what is the unit of production method 
the unit of production method is a method of calculating the depreciation of the value of an asset over time the method becomes useful when an asset s value is more closely related to the number of units it produces than to the number of years it is in use this method often results in greater deductions being taken for depreciation in years when the asset is heavily used which can then offset periods when the equipment experiences less use this method can be contrasted with time based measures of depreciation such as straight line or accelerated methods formula for the unit of production methoddepreciation expense for a given year is calculated by dividing the original cost of the equipment less its salvage value by the expected number of units the asset should produce given its useful life then multiply that quotient by the number of units u used during the current year de original value salvage value estimated production capability u where de depreciation expense begin aligned text de left frac text original value text salvage value text estimated production capability right times text u textbf where text de text depreciation expense text u text units per year end aligned de estimated production capability original value salvage value uwhere de depreciation expense 