The plant manager of a manufacturing firm suggested in a conference of the company’s executives that accountants should speed up depreciation on the machinery in the finishing department because...

The plant manager of a manufacturing firm suggested in a conference of the company’s executives that accountants should speed up depreciation on the machinery in the finishing department because improvements were rapidly making those machines obsolete, and a depreciation fund big enough to cover their replacement is needed. Discuss the accounting concept of depreciation and the effect on a business concern of the depreciation recorded for plant assets, paying particular attention to the issues raised by the plant manager.