DEPLETION Definition

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DEPLETION is the process of cost allocation that assigns the original cost of a natural resource to the periods benefited. For example: a mining company purchases mineral rights to a deposit for $5 million for a period of ten years. The cost of the natural resource, $5 million, will be depleted over the ten years of the benefit; i.e., it is the physical exhaustion of a natural resource (e.g., timber, oil and coal).

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SYNTHETIC LEASE is a transaction that appears, from an accounting standpoint, as a lease, but as a loan from a tax standpoint; resulting in an off-balance sheet account of the financing and the tax benefits that accompany the financed asset.

DISCOUNTED VALUE is the present value of the sum of future payments after they has been discounted back. The higher the discount rate used, the lower the present value of the future sum.

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