Of course, either approach has the same effect: net book value is reduced by the
accumulated impairment recognized. European practice has generally been to add
impairment provisions to the accumulated depreciation account. This is consistent with
the view that reducing the asset account directly would be a contravention of the general
prohibition on offsetting. If the entity employs the revaluation method of accounting for
long-lived assets, the impairment adjustment will be treated as the partial reversal of a
previous upward revaluation. However, if the entire revaluation account is eliminated
due to the recognition of an impairment, any excess impairment should be charged to
expense (and thus be closed out to retained earnings). In other words, the revaluation
account cannot contain a net debit balance.