Asset tracking is a vital aspect of any asset management function. Assets need to be managed financially and they must also be managed physically. To do that requires knowledge of exactly where all your assets are, even if they are fixed. Many companies rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of all their various assets, but that can prove problematic without the use of fixed asset software applicable and compliant with international regulations.
That’s particularly important with IT asset tracking. IT equipment can often change during its operational lifetime. Components may be switched, replaced or upgraded. Software is frequently installed, uninstalled or upgraded. Many of these changes are internal and therefore invisible and cannot be tracked even with the use of an asset tracking system to control bar code-tagged assets. The fact that many IT systems are so desirable and useful can also contribute to their tendency to “disappear”.
Central to any asset tracking software system should be a powerful, centralised database which provides controlled access for all parties that require it, thus preventing discrepancies that may otherwise arise between departments. This system should also have the capacity to display information about those invisible software assets sitting on your IT network – how many programs and whether they are licenced or not? A single audit should be able to cover multiple locations and thousands of assets. It should also be fully compatible with inventory management systems, so that hand-held scanning devices typically employed to read barcode label can work with both accounting and tracking modules to provide an accurate, validated, and consistently current database. This will mean that users can comply fully and confidently with auditor requirements relating to accurately accounting for and tracking their asset base.
The features of the best fixed asset accounting software should include the use of portable scanners or more durable PDAs to input information and update the status of items on-site and in real time, including data such as make, model or serial number. Assets and inventory items can then be easily flagged as transferred, disposed of or missing.
Once the audit data has been uploaded into the asset or inventory register, users are able to run a report displaying the details of, and the suggested actions (disposable, relocation, upgrade etc) for each of the assets located in the audit. In doing so, users are notified of any discrepancies in location or status of the asset prior to updating them on the fixed asset/inventory register.
If any further analysis is required, the asset tracking software can be used to produce a range of additional reports to provide a comprehensive account of all the changes that have been made to the registers. Reports can be sorted and sequenced as is appropriate to each organisation and can be viewed in a range of different mediums, including spreadsheets and MS Word documents.
