Finding 16: Property, Plant, and Equipment Capitalization and Depreciation (12-NS1-F-01)
Our review of a sample of 43 Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) asset additions for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2012, identified the following conditions:
a. LANL used the placed in-service date of the original building as the basis for calculating
depreciation of a capitalized refurbishment to the building, rather than calculating depreciation
over the estimated three-year useful life of the addition. The building was fully depreciated, which
resulted in the full depreciation of the addition in the current year.
b. LANL capitalized a security system upgrade to a building and used the original placed in-service
date of the building as the basis for calculating depreciation, rather than calculating depreciation