A business operates and generates revenue with help of different assets. These can be sophisticated industry-specific machinery to something as trivial as a notepad. Out of all business assets, fixed assets have the most significant operational and, in turn, financial impacts on your enterprise. 

If you want to enhance your company’s efficiency, reduce operational costs and maximise profits, a robust fixed asset management system lies at the core of it all. Read on to learn how keeping a fixed asset register will save your business time and money.

As important as these assets are, it’s imperative to define what they are. Put briefly, these are physical assets owned by a company that cannot be readily converted into cash. 

In accounting terms, they fall under the umbrella of noncurrent assets and are items that a company intends to use for more than a year at the time of purchase. Tangible objects like laptops, furniture, vehicles, and buildings are some examples of fixed assets.

A special consideration about these assets, which is also the reason why they need to be tracked in a separate fixed asset register, is that they lose value over time. Although this is not true for all fixed assets, it still is a major characteristic that highlights the need for recording the assets’ value depreciation as they age. This can only be done with effective fixed asset management.

A fixed asset register allows you to log and track unique asset profiles on a streamlined online database. You can log your fixed assets such as laptops, equipment, and furniture and add specific details about each asset and give it a unique digital identity.

With seamless integrations, the system behind fixed asset management software helps it automatically update asset details throughout the database. As a result, high accuracy and accountability enable a business to save the most time and money. Let’s get into the details.

Some financial benefits of using a fixed asset register are immediately apparent, and some are discovered in later stages of using this technology. Having extremely accurate asset records available to you at all times is one of the former.

A lot of companies end up stacking shelves upon shelves of similar hardware or other assets. This happens just because they are unable to cross-check what they need and what they don’t at the time of purchase. 

On the contrary, with all fixed assets logged on to the register, you have a clear overview of what your business has and what it doesn’t. This helps you avoid duplicate purchases. Moreover, logging assets with important information like price of purchase, warranty info and maintenance requirements help you get the most of each asset.

Even if you’re already tracking fixed assets with manual asset tracking methods, maintaining up to date asset records is an uphill battle. But it becomes a piece of cake when you’ve got advanced asset tracking software.

Outdated fixed asset records can lead to a range of problems, all of which ultimately lead to a loss of time and money. For instance, ghost and zombie assets, an outcome of below-par fixed asset management, can lead to higher insurance premiums and extra tax-related fines.

As mentioned in the introduction to fixed assets, these items lose value over time. This is also known as fixed asset depreciation. Tracking this depreciation over their life cycle and reporting accurate values for tax and insurance purposes is a very important financial process that helps businesses save money in the long term. 

You will inevitably struggle to record the fall in fixed assets’ value if you don’t use the best asset tracking software. This leads to you paying exorbitant insurance premiums and taxes on assets that are no longer in use. Invest in a good asset management system and save yourself a lot of money!

When it comes to financial efficiency and productivity, it all boils down to accountability among employees, and overall transparency of business operations. If you’re tracking your fixed assets with spreadsheets or other conventional methods, transparency becomes a distant reality. 

However, using fixed asset management software brings transparency to every nook and cranny of asset management. The ability to assign assets to employees brings accountability to the table. And when every employee can access and record asset details, transparency is manifest.

itemit’s fixed asset register is a powerful but easy to use software solution for all your fixed asset management needs. You can get the highest level of transparency possible with advanced RFID technology, and other asset labels. 

To find out more about how itemit can save your business time and money, you can contact the team at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your 14-day free trial.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

A business’ fixed assets are its most important components after its workforce. Given their significance, fixed assets must be tracked and managed so you have a proper analysis of all such assets that play a role in the business’ income. 

Physical objects as large as the building you work in to the furniture and devices employees use, all are considered fixed assets. Apart from having an ever-ready and complete database with an analysis of all fixed assets, tracking fixed assets allows you to:

• Make fixed asset management a breeze
• Keep fixed assets in their best condition
• Organise the storage of all fixed asset data
• Make well-informed asset-related decisions
• Identify and deal with ghost assets

This is not an exhaustive list of all the benefits fixed asset tracking has to offer. But if you want to uncover its full potential, you must do it right. This post is all about how to track fixed assets the right way.

To get things started on the right foot, we need to determine which assets go on the fixed asset register and which don’t. You don’t want to be logging the wrong assets on the wrong asset register only to have everything jumbled up in the end. 

For an asset to qualify as a fixed asset, it must be something that cannot be readily converted into cash. It should be a physical object that you’ve purchased and intend to use for more than a year. Additionally, the asset must also play a direct role in the business proceedings of your company. 

That being said, let’s go through some examples. 

• Buildings: All facilities that your company uses
• Property: The cost to purchase land and for land improvements
• Hardware: Computers, laptops, servers, tablets
• IT Software: Any software that you have purchased outright, and not leased or paid as a service
• Furniture: Tables, chairs, filing cabinets.
• Machinery: Machines used for production (for factories especially)
• Equipment: Any other office or field equipment
• Vehicles: Company-owned cars, trucks, bicycles, and other vehicles

Once you’ve determined the assets that’ll go on the fixed asset register, you need to know what things you need to track about them. Although the itemit app will let you enter all the relevant details in the right places after you register an asset, you still need to know this in order to understand fixed asset tracking better. 

The most important aspect of tracking your assets is to ensure that the data is up-to-date. This is because the database should always have the correct information about where an asset is located, in whose custody it is and its last maintenance date. Apart from the most basic details, here is a checklist for what you may wish to track for an efficient fixed asset tracking system. 

• Vendor: The company you purchased the assets from
• Purchase Cost
• Effective Lifetime
• Serial Number: important for warranty information
• Warranty Expiration Date

Taking depreciation into account is a crucial part of your finances. Fixed asset tracking enables you to track assets over time and monitor depreciation effectively. This helps you keep accurate financial records for better financial decisions and to achieve efficient tax filing.

Your business’ inventory is the consumables and stock your company owns. On the other hand, assets are the things you use day-to-day. It’s very common for users to mix up the two types of assets and start tracking things that belong in the inventory with the fixed asset register. 

Inventory management and fixed asset tracking are two different disciplines. If you’re making the mistake of using the same method to track both, you will inevitably face challenges. 

The fixed asset register is for tracking data on the asset level. So that you know who has an asset, where it is, and if it’s well maintained. Whereas inventory management is for tracking a group of assets without so much detail. So, instead of exact asset data, the inventory shows you bulk asset data in terms of e.g quantities of each item type.

Assets tags are the best thing that’s happened to the fixed asset management process. With asset tags, you can allocate a unique identity to each of your fixed assets. This automates asset tracking and eliminates the need for manual data entry. 

The most essential asset details such as its location, status and custody are automatically updated whenever the asset tag is scanned by the itemit app. Not only that, using asset tags enables you to carry out accurate asset audits, real-time asset tracking and management and reduce administrative costs.

Fixed asset tracking is something for all businesses to do. Having a dependable way of knowing the assets you have, where they are and being able to manage maintenance and depreciation is essential for a business’s success. 

Your company should track the assets that are helping your business operate, generate revenue and grow. This involves keeping the fixed asset register up-to-date with all the right information. This will save you and your company loads of time and money. 

To find out more about how itemit’s fixed asset register software can help your business, you can contact the team at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your very own 14-day free trial.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

In other words, a company’s fixed assets are its most important resource after the enterprise and the workforce. These assets define a company’s framework, its capability and determine its long-term performance. Given that fixed assets are of great consequence for an establishment, a firm must also devote adequate attention to their management and associated data to ensure streamlined and transparent business operations. 

Managing complete, correct, and up-to-date fixed asset records can be a challenging task. If and when you prepare for an asset audit, you might need a separate task force or have to outsource the audit due to all the intricacies involved. However, life is made much easier if you use a fixed asset management software solution. A fixed asset register can streamline the process, enable you to log, track and manage fixed assets in real-time and provide you with greater insight into how your assets are used. 

The benefits of fixed asset management software are much more than those listed above. Here are 5 major benefits of using itemit’s fixed asset register.

With itemit’s fixed asset management software solution, everyone has easy access to the business’ asset register. It can be accessed easily through Android or iOS apps or a web portal so multiple users have access to a single, secure and comprehensive database.  

This means no more arduous data entry or paperwork. itemit’s fixed asset management software lets you record much more detailed data in a much better-organised manner. Not only that, awesome features like being able to attach images and videos and AI image recognition make itemit the best asset tracking service!

This way, using itemit’s fixed asset register will not only save your business money but also enhance operational productivity. When a company has the ability to efficiently monitor its fixed assets, keeping them safe, scheduling timely maintenance and keeping things working smoothly is much easier.

This enables you to schedule maintenance for your fixed assets and ensure that the correct procedures are in use to keep the assets in good shape. Minimising assets’ downtime increases the company’s productivity, reduces maintenance costs and keeps everything flowing smoothly. 

Being able to keep assets in their best condition has much more amplified results in the long term. Well-maintained assets perform better and for longer, maximising the return to the company and enhancing long-term productivity.

Moreover, valuable insights on this data over a specific period let you see significant trends in fixed asset usage, condition and productivity. Rather than having to spend hours analysing lengthy spreadsheets and paperwork, you will have accurately summed up data with itemit’s fixed asset management software. This way, you can make informed and effective decisions much quicker.

With the smart fixed asset management software from itemit, your assets can no longer ghost you. With effective asset depreciation tracking, you can keep track of all assets in the future even if they quietly disappear or become redundant.

So what are you waiting for? Book a demo now to learn how itemit can solve your fixed asset management. For queries, contact us at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your own 14-day free trial.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

Zombie assets will lumber around your lots and buildings and infect your fixed asset register. These undead assets drain your finances, lose your business money and limit your productivity.

What’s the cure? Effective fixed asset management software. With the ability to log, audit, and manage assets onsite and on the fly, you can blast zombie assets with your smartphone.

Similar to ghost assets, zombie assets are gaps in your fixed asset register. So, where ghost assets are assets that are on your asset register but that you don’t have access to physically (they may have been decommissioned), zombie assets are the opposite.

Zombie assets, therefore, are assets that your business physically owns and uses but that aren’t logged on your fixed asset register. This means that you can pick up and use these assets, but in accounting terms, they don’t exist.

Spooky, right? Wait until you see the effects these zombies have.

A short answer is spreadsheets. Spreadsheets aren’t built for modern fixed asset tracking capabilities. They’re old, archaic tombs that are breeding grounds for undead assets.

To elaborate, the long answer is that old fashioned, archaic and unwieldy processes and operations create zombie assets. For example, every time an asset moves from one location to another, if your fixed asset register is a spreadsheet, the entire spreadsheet is out of date until you change one cell.

Then, you’ll know the number of cells that need to be added, removed, and changed and this can’t necessarily be done on the fly. Therefore, when an asset is purchased, it’s no wonder sometimes it doesn’t make it onto a register.

So, why do these undead assets pose such a threat to your business? There are a few different areas that are infected when your business has zombie assets.

First and foremost, there’s the practical issue that your colleagues don’t know they can use a tool or equipment. If this tool isn’t tracked on a register, there’s likely no clear way that it’s indicated that the asset is available, which means you’re paying for an asset that nobody is using. 

In other words, there’s a reason why the asset hasn’t made it onto the fixed asset register and this will likely span to other areas and limit visibility and accountability over assets on the whole.

Then, there are more pressing financial risks. If your asset is in use but isn’t part of your depreciation calculations, you have no visibility over when you need to decommission this asset which can cause a more literal zombie of an asset eating into your finances.

Then, if you’re using assets that you haven’t logged in your tax returns, you can risk fines. These assets will also mess with your insurance premiums as you’re sending out invalid information.

What’s the cure? It’s quite simple: effective asset tracking software. With fixed asset tracking software, you can add assets to your fixed asset register while performing onsite audits.

Instead of making a note of your new acquisitions and updating a spreadsheet, therefore, you can instead just add the asset whenever you need to.

It’s simple, fixed asset tracking software gives you much greater control over your assets with a lot more ease of use, which means you prevent the undead from seeping into your fixed asset register.

Your business can be free of zombies in under 28 days. In fact, with itemit, you can be rid of zombies a few moments after you sign up. We can import your asset information for you, then you only need to do one audit to see what’s onsite, what’s missing and what’s not there that should be.

We’re not zombie-killing experts, unfortunately, although some of our team do have high-scores on resident evil – but we can help rid your business of zombie assets.

To find out more about how itemit can help your business save time and money, contact us today at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your very own 14-day free trial.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

​​In the spirit of spooky season, we’re diving into one of the most haunting issues your business may face. The dreaded ghost asset. These ghosts will float around your fixed asset register and spook your finances.

Ghost assets will make you lose money and they pose a dark threat to your tax and insurance returns. You have to exorcise these assets before they drain too much from your business.

Ghost assets are assets that exist in your asset register but are not physically accounted for. As such, they’re literally ghosts on your system.

So, if you’ve decommissioned a laptop and scrapped it, for example, if this change isn’t then reflected on your asset register, then that asset becomes a ghost asset.

Any asset, therefore, can become a ghost asset as they are digital echoes of once physical, in use assets. This is where they get their spooky name from.

Why are they such an issue, though, and why should you exorcise your fixed asset register from these ghouls?

Ghost assets pose a number of issues, both financial and physical. For example, there is the immediate issue of needing to use an asset, checking if it exists on the register, and finding it has turned up missing.

So, first and foremost ghost assets cause productivity issues and can create slack times where your colleagues are searching for assets rather than using said assets. 

Maybe, therefore, ghost assets won’t jump out and scare you or your colleagues or whisper haunting words in an empty hallway, but they will definitely cause a sigh and an eye roll.

What will scare you and your colleagues is the amount of money these assets will lose you. The lack of transparency and accountability translates into your tax and insurance operations. 

If there are assets on your fixed asset register that you’re not using and that you have decommissioned, these assets will still be logged in your returns. Therefore, you’ll either risk fines for incorrectly logging a value or you’ll pay too much insurance because you’re insuring more assets than you actually own. Scary, right?

So, how do you get rid of these accounting spectres? Should you call in the experts? No. 

When you use fixed asset management software, you become the ghost-buster due to simple accountability-driven features and functionality. The best fixed asset tracking software is super simple to use meaning you won’t need years of ghost-busting training (or a proton pack), either.

This ease of use also means that you and your colleagues don’t have to cross the streams to contribute to your ghost-busting efforts. Instead, you can all pick up and use the system and lessen the accounting load for everyone.

Why can’t you just use spreadsheets? Spreadsheets are like tombs in that they’re old, unkempt and haunted by ghost assets. Any change an asset goes through makes your spreadsheet out of date, which is impossible to keep track of. Every time an asset is decommissioned, therefore, there’s a possibility that that asset will cross over to the spirit realm and remain on your fixed asset register.

This is where fixed asset tracking software gives you more functionality, as any changes are quick, easy and manageable. On top of this, you can run reports on your asset changes and export snapshot spreadsheets, giving you the best of both worlds without the spookiness.

itemit’s fixed asset management software gives you all of this and more. Built to help you keep track of your assets, you get more accountability and control over your tools and equipment with itemit.

You can track any asset on the system in multiple, easy-to-manage ways. This means that you can exorcise your ghost assets with consistent, speedy audits and run reports.

Fixed asset management shouldn’t be complicated, unwieldy, or time-consuming. Instead of staring into the void of unwieldy spreadsheets, return to the land of the living with effective software.

Our support team is always keen to make sure you’re getting as much return on investment as possible. This means that if you do need someone to call, you’re best reaching us at +44 (0)1223 421611. You can also contact us at team@itemit.com with any questions. We’ll help you bust your ghost assets.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

Fixed asset management software is a useful tool for your business to have. With software, you can implement, improve, and monitor fixed asset management operations.

But, how does fixed asset management save your business money? Why is it so critical?

Fixed asset management is a way to monitor what your business owns and relevant costs related to your assets. This gives you more transparency over various asset issues or inefficiencies and gives you accurate tax returns and insurance costs.

Fixed asset management is the process of logging, tracking and managing your fixed assets. What are fixed assets? Permanent business assets that you can’t convert into cash easily.

In other words, fixed assets may be inexpensive bits of kit, or they could be larger, pricier bits of equipment. They can also be IT assets, furniture, and more.

Why do you need to track these assets? It’s simple, these assets will either cost or save your business money, depending on how they’re used, their running costs, and their current values.

Fixed asset management is simply the process of gaining visibility over this data.

Fixed asset management software simplifies fixed asset tracking operations. When you use software, you can log your assets as unique asset profiles, and add data to these profiles.

All of the data you add contributes to an automated fixed asset register that you can then manipulate, manage and export for critical stakeholders.

For example, you’ll be able to export this fixed asset register and send it to your tax team for them to cross-reference and calculate expenses against, but you’ll also be able to use it for auditors.

The idea behind tracking your fixed assets is that you collect critical data that feeds into your fixed asset register. So, when you track your assets, you update their locations, service history, report issues and log who is responsible for the assets.

These processes are critical for any type of asset tracking, as you’ll always have a need to see where your assets are, what you own, how your assets are behaving and who has them. This reduces asset loss, duplicate purchases and addresses any issues surrounding accountability.

Then, adding fixed asset tracking to these operations saves you more money as you mitigate risks such as ghost and zombie assets and gain visibility over your assets’ depreciation.

Overall, the idea behind fixed asset management is visibility and control over your assets, and this visibility and control feed into a number of benefits that provide your business with a return.

itemit’s asset tracking software gives you all of this and more. With itemit, you can monitor, track and manage any type of asset, whether it’s a fixed asset or not.

itemit is used across the globe in all types of industry, tracking billions of pounds worth of assets. From high-value assets to props to tools & equipment, it’s likely on someone’s asset register in itemit.

The core of itemit’s asset tracking software is that you’re supposed to be saving money when you perform asset audits and asset tracking operations, which is why the system is built to be easy to use and built to save your business money.

To find out more about how itemit’s asset management software can save your business money, you can contact the team at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your very own 14-day free trial.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started