What is the journal entry to record depreciation expense?

The depreciation for the financial statements is entered into the accounts via a general journal entry ;

Debit Depreciation Expense

Credit Accumulated Depreciation

Depreciation

A non-cash expense (also known as non-cash charge) that provides a source of free cash flow. Amount allocated during the period to amortize the cost of acquiring long-term assets over the useful life of the assets. To be clear, this is an accounting expense not a real expense that demands cash. The sum of depreciation expenses of prior years leads to the balance sheet item Accumulated Depreciation.

It is an expense, but because it is non-cash, it is often effectively a tax write-off; that is, a person or company usually may reduce his/her/its taxable income by the amount of the depreciation on the asset. Because there are many different ways to account depreciation, it often bears only a rough resemblance to the asset's useful life. This may further benefit the company as they may continue to use the asset tax-free after its value has technically depreciated to nothing.