Answer
Depreciation expense relates to the total expense incurred over the consumption of an asset over a specific accounting period, whereas accumulated depreciation refers to the total depreciation of a companies assets in total/to date.
Work Step by Step
Depreciation is defined as the process of allocating the cost of an asset to expense over its useful life. Therefore, as expense accounts are temporary accounts, depreciation expense relates only to expense incurred in the consumption of an asset to a specific accounting period. Accumulated depreciation does not refer to a specific accounting period, but the total depreciation of assets to date, hence the word accumulated is used as it occurs over multiple business periods.
