Apple Numbers VDB: Depreciation Intervals and Straight-Line Switching

• Introduced: Documented in Apple’s Formulas and Functions Help 15.4; the original release and introduction date remain unknown.
• Availability: Currently documented in Apple’s Functions Help 15.4 documentation edition; no final supported-version endpoint is established.
• Scope: Shared iWork reference. Individual Mac, iPad, iPhone and iCloud build availability and historical behavior are not established here.
• Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official VDB reference. Documentation and independent depreciation models; no native Numbers test.

=VDB(cost, salvage, life, starting-per, ending-per, depr-factor, no-switch)

Cost and salvage must be nonnegative numbers. Life must be positive, and Apple permits a fractional life. Starting-per and ending-per define the interval’s boundaries, with ending-per greater than starting-per.

The optional depreciation factor defaults to 2. A factor of 1.5 means 150% of the useful-life-based rate. Optional no-switch defaults to 0 or FALSE: switch when straight-line depreciation exceeds declining-balance depreciation. 1 or TRUE disables switching.

The final argument is deliberately named no-switch. Setting it TRUE prevents switching; it does not enable it. There is no first-year-month count in this signature.

Apple’s notes say starting-per is the period before the first one to include. Use 0 to 1 for year one and 4 to 5 for year five. The function returns depreciation over the interval, rather than merely the ending period’s cumulative total.

The argument paragraph says starting-per must be greater than zero, but the notes explicitly instruct readers to use zero for the first period, and Apple’s first worked formula does so. This guide follows those explicit notes and examples for the 0 boundary, while preserving the inconsistency. It does not infer support for negative boundaries or every fractional endpoint.

Create a table named VariableDeclining, with eight columns A:H and eight rows including one header row. Use Year, Start, End, Switch allowed, No switch, Difference, Switch closing value and No-switch closing value as the headers.

Enter years 1–5 in A2:A6, starts 0–4 in B2:B6 and ends 1–5 in C2:C6. Then enter:

• D2: =VDB(11000,1000,5,B2,C2,1.5,0)
• E2: =VDB(11000,1000,5,B2,C2,1.5,1)
• F2: =D2-E2

Fill D2:F2 through row 6. The independent full-schedule model is:

Apple explicitly publishes the first-year 3300 and both fifth-year values. The intervening rows are independently calculated from the declining-balance and switching rules.

Put =11000-D2 in G2 and =11000-E2 in H2. Put =G2-D3 in G3 and =H2-E3 in H3, then fill G3:H3 through row 6. Expected final G6 is 1000; H6 is 1848.77. Disabling the switch leaves a higher final book value in this example.

In D8 enter =SUM(D2:D6) and in E8 enter =SUM(E2:E6). Expected totals are 10000 and 9151.23. The difference is 848.77, consistent with the difference between the final book values.

Create a separate table named SwitchCheck, with four columns and three rows. Use Opening value, Remaining years, Declining candidate and Straight-line candidate as the headers. Enter 3773 in A2 and 2 in B2.

Put =A2*1.5/5 in C2 and =(A2-1000)/B2 in D2. Expected candidates are 1131.90 and 1386.50. Since straight-line is greater, the allowed-switch model uses 1386.50 for year four.

For the next year, put 2386.5 in A3 and 1 in B3, then fill C2:D2 through row 3. The candidates are 715.95 and 1386.50. The straight-line charge takes the remaining book value to salvage.

For comparison, the no-switch schedule enters year five at 2641.1, so its charge is 2641.1*1.5/5=792.33. These comparisons use the current remaining amount and remaining life, rather than repeatedly applying the original whole-life straight-line charge.

Create a separate table named Controls, with two columns and four rows. Enter these formulas in B2:B4 with descriptive labels in A:

• B2: =VDB(11000,1000,5,0,1) → 4400, using default factor 2
• B3: =VDB(11000,1000,5,4,5,1.5) → 1386.50, using default switch allowed
• B4: =VDB(11000,1000,5,0,5,1.5,0) → 10000, covering all five periods

The first-period default-factor target is an independent declining-balance calculation, 11000×2/5. It is distinct from the 3300 result using an explicit factor of 1.5.

Use consistent life and interval units, and keep endpoints in the intended order. The entry allows fractional life but does not describe every fractional-endpoint proration detail or exact error string. The worked schedules use whole years within the stated life and keep intermediate arithmetic unrounded.

The visible currency format depends on regional settings. VDB does not select a legally appropriate depreciation policy or account automatically for disposals, revaluations and changes in estimates.

DDB asks for one period and a factor; DB uses fixed-declining depreciation with a first-year month argument. SLN directly calculates straight-line depreciation. Keep those models and their defaults distinct.