Fixed Assets: Avoiding the Zombie Asset Plague

How Can Your Fixed Asset Register Avoid the Zombie Asset Apocalypse?

We have another horror story for you. This time, we’re going to talk about the zombie assets that plague your fixed asset register. No, not the walking, undead nightmares that eat people and plague the silver screen.

Zombie assets are much scarier. Zombie assets will infect your fixed asset register, causing a lack of transparency and unnecessarily costing your business money. It may not seem like a problem now, but 28 days, weeks, or months later you’ll feel the bite of the dreaded zombie asset.

What are fixed assets?

A fixed asset is anything that you use to help you run your business. If it helps make you money, it’s a fixed asset. This can be anything from your IT assets, such as phones, laptops, USB sticks, to your physical assets such as tools and equipment.

Any business will have fixed assets, whether small or large, and so keeping track of them with a fixed asset register is crucial.

What is a fixed asset register?

A fixed asset register is where information and data about your business’ assets is kept and updated.

Many companies will use a spreadsheet for their fixed asset register, but this creates issues and becomes a breeding ground for the supernatural, or, ghost and zombie assets. A spreadsheet guarantees human error and multiple discrepancies.

With a more effective asset register, everything can be updated in real-time, every time an asset is interacted with. This increases accountability and decreases the risk of human error.

What are zombie assets?

Zombie assets will rise up from the grave of a dead fixed asset register. Without keeping it live and constantly updating it, zombie assets will start to eat into your profits and taxes.

Zombie assets are assets that are in use, but that are unaccounted for on a fixed asset register. They’re in use, wandering around your warehouse or your construction site, but all they do is drain your workforce and your profits.

Why are zombie assets such a problem?

Having business assets that are in use but unaccounted for is a massive problem for a few reasons.

First of all, it affects your business directly due to tax and accountancy reasons. Without an accurate asset register, not only do you risk creating issues with compliance, but your tax exemptions or profit projections will be thrown off.

Having the living dead working around your business means that your asset lifecycle management methods are likely to be inaccurate and you therefore won’t be able to accurately predict when upgrades or replacements are needed and you won’t be able to track the efficiency your business works at.

The life-force of your customer service will also be drained, as not knowing whether your assets are fully maintained can risk the successful completion of your jobs. If you’re a restoration company, it’s very important you are confident that the assets you and your team reply on are fully maintained and serviced. This decreases the risk of asset failure and helps you to ensure your customers aren’t plagued by disappointment when you can’t complete the job.

What is the cure to zombie assets?

Having an up to date fixed asset register will cure your zombie asset plague. If you switch from spreadsheets to an asset tracking app, it’ll be simple to keep a close eye on your fixed assets.

Not only will you exorcise ghost assets, you’ll keep a healthy fixed asset register that’ll be immune to zombie assets. A greater amount of accountability and transparency doesn’t let anything slip through the cracks.

With QR code asset tags you’ll also be able to keep a more accurate and up to date fixed asset register. All it’ll take is a scan of any asset and the barriers between the living and the dead will be kept in place as last seen location and the user who scanned it will update instantly in your asset register.

At itemit we are committed to keeping the peace and keeping the barriers between the living and the dead firm. Contact us to find out more about how you can purge zombie and ghost assets from your fixed asset register.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started