How Does A Fixed Asset Register Differ From Inventory?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Differ From Inventory?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Differ From Inventory?

When you’re looking to manage assets or inventory it’s important to know the differences. In short, your inventory is consumables and stock, where your assets are the things you physically use day to day.

As such, having a system for either helps you track and manage different things. An inventory management system will help you keep track of supply levels where a fixed asset register software will help you monitor asset locations and use.

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Fixed Asset Register Software

Fixed asset register software allows you to log all of your assets into a digital system. What is a fixed asset? An asset that can’t be easily converted into cash.

So, your fixed assets are furniture, laptops, tools, equipment and other assets that are used in the day to day running of your business and not assets that you sell.

Why do you need to track fixed assets? When you track your fixed assets you can monitor how they depreciate and avoid common risks, such as asset loss, duplicate purchases or ghost and zombie assets on your asset register.

Having a fixed asset register allows you to customise reports on your asset data and export this, giving you everything you need to know about your assets.


Inventory Management Software

Inventory management software is a system whereby you can monitor your stock levels and consumables. Inventory is not a permanent fixture in your business like furniture or laptops are and so needs to be tracked differently.

When you’re tracking your inventory, there may be some overlap with what you track on a fixed asset register. For example, you’ll need to know the locations of your stock so that you can monitor a workflow.

However, with inventory management software you’ll be tracking numbers and trends more than specific asset data such as “twenty of this into that warehouse”.

In turn, this kind of tracking gives you more visibility over your business’ supply chain and helps you foresee and mitigate potential disruptions in service.


The Key Differences

The main difference, therefore, is the granularity of data. A fixed asset register lets you track asset data on an asset’s level. So, you’ll know the ownership details of that asset, where it is, and if it’s well maintained.

On the other hand, inventory management software lets you track a group of assets without that granularity. So, instead of seeing pinpoint asset data such as which of your assets is damaged, you’ll see where a group of your assets have come from, in bulk, with ease.

Traditionally, these two systems are kept separate as they do very very different things. Fixed asset tracking software would need to be scaled up significantly to show trends of thousands upon thousands of assets when the fact of the matter is that this granularity isn’t needed for inventory. Some functionality does still overlap between systems, however.


itemit’s Fixed Asset Management Software

itemit’s fixed asset management software lets you monitor, track and manage your fixed assets. With itemit, you get more visibility over how your assets are behaving, who has them and where they are.

itemit does have inventory management features integrated into it, too, but the system is best used for asset management first with elements of inventory second.

The features in the system allow you to add, track and monitor any asset data. Then, you can export customised reports of this information.

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.

Fixed Asset Register Software

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What Should You Log On Your Fixed Asset Register?

What Should You Log On Your Fixed Asset Register?

What Should You Log On Your Fixed Asset Register?

When it comes to optimising your asset operations, your fixed asset register should be where you head to first. With a fixed asset register, you can log, monitor, and save money on your assets.

What are fixed assets? Fixed assets are assets that you can’t easily convert into cash. So, unlike liquid assets, you can’t attribute banking data to them and will likely use them for a longer time.

How does a fixed asset register work? It’s a log of all of your business’s fixed assets and relevant data. This means that risks such as ghost and zombie assets are mitigated, as well as asset losses and duplicate purchases.

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How Does Fixed Asset Management Software Work?

Fixed asset management software automatically creates a fixed asset register for you. This provides you with many different speed and ease-of-use benefits.

In other words, every time you add an asset to your fixed asset management software it automatically gets pulled into your fixed asset register. Then, every time you update an asset’s data it is also updated in your fixed asset register.

A good example of how best to use this is by using asset tags. With asset tags, you can automate many of your operations. All you need to do to report an issue, for example, is scan an asset’s tag and click “report”. 

This works as you will have linked your asset tag to the relevant asset. So, you can stick a QR code on a laptop and then every time you scan that QR code, the laptop’s asset profile opens ready for updates and edits.


Running Reports On Your Fixed Asset Register

Once you’ve logged your assets and are keeping them up to date, you can run reports on their asset data. This is where you’ll save a lot of time and money as reporting lets you pinpoint specific asset details.

For example, if one of your colleagues hands in their notice you can see all of the assets they have simply by heading to a reports page and adding filters to view this data.

These reports are all exportable as pdfs and excel spreadsheets. These are very handy for an automated way to create data for auditors and in creating a log of who has which assets and when.


Logging Fixed Assets & IT Assets

So, what assets should you log on your fixed asset register? The answer is quite simply anything that you need to track. With the best fixed asset management software, you can track depreciation with ease for example.

A good place to start is your IT assets as these will move around and change hands a lot and so creating a log of who has what and how much it costs is very useful. Then, you can expand into a few IT asset management operations to save money in that area.

Your system will be scalable, so after you’ve logged your IT assets you can then log different categories of assets, such as tools & equipment. This way, you can build an asset register from the ground up and add everything you need to piece by piece.


itemit’s Fixed Asset Register Software

itemit’s fixed asset register software gives you the ability to create and monitor a fixed asset register with ease. When you use itemit, keeping your data up to date is simple, meaning you’re much less likely to run into any costly gaps.

itemit comes with a full suite of features, allowing you to tailor the system to your needs. So, if you need a check in check out software you can use itemit; if you need to track your fixed assets you can use itemit and if you’re tracking high-value assets you can use itemit.

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

Fixed Asset Register

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The Best Ways To Track Your Fixed Assets

The Best Ways To Track Your Fixed Assets

The Best Ways To Track Your Fixed Assets

Fixed asset tracking is essential when your business is trying to find ways to save time and money. The benefits are clear. When you track your fixed assets, you avoid tax and insurance risks, lose fewer assets, purchase fewer duplicates and create an effective accountability trail.

Is a spreadsheet good enough to handle this? The short answer is no. A spreadsheet is good for logging which assets you own, but then further than that you’ll start to lose money. Every time an asset is decommissioned, moves or is damaged, a spreadsheet becomes incomplete and so the money you’ve saved is completely lost.

Fixed asset tracking software gives you a return on investment so, while it isn’t free, you end up with more time and money than you would if you were using a spreadsheet for your fixed asset register.

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Help Save You Money?


The Best Way To Log Fixed Assets

You may already be logging your assets onto a spreadsheet and using this as your fixed asset register. This isn’t the best way of doing things as spreadsheets create accountability risks and gaps.

The concept is clear, though, you need to log each of your assets (a row) and add data and information against them (a column). The reason that a spreadsheet is so unwieldy is that every time an asset changes, single cells change and it can be difficult to pinpoint what needs editing.

This is where fixed asset management software comes in. With fixed asset management software, instead of logging your assets as rows, you log them as unique, digital profiles.

Then, you can add data to these profiles, such as maintenance reminders, usage history and assignees, to indicate which of your colleagues is responsible for the asset.

This automatically gets pulled into a fixed asset register that you can export as a pdf or spreadsheet. So, you still get the benefits of a spreadsheet without the risks they create.


Tracking Depreciation & Lifecycle

One of the best ways to track your fixed assets is tracking their lifecycle. This allows you to extend asset usage and get more out of your assets, a cost-saving benefit that is often overlooked.

Not only does more transparency and control over your asset register mean that you purchase fewer duplicate assets, but it also means that you purchase assets less frequently in general.

This is why tracking maintenance, using reminders and issues management, and tracking how your assets are depreciating is essential. Knowing the value of your overall asset register is critical for auditing, but also gives you a good idea of how up to date your asset register is and shows you if there are any gaps.


Tracking Asset Locations & Usage

Another way to track if there are gaps or issues in your asset register is by tracking asset locations and usage. There are a few ways to do this in the best fixed asset management software.

Primarily, you can use fixed asset tags and last seen GPS location tracking. This works by allowing you to attach a tag to your assets and scan it with your smartphone. 

Every time you scan an asset’s tag, the last seen location is updated automatically and the asset’s profile opens. This means, for example, if you notice a misplaced laptop, you need only scan that asset’s tag to view who it belongs to. In doing so, you’re also adding to the laptop’s location trail and automatically adding to a larger picture of where the asset has been.

You can also track locations more manually, using bulk adding, removing and scanning functionalities. This allows you to bulk assign assets to users, to indicate who has what, or bulk move assets from one location to another. In other words, if twenty assets are entering storage, you can log it as such simply by bulk scanning the twenty assets’ tags.


itemit’s Fixed Asset Management Software

itemit’s fixed asset management software gives you the highest levels of accountability, transparency and control over your assets. With itemit, you can monitor where your assets have been, how they’re behaving and who is responsible for them.

This is coupled with powerful tagging and tracking technologies, as you can mix and match RFID asset tracking with GPS trackers and QR code asset management. This means that your assets never have to go missing again.

To find out more about why itemit gives you the best ways to track your fixed assets, you can contact the friendly team at team@itemit.com. If you’re ready to dive in, you can also start your 14-day free trial by entering your details into the form below. Fixed asset tracking is easy when you use itemit.

Fixed Assets

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How Does A Fixed Asset Register Work?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Work?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Work?

A fixed asset register should be the most robust and complete record of your assets. It needs to be comprehensive, up-to-date, and contain all necessary, relevant and critical asset data.

Your fixed asset register will contain all of your company’s fixed assets. These are the assets you can’t easily convert into cash and that you use on a more permanent basis, such as IT assets including laptops.

Then, your fixed asset register will also include critical data, such as who is responsible for which assets, where they are, how they’re being used and their current values.

How To Keep Your Fixed Asset Register Accurate


How Do You Log Your Assets?

Logging your assets should be simple as it’s half the asset tracking battle. A fixed asset register works by showing you a log of what your business owns primarily. Not knowing what you own creates risks such as ghost and zombie assets. Then, these risks can translate into lost costs and fines.

If you’re using a spreadsheet for your fixed asset register, auditing will be a lot more difficult and ghost and zombie assets are almost guaranteed. Fundamentally, using only a spreadsheet creates a constantly out of date asset workflow.

Therefore, you should add your assets to a dedicated fixed asset management software. Then, you can have the benefits of a spreadsheet through the ability to export your entire asset register or subsets based on location, owner and/or asset type.


How Does A Fixed Asset Register Save You Time & Money?

How does all of this save you time and money? First of all, a clear log of what you own reduces risks, but it also makes it more difficult to lose assets or purchase duplicates.

Then, the data you add to your assets also saves you money. Part of fixed asset management is lifecycle management. A lot of these operations aren’t physically possible to commence and log in a spreadsheet, so you need a streamlined fixed asset register software.

Using your fixed asset software as check in check out software and maintenance software saves you money as you can monitor asset usage and ensure your assets are running smoothly. This helps you extend your assets’ useful life meaning replacement purchases become more infrequent.

Then, the time-saving benefits come with the ability to use an app and web portal with these features integrated in a way that’s easy to use and user friendly. Don’t forget, time-saving benefits also save your business money as you have time to perform more.


Automating Your Asset Tracking Operations With Software

Automating your fixed asset register is essential. Making changes to asset data when you have the assets in front of you entirely changes the way fixed asset management works. 

In the past, if you noticed an asset fault, you would need to make a note of the fault and send it on to your fixed asset manager who would then log it onto the system. 

There are multiple potential gaps in this system, and this is only for reporting an issue. Imagine the number of changes an asset goes through every day and trying to keep them logged and up to date.

Using a fixed asset tracking app and fixed asset tags revolutionises this process. Now, the way you report an asset fault is simple. Scan the tag, report the issue. It’s finished in three clicks and your administrators get an email notifying them of the fault, and your fixed asset register is updated automatically with this data.


itemit’s Fixed Asset Management Software

itemit’s features make it the best fixed asset management software out there. With the ability to mix and match tracking technologies, including GPS, RFID, QR codes and barcodes, you can create the most accurate, automated, and up-to-date fixed asset register possible.

As itemit is scalable and shareable, you can also reduce the asset tracking load and create a much larger benefit for your company. This is because, with more users, more people can use the system for different things and contribute to an overall, accurate fixed asset register.

In other words, somebody on-site can perform maintenance checks, report issues, and update asset location data. All of this is tidily logged in itemit and visible and exportable as a fixed, IT asset, or general asset register.

itemit is customisable and makes asset tracking quick, simple and effective. To find out more about how itemit can help your business, you can contact the team at team@itemit.com. You can also fill in the form below to start your 14-day free trial.

Fixed Asset Register

Choose a better way to track your assets

Start your free 14-day trial now

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

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Fixed Asset Management Software: What Are Fixed Assets?

Fixed Asset Management Software: What Are Fixed Assets?

Fixed Asset Management Software: What Are Fixed Assets?

Your business needs to track fixed assets. You need a fixed asset register. Fixed asset management software saves you time and money. But, what are your fixed assets?

There may be clear-cut, defined fixed assets such as your tools and equipment, but there are also fixed assets that may be less clear. You know your business, so you’ll know which assets you use and which asset’s you’re in charge of, so what can a fixed asset be?

fixed RFID asset tracking engineering


What Are Fixed Assets?

To put it simply, you can’t easily attribute a cost to a fixed asset or convert them into cash. This separates them from liquid assets such as a bank account.

This definition is quite broad and expands to furniture, IT assets, buildings, property, plant and equipment. To fine this down, fixed assets are purchased for long-term use and are tangible. Therefore, they’re not consumables or short-term inventory.

This is why you need to track them with a fixed asset management software as opposed to with any inventory management systems. Inventory management systems are great at tracking large scales of inventory and tracking the related numbers but don’t work when it comes to tracking unique, individual assets.

Fixed asset management software lets you log your unique assets, such as plant, property and equipment, as digital profiles and add critical data to these profiles.


All The Things That Can Be Fixed Assets

The definition of fixed assets isn’t exactly restrictive but, counter-intuitively, this is a very, very good thing. Fixed assets are any assets that aren’t easily convertible to cash and that are to be used long-term in your business.

In accountancy terms, these can be expenses such as IT assets like laptops or furniture such as new chairs as you’re able to offset the cost of your tax returns against fixed assets.

Therefore, your fixed assets can be props if you’re working in a theatre, they can be cameras if you’re a production company or hot air balloons if that is your business.

Fixed assets, so long as they’re tangible assets that you don’t sell or convert into cash, can be anything that is used in your business to directly or indirectly generate revenue.


How Does This Translate In Fixed Asset Management Software?

Fixed asset management software needs to be customisable and malleable. This is because your fixed assets can be a wide range of things.

In other words, it’s no good if your fixed asset management software only tracks laptops or only tracks phones. This is too limiting and doesn’t create an accurate picture.

The core of asset tracking software must be the ability to log unique assets and add unique asset information against those assets, such as maintenance dates and location data.

When you’re implementing fixed asset management operations, you need as full and accurate a picture as possible, which is why you need an accurate, up to date and automated fixed asset register.


Using An Automated Fixed Asset Register & Depreciation

When you use the best fixed asset management software on the market, any assets you add to your system are automatically logged into a customisable fixed asset register.

You can add and remove assets from this register on the fly and export smaller reports of, say, a school asset register or IT asset register that contains only that subset of assets.

However, all of your asset data will be pulled into a powerful reporting feature that allows you to view, manage and export your data with ease. 

This includes depreciation information. Part of the difficulty of tracking fixed assets is the fact that they depreciate in value, which adds a layer of tracking complexity. Therefore, you need to be able to track your fixed assets’ lifecycles.

This is why the best fixed asset management software has automated maintenance and reminders features and allows you to view your current, total fixed asset value at a glance and export subsets of this data. You can then see the amount your assets have depreciated month to month and add filters to these reports to manipulate the data.

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

Fixed Asset Management Software

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How Does A Fixed Asset Register Help Save You Money?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Help Save You Money?

How Does A Fixed Asset Register Help Save You Money?

A fixed asset register provides you with an accurate way to view your assets and information related to them. The best fixed asset registers are fluid and streamlined and have a system behind them that automatically updates their data. 

This is where you save the most money, with accuracy and accountability. Therefore, a snapshot of your assets won’t help when it comes to the intricacies of tax and insurance, but an automated, streamlined asset register will.

So, how does an effective fixed asset register help save you money?

fixed RFID asset tracking engineering


Provide Accurate Asset Records

First and foremost, your fixed asset register is used to show a business record of the fixed assets you own. This is immediately helpful as it immediately reduces the risk of duplicate purchases, for example.

So, even without any asset-specific data added, a fixed asset register already saves you money as just a log of what you own by allowing you to cross-check your business’ belongings against purchases.

In the same vein, accurate asset data is also usable. When you start adding columns of pricing information and warranty dates and maintenance histories and placing that against assets, you can use this data in other ways to extend asset life and usage.

This is why it’s critical to use a system that keeps your assets up to date. Any time an asset changes, whether it’s because it has changed hands or undergone maintenance, your fixed asset register becomes outdated that same instant.


Fixed Asset Management Software Benefits

Fixed asset management software curbs the risk of outdated asset records as it gives multiple people a quick way to keep them up to date. In other words, instead of one person monitoring a spreadsheet for hours a day, you get the ability to update asset data onsite and in an instant.

Using fixed asset tags, you can scan your assets into your fixed asset management software. Then, you can continue to use these tags to open up relevant asset profiles, ready for you to report issues, check assets out, add critical information and more.

Every time you scan an asset’s tag, the last seen location also updates as well as the user who scanned the tag and the time of the scan. This gives you an audit trail of where all of your assets have been and who has been interacting with them.


Keep Asset Data Up To Date

The ability to use fixed asset management features saves you time and keeps your fixed asset register up to date. Time-saving benefits, for example, save you money as you have more time to both generate revenue and get more things completed.

Up to date asset data is essential as, without an accurate fixed asset register, you run the risk of various problems including ghost and zombie assets and, therefore, tax-related fines and higher insurance premiums.

Accurate asset registers reduce risks with asset purchases, asset losses, asset misuse and help to mitigate the effects of asset theft. Any risks related to your assets are reduced when you’re monitoring your assets’ behaviour properly, saving you money.


Maintain Transparency With Your Fixed Asset Register

Overall, transparency, fluidity and accuracy are key when it comes to saving money with your fixed asset register. If you don’t have one of these, your systems fall apart.

This is why fixed asset tracking software saves you the most money overall as it’s the only system that can reliably give you all three at once. With a spreadsheet, you only have transparency and accuracy once in a while, just after an audit where asset tracking software gives this to you every single day.

itemit’s fixed asset management software gives you a reliable and helpful suite of features as well as an automated fixed asset register that you can manipulate, edit and export.

itemit is used worldwide by companies tracking their fixed assets in every industry. To find out more about how itemit 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 14-day free trial.

Fixed Asset Register

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Start your free 14-day trial now

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