reaches zero. The exam tells you which method and which rate to use; your job is to apply it without slipping. The single most valuable habit is a working note that builds the cost figure first, then a year-by-year line showing the base, the rate, the charge and the closing book value. Questions 1 to 3 below model exactly that layout.
Part years, sales, and the machinery account
Whenever an asset is bought or sold partway through the year, depreciation runs only for the months of ownership: the annual charge times months over twelve. On a sale, the order of operations is fixed and worth memorising: charge depreciation from the start of the year to the date of sale, compute book value as cost minus all depreciation to date, then compare book value with the sale proceeds. Proceeds above book value give a profit on sale; below it, a loss. In the Machinery Account the sale year shows the part-year depreciation, By Bank for the proceeds, and the profit or loss line that closes the asset out. Questions 4 and 5 walk through both situations, and the variant under question 5 flips the loss into a profit so you can test the comparison in both directions.
What Chapter 15 covers in 2025-26
In the 2025-26 edition, Depreciation is Chapter 15, sitting after Trial Balance. The chapter examines the meaning and causes of depreciation, the straight line and written down value methods with their merits, asset accounts prepared over several years, part-year calculations, the sale or disposal of an asset, and the alternative of keeping the asset at cost while accumulating charges in a Provision for Depreciation Account. The questions on this page use the direct method, crediting the asset itself, because that is where most exam marks sit, but the provision approach is examinable and the FAQ below sketches how it changes the accounts. Some solution sites number this chapter 13 or 14 following older editions, so match by topic name. Theory questions worth around 3 marks on the causes of depreciation or a comparison of the methods appear regularly, so keep one crisp paragraph ready for each.
Worked questions, step by step
A machine is bought for Rs 5,00,000 and Rs 20,000 is spent on its installation. Its estimated scrap value after 8 years is Rs 40,000. Compute the annual straight line depreciation and the rate of depreciation on original cost.
- Total cost = Rs 5,00,000 + Rs 20,000 = Rs 5,20,000, because installation is capitalised into the asset.
- Depreciable amount = cost minus scrap value = Rs 5,20,000 minus Rs 40,000 = Rs 4,80,000.
- Annual depreciation = Rs 4,80,000 divided by 8 years = Rs 60,000.
- Rate on original cost = 60,000 divided by 5,20,000, times 100 = 11.54 percent, rounded to two decimals.
Answer: Annual depreciation is Rs 60,000; the rate is approximately 11.54 percent of original cost.
Where marks slip: Forgetting to add installation to cost is the most common error here, and it corrupts both the annual charge and the rate. Show the cost build-up as its own working note.
Try one yourself: Cost Rs 2,50,000, scrap value Rs 10,000, useful life 6 years. Annual straight line depreciation? (Answer: Rs 40,000)
On 1 April 2023 a firm buys machinery for Rs 3,00,000 and charges depreciation at 10 percent per annum on original cost. Books close on 31 March each year. Show the Machinery Account for three years.
- Annual depreciation = 10 percent of Rs 3,00,000 = Rs 30,000, the same every year under the straight line method.
- Year to 31 March 2024: debit side To Bank Rs 3,00,000; credit side By Depreciation Rs 30,000 and By Balance c/d Rs 2,70,000.
- Year to 31 March 2025: opens To Balance b/d Rs 2,70,000; credit side By Depreciation Rs 30,000 and By Balance c/d Rs 2,40,000.
- Year to 31 March 2026: opens at Rs 2,40,000; By Depreciation Rs 30,000 and By Balance c/d Rs 2,10,000.
- Check: three years at Rs 30,000 is Rs 90,000, and Rs 3,00,000 minus Rs 90,000 = Rs 2,10,000.
Answer: Closing balances: Rs 2,70,000 on 31 March 2024, Rs 2,40,000 on 31 March 2025, Rs 2,10,000 on 31 March 2026.
Where marks slip: Under straight line on original cost the charge never changes. If your year two figure differs from year one, you have drifted into the written down value method without noticing.
Try one yourself: Same machine depreciated at 15 percent per annum on original cost. Balance after two years? (Answer: Rs 2,10,000)
Equipment costing Rs 4,00,000 is depreciated at 15 percent per annum by the written down value method. Compute the depreciation for each of the first three years and the book value at the end of year three.
- Year 1: 15 percent of Rs 4,00,000 = Rs 60,000; closing book value Rs 3,40,000.
- Year 2: 15 percent of Rs 3,40,000 = Rs 51,000; closing book value Rs 2,89,000.
- Year 3: 15 percent of Rs 2,89,000 = Rs 43,350; closing book value Rs 2,45,650.
- Notice the charge falls each year because the base is the shrinking book value, not the original cost.
Answer: Depreciation is Rs 60,000, Rs 51,000 and Rs 43,350; the book value at the end of year three is Rs 2,45,650.
Where marks slip: Carry the exact book value forward each year. Rounding early is how answers drift by a few rupees and lose the accuracy mark at the final figure.
Try one yourself: A machine costing Rs 1,00,000 is depreciated at 20 percent written down value. Year 2 depreciation? (Answer: Rs 16,000)
A machine is bought on 1 October 2024 for Rs 2,40,000. Depreciation is 10 percent per annum on original cost and books close on 31 March. Find the depreciation for 2024-25 and 2025-26 and the book value on 31 March 2026.
- 2024-25 holds the machine for only six months, October to March, so depreciation = Rs 2,40,000 x 10 percent x 6/12 = Rs 12,000.
- Book value on 31 March 2025 = Rs 2,40,000 minus Rs 12,000 = Rs 2,28,000.
- 2025-26 is a full year, so depreciation = Rs 24,000.
- Book value on 31 March 2026 = Rs 2,28,000 minus Rs 24,000 = Rs 2,04,000.
Answer: Depreciation is Rs 12,000 for 2024-25 and Rs 24,000 for 2025-26; the book value on 31 March 2026 is Rs 2,04,000.
Where marks slip: Write the fraction of the year into the calculation line, 6/12 here. Examiners award the time apportionment separately from the arithmetic, so showing it protects the mark.
Try one yourself: A machine bought on 1 January 2025 for Rs 1,80,000, at 10 percent per annum on cost. Depreciation for 2024-25? (Answer: Rs 4,500, for three months)
A machine bought on 1 April 2023 for Rs 1,60,000 is depreciated at 10 percent per annum on original cost. It is sold on 30 September 2025 for Rs 1,10,000. Find the profit or loss on sale.
- Annual depreciation = 10 percent of Rs 1,60,000 = Rs 16,000. Charge it in full for 2023-24 and 2024-25: Rs 32,000.
- In 2025-26 the machine is used for six months up to the sale: Rs 16,000 x 6/12 = Rs 8,000.
- Total depreciation to the date of sale = Rs 40,000, so book value at sale = Rs 1,60,000 minus Rs 40,000 = Rs 1,20,000.
- Sale proceeds of Rs 1,10,000 against a book value of Rs 1,20,000 give a loss on sale of Rs 10,000.
- In the Machinery Account the final year shows By Depreciation Rs 8,000, By Bank Rs 1,10,000 and By Loss on Sale Rs 10,000, which together close the account.
Answer: There is a loss on sale of Rs 10,000.
Where marks slip: The step everyone skips is depreciation from 1 April to the sale date. Charge it first, then compare book value with the price received; doing the comparison on last year's book value is the classic error.
Try one yourself: The same machine is sold on the same date for Rs 1,27,000 instead. Result? (Answer: a profit on sale of Rs 7,000)
An asset costs Rs 2,00,000 and the rate of depreciation is 20 percent per annum. Compare the year 2 depreciation under the straight line method and the written down value method.
- Straight line: 20 percent of original cost every year, so year 2 = Rs 40,000, identical to year 1.
- Written down value: year 1 = Rs 40,000, leaving a book value of Rs 1,60,000; year 2 = 20 percent of Rs 1,60,000 = Rs 32,000.
- The year 2 difference is Rs 8,000, and the gap widens every year after because the WDV base keeps shrinking.
Answer: Year 2 depreciation is Rs 40,000 under the straight line method and Rs 32,000 under the written down value method.
Where marks slip: In compare-the-methods questions, one sentence on why the WDV charge falls, the shrinking base, earns the theory mark that pure numbers miss.
Try one yourself: Same asset: what is the year 3 depreciation under the written down value method? (Answer: Rs 25,600)
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Are these the actual TS Grewal Chapter 15 solutions?
No. The book's questions are copyrighted, so every question here is original, written to match the calculation types and difficulty of Chapter 15 in the 2025-26 edition. The layouts shown, cost build-up first, then year-by-year lines, work directly on the book's own questions.
Which method does CBSE prefer, straight line or written down value?
Neither. The question always states the method and the rate, and both are examinable. What is worth preparing is one short comparison paragraph, equal charge versus falling charge, and the reason the written down value base shrinks, because that turns up as a 3-mark theory question.
What is the provision for depreciation method?
Instead of crediting the asset each year, the asset stays in the books at original cost and the yearly charge accumulates in a separate Provision for Depreciation Account. On a sale, both the cost and the accumulated provision are transferred to an Asset Disposal Account, which then reveals the profit or loss. It is part of the Class 11 chapter and worth one careful practice run.
Why is my written down value answer off by a few rupees?
Almost always early rounding. Carry the exact book value from year to year, keep paise if they arise, and round only the final answer. If a question gives an awkward rate, the examiner expects the unrounded chain and a sensibly rounded final figure.