Which of the following is a feature of depreciation? I. It is decline in the…

Depreciation is the accounting method of allocating the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life. Each period, a portion of the asset's cost is charged as an expense, and this charge is deducted from the asset's carrying amount until the asset is written down to its residual (salvage) value or disposed of.

Statement I holds because every depreciation charge directly reduces the fixed asset's book value recorded on the balance sheet - that reduction is the very definition of depreciation. Statement II holds because this charge is not a one-time adjustment: it is computed and recorded in every accounting period for as long as the asset remains in use, making depreciation a continuing process rather than an isolated event.

• Only I overlooks that this charge is not a single adjustment - it repeats every period across the asset's useful life.

• Only II overlooks that each of those periodic charges is exactly what lowers the asset's recorded book value.

• Neither I nor II would require depreciation to leave book value unchanged and occur just once - neither matches how depreciation is actually applied.

Both descriptions capture genuine, standard features of depreciation, so the combination naming both is the complete answer.