Kathleen Cole Inc. acquired the following assets in January of 2012. Equipment, estimated service life, 5 years; salvage value, $15,000 $525,000 Building, estimated service life, 30 years; no salvage value $693,000 The equipment has been depreciated using the sum-of-the-years❝-digits method for the first 3 years for financial reporting purposes. In 2015, the company decided to change the method of computing depreciation to the straight-line method for the equipment, but no change was made in the estimated service life or salvage value. It was also decided to change the total estimated service life of the building from 30 years to 40 years, with no change in the estimated salvage value. The building is depreciated on the straight-line method. (a) Prepare the general journal entry to record depreciation expense for the equipment in 2015. (b) Prepare the journal entry to record depreciation expense for the building in 2015. (Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 125. Credit account titles are automatically indented when amount is entered. Do not indent manually. If no entry is required, select "No Entry" for the account titles and enter 0 for the amounts.)(a) Prepare the general journal entry to record depreciation expense for the equipment in 2015.(b) Prepare the journal entry to record depreciation expense for the building in 2015.(Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 125. Credit account titles are automatically indented when amount is entered. Do not indent manually. If no entry is required, select "No Entry" for the account titles and enter 0 for the amounts.)

A change in accounting estimate occurs when there is new information that surfaces, affecting the initial situation. It can affect the carrying amount of an asset or liability as well as alter the accounting for existing and future assets or liabilities.

1. The equipment has a cost of $525000 and its depreciation was changed to using the straight line method after 3 years of use. Straight- line depreciation per year:

(Cost of asset - salvage value) / number of useful years.

The cost of asset and the number of useful years left would have to be found since the machine already depreciated using the sum-of-years-digits.

Number of useful years left : 5 - 3 = 2

Accumulated depreciation is required to find what the asset costs at the beginning of 2015.

Depreciation using sum-of-years-digits:

Sum-of-years-digits is an accelerated form of depreciation based on the assumption that an asset’s productivity reduces with time.

(Cost - Salvage value) x (remaining useful life of asset / sum of years digits)

Sum-of-years-digits = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15

Depreciation for 2012 :

($525000 - $15000) / (5/15) = $170000

Depreciation for 2013 :

($525000 - $15000) / (4/15) = $136000

Depreciation for 2014 :

($525000 - $15000) / (3/15) = $102000

Total depreciation: $102000 + $136000 + $170000 = $408000

Cost of asset at Jan 2015 = $525000 - $408000 = $117000

Thus, depreciation expense for 2015 = ($117000 - $15000) / 2 = $51000

Debit : Equipment Depreciation : $51000

Credit : Equipment Accumulated Depreciation : $51000

2. The building has a cost of $693000. It is depreciated using the straight-line method of depreciation. Hence, the depreciation expense is the same annually throughout the life of the asset.

Annual depreciation = (Cost of asset - salvage value) / number of useful years

Useful number of years was initially 30 years, later in 2015, it was changed to 40 years.

In order to find the depreciation for 2015, we need to find the cost of asset at the beginning of 2015 and the estimated useful life years left.

Estimated useful life years left : 40 - 3 = 37 years

Cost of asset :

To find this, we require the accumulated depreciation.

Depreciation for one year:

(693000 - 0) / 30 = $23100

$23100 x 3 = $69300 for 3 years

Cost of asset at the beginning of 2015 :

693000 - $69300 = $623700

This would mean that the depreciation expense for 2015 is:

($623700) / 37 = $16857

Debit : Building Depreciation account : $16857

Credit : Building Accumulated Depreciation : $16857