What Is The Difference Between An Asset Register And An Asset Inventory?

By Dr. Alex Wong
Published on June 16, 20231 min read
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Published on June 16, 2023 • 4 min read

Inventory asset management is only ever easy if you have a few of them, and they always work as intended. However, if, like most businesses, you have more than a couple of assets, managing them isn’t easy at all. Throw in a few asset-related issues, such as downtime, and everything can be harder. 

Some people use an asset register to help them manage their assets, others rely on an inventory. However, they are not the same and knowing the difference is really important. Briefly, your asset register contains the assets that you use most days. Your inventory is where your stock and consumables are listed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Asset Inventory?

The record of all physical or digital assets held by a company or other entity is known as asset inventory. This covers everything from furniture and technology to tools and machinery. Usually tagged and tracked via an asset management system, each asset in the asset inventory enables companies to track asset location, condition, and value.

What Type of Asset is Inventory?

In business terms, inventory refers to items or materials kept by a company for resale or manufacturing. Since they are usually classified as current assets and are expected to be used or sold in a short period, raw supplies, work-in-progress, and completed goods can all be included among inventory items. Unlike long-term assets, known as fixed assets, inventory is included in the company's working capital.

What is an Inventory Asset?

Any item kept for sale, manufacturing, or distribution within a company's stock qualifies as an inventory asset. These might be raw supplies, produced goods, or completed items ready for market. A company's operations depend on inventory assets since they create income when sold; thus, they are a main component of its present assets.

What is the Difference Between Asset Management and Inventory Management?

The emphasis of asset management is tracking and managing long-term assets—such as machinery, tools, or IT resources—that a company owns. These assets demand maintenance, lifetimes, and monitoring; they support operations over an extended length of time. On the other hand, inventory management addresses short-term assets—more especially, the products or materials a company owns for resale or manufacture. Usually turned over more regularly, inventory has a direct bearing on sales and income.

Is Merchandise Inventory an Asset?

Yes, merchandise inventory is considered an asset. It represents the goods a company holds for resale. Since these items are part of the company’s working capital and are expected to be sold within a short period, they are classified as current assets. The value of the merchandise inventory is recorded on the company's balance sheet and directly impacts the business’s profitability when sold.

What Asset Inventory Services Does Itemit Have?

itemit provides a range of asset inventory services meant to enable companies to simplify asset tracking and management. Among these offerings are:
  • Barcode asset tagging and RFID help to streamline asset tracking by means of real-time updates.
  • Itemit's asset tracking tool offers a complete asset management system enabling companies to track, update, and audit their asset inventory.
  • For valuable or mobile assets, itemit provides GPS tagging to monitor the location and use.

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