How to create the asset from the supplier invoice

What is it for?

When you enter an invoice for an item that will last more than a year (a computer, a vehicle, software), fiscaldoo prepares the fixed asset card on its own: it brings in the amount, the supplier, the invoice date and the category. It saves you typing everything again and stops you forgetting an item you bought. The card starts In preparation: fiscaldoo never puts it in use on its own, because the start of use date and the useful life are your decisions.

When to use it?

• You entered (or are about to enter) a supplier invoice with a line on a fixed asset account and want the item's card already created.
• You want to know why the Fixed Assets button appears on an invoice, or why it did not.

If the item does not come from a posted invoice (for example, it was already in the company), create the card by hand: How to register a fixed asset. For monthly depreciation after putting it in use, see How to process the month's depreciation.

Where to find it?

• On the invoice itself: Accounting › Record › Purchases › Supplier invoices. After Confirm, the Fixed Assets button appears at the top with the number of cards, along with a message in the chatter.
• The cards are also under Accounting › Record › Partners and assets › Fixed assets.
• The One Asset per Unit option is under Accounting › Configure › Banks and assets › Asset categories.

Before you start

• Accountant profile. In the demo, Asset categories opens for the Accountant but the One Asset per Unit option is locked: it is switched on by the Certified Accountant / Fiscal Manager (or Fiscal administration, or the administrator); the Fiscal officer can only see it.
• Only a Posted supplier invoice creates cards: a draft creates none.
• The item's line is on a tangible fixed assets (43), intangible assets (44) or assets under construction (45) account and has an amount greater than zero. In the example it is account 435 Equipamento administrativo.
• The line's description says what the item is (Impressora laser): it gives the card its name (see “Common problems”).

How to use it

1. In Supplier invoices, create the invoice (see How to enter a supplier invoice). On the item's line, type the description, choose account 435 Equipamento administrativo, the price (380,00) and the 23% tax.
2. Click Confirm. The invoice becomes Posted, the Fixed Assets 1 button appears and the chatter says “Draft fixed asset cards created from this bill (review them and put them in use): Impressora laser.”. If the Confirm Entries window appears because the amount is unusual for the supplier, click Confirm.
3. Click Fixed Assets. The list shows one card per investment line, with the Code (AF/00017), the Name, the Category, the invoice date under Acquired, the Cost (380,00 €) and the state In preparation. If the invoice has 3 units and the category has One Asset per Unit switched on, 3 cards are created, Cadeira ergonómica (1/3), (2/3) and (3/3), each at 150,00 €; without that option a single card is created, with the line's total amount.
4. Open the card. Check the Name, the Category, the Supplier and the Source Invoice. If the banner “Suggestion from the description: · [II-2240] Computadores” appears, it is the Regulatory Decree (DR) 25/2009 rate code that fiscaldoo proposes from the name: click Use the suggestion only if the code matches the item.
5. Enter the Start of Use Date (under General) and, under Accounting board, the Accounting Useful Life (years). Then click Put in use. The rest of the card (instalments, tax rate, schedule) is the same as for any asset: see How to register a fixed asset.

Expected result

• One card In preparation per investment line (or per unit), linked to the invoice and the line, with the line's amount excluding VAT. When it creates the card, fiscaldoo copies the VAT deducted on the invoice to the Tax board (in the example of the 1.450,00 € computer, VAT Deducted on Acquisition 333,50 €, “From the purchase bill”).
• The invoice itself is booked like any purchase invoice: in the example, FTF/2026/00052 (1.450,00 € + 333,50 € VAT):

Account	Debit	Credit
435 Equipamento administrativo	1.450,00 €
2432 IVA - Dedutível	333,50 €
2211 Fornecedores gerais		1.783,50 €

• Creating the card does not book any depreciation. The instalments only enter the accounts once the card is In use and the month has been processed.
• After Put in use (computer card, start 23/10/2026, useful life of 3 years), the schedule has annual instalments: 2026 is 120,83 € (3 months), 2027 and 2028 are 483,33 € and 483,34 €, and 2029 is 362,50 €. The asset becomes In use with Net book value 1.450,00 €.

Which category fiscaldoo chooses

1. The Fixed Asset Category set on the account form (in Chart of accounts, Accounting tab; set by the Fiscal officer). In the demo, with account 437 Outros ativos fixos tangíveis linked to Transport equipment, the card for Empilhador elétrico was created with that category.
2. If the account does not have one, the category whose asset account is that account, provided there is only one: account 435 gives Administrative equipment and 443 gives Computer programs.
3. Otherwise, the card is created without a category and you choose it: that is what happened with a line on account 453 Ativos fixos tangíveis em curso.

Pending validation by a certified accountant: the accounting treatment of an invoice on assets under construction accounts (45) and when the card should be put in use; and non-deductible VAT in the asset's cost (see the article on registering the asset).

Important notes

When no card is created

Tested on screen: the invoice is posted normally and neither the Fixed Assets button nor a chatter message appears when:

• the line is on an expense account (example: 6228 Outros);
• the line is on an accumulated depreciation account, 438, 439, 448 and 449, unless you linked a category to it (example: 4385 Equipamento administrativo);
• the line's amount is zero (example: equipment given free of charge, at 0,00 €).

In these cases, if the item exists, create the card by hand in Fixed assets. Creating the cards never prevents the invoice from being confirmed.

A negative line (for example a discount) does not reduce the card of the item's line: adjust the cost on the card.

Resetting to draft and confirming again

In draft, the invoice still shows the Fixed Assets button, with the cards it already has. When you click Reset to Draft on an invoice that has cards, the cards stay as they are and the chatter warns: “Esta fatura foi reposta em rascunho mas tem fichas de ativo fixo: reveja-as (nada foi alterado automaticamente): …” (this invoice was reset to draft but has fixed asset cards: review them (nothing was changed automatically)). When you confirm again, the cards are not duplicated (tested: there are still 3).

Cancelled invoice and fiscal country

Only companies whose fiscal country is PT create cards. When you Cancel the invoice, the chatter also leaves a message: “Esta fatura foi cancelada mas tem fichas de ativo fixo: reveja-as…” (this invoice was cancelled but has fixed asset cards: review them).

Credit notes and returns

A credit note on an asset account neither creates nor changes any card. The credit note's chatter says: “Credit note on a fixed asset account: no asset card is created or changed automatically. Review the related assets.” If the item was returned, deal with the card: a card In preparation can be deleted (Actions › Delete menu, tested); a card already In use must be written off, see How to write off or sell an asset.

One asset per unit

The option is on each Asset category. When on, a line with quantity 3 creates 3 cards of equal value, named (1/3), (2/3) and (3/3); when off, it creates one. The split only happens with whole quantities of 2 or more; with 2,5 a single card is created. Switch it on when each unit has to be inventoried, written off or sold separately.

Common problems

The card is named “…, linha 1” and the rate suggestion is wrong

• Symptom: the card is named after the Bill Reference followed by “, linha 1”, and the banner suggests a rate that has nothing to do with the item (in the test, “[I-1245] Equipamentos de centrais: Linhas de AT e suportes”).
• Cause: the invoice line had no description. fiscaldoo gives the card the invoice reference and the line number, and the suggestion is looked up from that name.
• What to do: type the item's name on the card before you click Use the suggestion, or choose the right code in Tax board › DR 25/2009 Rate. Next time, describe the invoice line.

“The asset "…" cannot be put in use: it is missing the start of use date, accounting useful life greater than zero”

• Symptom: when you click Put in use on a newly created card, a Validation Error window: “The asset "Cadeira ergonómica (1/3)" cannot be put in use: it is missing the start of use date, accounting useful life greater than zero. The depreciation starts at the entry into operation and is spread over the useful life, so both are needed. Fill them in and try again.”
• Cause: the card created from the invoice brings the amount but neither the start date nor the useful life.
• What to do: fill in the Start of Use Date and the Accounting Useful Life (years) (step 5) and click again.

The posted invoice does not have the “Fixed Assets” button

• Cause: the line's account is not a fixed asset account (43, 44 or 45), the line is worth zero, the account is an accumulated depreciation account (438, 439, 448 and 449, unless you linked a category to it), the invoice is still a draft, or it is a credit note (see “Important notes”).
• What to do: check the line's account. If it is an asset, correct the account (resetting to draft) or create the card in Fixed assets.

I cannot switch on “One Asset per Unit”

• Cause: the Accountant profile sees the category but the option is locked.
• What to do: ask the Certified Accountant / Fiscal Manager (or Fiscal administration) to switch it on. It only applies to invoices confirmed after it is switched on: cards already created are not redone.