Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.
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SLN
SLN spreads an asset's depreciable cost evenly across its useful life by subtracting the salvage value from cost and dividing by life. It is the simplest depreciation method and is ideal for assets that lose value uniformly over time.
Excel
=SLN(B2,B3,B4)Google Sheets
=SLN(B2,B3,B4)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Parameter | Value |
| Cost | 20000 |
| Salvage | 2000 |
| Life (yrs) | 5 |
| Period | 1 |
=SLN(B2,B3,B4)→3600
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Sample data — click any cell to edit
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How it works
- 1Enter the asset cost, salvage value (estimated residual value), and useful life in years.
- 2Apply =SLN(cost, salvage, life) to get the annual depreciation charge.
- 3Multiply by the fraction of the year if partial-year depreciation is needed.
Need a version for your data?
Try: “What is the annual straight-line depreciation on a $20,000 machine with a $2,000 salvage value over 5 years?”