Valuation of fixed assets (DOPPIK)
Road infrastructure is one of the biggest assets of our society, accounting for more than 40 percent of the fixed assets. Maintaining these assets systematically is a major task. In particular, it requires tools and procedures with which the development of assets can be measured and evaluated in the long term. This is not only about the monetary values of the assets, but also about the technical condition and the expected service life.
Traditionally, the budgetary and financial economy was managed by the German administrations in a cameralistic manner. This model does not take into account the loss of value associated with the ageing and use of fixed assets. As a result, the value of fixed assets cannot be reflected realistically. In addition, revenues and expenditures are usually only considered for the financial year. This makes long-term and sustainable investment planning difficult.
In 2003, the Conference of Interior Ministers recommended to switch from a payment-based to a resource-oriented budget and accounting system. The term DOPPIK stands for double-entry accounting in accounts of municipalities and corporations. The requirements and procedures have been defined in the form of state laws and guidelines. The transition from cameralistic to double-entry accounting has already been completed in many German states.
As part of the change in the accounting system, the asset portfolio must be included in the opening balance sheet and valued in monetary terms. In addition, processes and procedures must be implemented with which the value of the assets can be efficiently updated.
Since the introduction of the DOPPIK, HELLER has supported the road authorities in the evaluation of road infrastructure assets. The models developed in cooperation with PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), among others, have been successfully used for more than 10 years.
Services at a glance
- Concepts for the technical and monetary assessment of road infrastructure
- Valuation of fixed assets for the opening balance sheet
- Maintaining and updating assets
- Software solutions for linking technical and financial data
Concepts for technical and monetary valuation
Double-entry accounting can only be used profitably if the highly different models for describing the technical remaining service life and the monetary residual value of the assets are sensibly combined. In addition, processes must be defined so that the assets can be maintained efficiently and sustainably. The experts at HELLER Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH are familiar with the interests of the construction administration and the finance department, and are thus able to mediate and develop concepts that can be successfully and profitably applied in practice.
Valuation of fixed assets as part of the opening balance sheet
In order to register the fixed assets for the DOPPIK efficiently and in compliance with the legal situation as well as to include them in the opening balance sheet, a lot of information on the fixed assets is required, e.g. the acquisition and production costs, the year of acquisition or the current condition. Often information is missing. In this case, substitute values shall be used. HELLER supports the administrations in obtaining and processing the information. With the available concepts and tools, the existing condition and inventory data can be assigned to the individual capital goods and the necessary quantity and value calculations can be efficiently and comprehensibly carried out.
Maintaining and updating assets
Updating assets is generally more complicated and involves more effort than preparing the opening balance sheet. This is usually due to the fact that the assets are stored differently in the accounting systems than in the information systems of the road administration. Often, there is no link between technical and financial information. HELLER makes it possible to identify these deficits at an early stage and create solutions for an efficient data management. This includes in particular the use of the data obtained within the regular condition survey.
Software solutions for linking technical and financial data
HELLER develops customized tools for linking technical and financial data. These take into account the respective requirements and restrictions of the two different areas, i.e. the finance department and road administration. In budget systems, the information is usually stored with reference to the individual assets. The road network serves as a reference for road information systems and for surveying and assessing road conditions. To be able to link or combine both worlds for evaluations, sophisticated technical concepts are required.