One line
What one line of a register holds
An asset register, as this guide uses the term, is a business’s own list of the things it owns and uses to earn income, with the records behind each one. The law behind it is plain: the ATO says a business is legally required to keep records of all transactions relating to its tax, super and registration affairs as it starts, runs, sells, changes or closes.
For an asset that wears out, the ATO lists what the records need to show. Among them: the first element of cost (generally the purchase price), the date you started holding the asset, the effective life or rate and the method used to work out its decline in value, the deduction claimed, and the adjustable value at the end of the income year.
business.gov.au puts the same duty more briefly: among the records a business must keep are the records of all expenses related to its assets or stock.
AR-0001 sets out every column the ATO names, with an example register.
The register
Six tags on the sheet
Each tag answers one question about the things a business owns, from the ATO, business.gov.au, Moneysmart and the PPSR’s own pages.
| Tag | Item | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| AR-0001 | What an asset register is | The lines a register keeps, and the records the ATO expects behind each one. |
| AR-0002 | Depreciation in plain words | Decline in value, effective life and the two methods, with a worked example. |
| AR-0003 | The instant asset write-off | The limit as at October 2026, the conditions, and what happens above it. |
| AR-0004 | The PPSR | The national register of security interests: what it records and who searches it. |
| AR-0005 | Checking a used car on the PPSR | A search before you buy, step by step, and how to read the result. |
| AR-0006 | Assets and insurance | Keeping a register that supports a claim, and the tax side of a payout. |
As at October 2026
Two figures the register meets most
Instant asset write-off limit
$20,000As at October 2026, the ATO’s table gives a limit of $20,000 for assets first used or installed ready for use on or after 1 July 2023, for businesses with an aggregated turnover under $10 million that use the simplified depreciation rules. Each asset must cost less than the limit.
PPSR search, online
$2.00As at October 2026, the PPSR’s fees page lists $2.00 for a search done online and $7.00 for one done through its contact centre. PPSR fees are not subject to GST.
How long
A line outlives the asset
Most business records are kept for 5 years. Records of a depreciating asset run longer. The general rule is to keep them the whole time the asset is yours, and for five more years once it has been sold or otherwise disposed of. Assets in a low-value pool, and assets subject to rollover relief, have their own periods.
So a register is never only a list of what is on the premises today. The line for a machine sold three years ago still belongs in it, with the date of sale and what it was sold for. The ATO also points out that other bodies set their own rules: ASIC, for one, requires companies to keep records for 7 years.
AR-0006 shows the same records at work in an insurance claim.
