Southern Fried Chicken bought equipment on January $2,2024,$ for $$36,000.$ The equipment was expected to remain in service for four years and to operate for $7,500$ hours. At the end of the equipment's useful life, Southem estimates that its residual value will be $$6,000.$ The equipment operated for $750$ hours the first year, $2,250$ hours the second year, $3,000$ hours the third yoa and $1,500$ hours the fourth year.

Read the requirements.

Requirement $1.$ Prepare a schedule of depreciation expense, accumulated depreciation, and book value per year for the equipment under the three depreciation methods: straightline, units$-$of$-$production, and double$-$declining$-$balance. Show your computations. Note: Three depreciation schedules must be prepared.

Begin by preparing a depreciation schedule using the straight$-$line method.

Straight$-$Line Depreciation Schedule

$\backslash$table$[[$Date$,\backslash$table$[[$Asset$],[$Cost$]],$Depreciation for the Year,$\backslash$table$[[$Accumulated$],[$Depreciation$]],\backslash$table$[[$Book$],[$Value$]]],[\backslash$table$[[$Depreciable$],[$Cost$]],,\backslash$table$[[$Useful$],[$Life$.]],,\backslash$table$[[$Depreciation$],[$Expense$]]],[1-2-2024,,,,,,$:$\text{'},,],[12-31-2024,,,+,,=,,,],[12-31-2025,,,+,,=,,,],[12-31-2026,,,+,,=,,,],[12-31-2027,,,+,,=,,,]]$

Requirements

Prepare a schedule of depreciation expense, accumulated depreciation, and book value per year for the equipment under the three depreciation methods: straight$-$line, units$-$of$-$production, and double$-$declining$-$balance Show your computations. Note: Three depreciation schedules must be prepared.

Which method tracks the wear and tear on the equipment most closely?