Which method of depreciation assumes even contribution to revenue over an asset's life?

The straight-line depreciation method is the correct answer because it allocates the cost of an asset evenly over its useful life. This approach assumes that the asset contributes to revenue consistently each year. By spreading the cost uniformly, businesses reflect a stable expense pattern aligned with the revenue generated from the asset, making it straightforward for financial reporting and budgeting.

In practice, this means that if an asset has a useful life of 10 years and a cost of $10,000, a company would expense $1,000 per year, reflecting an equal contribution to revenue over that decade. This method is simple to apply and provides clarity in financial statements, which is particularly useful for analyzing performance over time.

Other methods such as reducing balance, accelerated, and declining balance depreciation allocate expenses in a way that reflects more significant contributions or usage in the earlier years of the asset's life, which does not align with the assumption of even contribution to revenue.