The Max Company began its operations on January 1, 2016, and used an accelerated method of depreciation for its machinery and equipment. On January 1, 2018, Max adopted the straight-line method of depreciation. The following information is available regarding depreciation expense for each method:

 AcceleratedStraight-lineYearDepreciationDepreciation2016$ 175,000$ 150,0002017200,000180,0002018245,000230,000

What is the before-tax cumulative effect on prior years’ income that would be reported as of January 1, 2018, due to changing to a different depreciation method?

$0

an increase of $45,000

a decrease of $45,000

an increase of $60,000