Many US companies, large and small, continue to rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of their fixed assets in an attempt to ensure the company is SARBOX compliant. But asset tracking is (and should be) more than an accountancy compliance issue. It’s also a vital component of informed and sound management.
That’s crucially important with IT asset tracking. IT equipment is at the heart of any US business today. One issue is the fact that these high value assets like laptops, notebooks, peripheral devices and other items like the Blackberry are also highly portable, and thus tend to “disappear” although still on the books. Computer components may also be switched, replaced or upgraded during their operational life, affecting their value. Software is frequently installed, uninstalled or upgraded. Many of these changes are new programs downloaded from the Internet and are therefore usually “invisible”.
Central to any fixed asset accounting system should be a powerful, centralised database which includes include information about those invisible software assets sitting on your IT network how many programs and whether they are licensed or not? Ideally, a single audit should have the capacity to cover multiple locations and thousands of assets. It should also be fully compatible with inventory management systems. The asset tracking system should also be able to easily handle and manage both mobile and fixed assets.
Systems that utilize RFID asset tracking use simple, hand held scanning devices to provide an accurate, validated, and consistently current database. The genuine “real time” data from these systems means you can full confidence in compliance with any auditor requirements. Once the audit data has been uploaded into the asset or inventory register, managers can get reports detailing total assets and informed suggestions about possible actions (dispose, relocate, upgrade etc) for each of the assets located in the audit.
Sarbanes- Oxley is certainly all-pervasive in US business, but now it seems to gaining a distinctly spiritual dimension too!That doesn’t mean you should hire a medium for your accounting team, but rather be aware of the implications SARBOX will have when it comes to fixed asset tracking. The current attention on the accuracy of the balance sheet and a possible move to further disclosures about the fair value of assets means that US companies will have to get serious about internal controls over fixed assets in the near future.
Asset tracking software speeds up what is an otherwise is time consuming job and if done thoroughly and professionally these packages allow you to determine the fair value of assets that you can find and inspect, provided you can indeed find them! continue reading »
Asset tracking is often considered to be an imposition on US businesses purely as a consequence of SARBOX, but asset tracking is more than an accountancy compliance issue.It’s a vital part of informed and sound management. Assets must be managed financially and physically and to do that you require knowledge of just where all your assets are.Many companies rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of their fixed assets to ensure the company is compliant with national and international regulations.
That’s particularly important with IT fixed asset tracking.IT equipment is at the heart of any business today and often changes during its operational lifetime.Components can be switched, replaced or upgraded.Software especially is frequently installed, uninstalled or upgraded. continue reading »
The past 10 years has seen the development of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) rocket, making it easier for all companies to track and manage their fixed asset tracking. However, the current technology is not yet fully optimised for all businesses. Presently the technology is overly expensive and is only really used at the manufacturer stage or on more expensive products. continue reading »
The past 10 years has seen the development of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) rocket, making it easier for all companies to track and manage their fixed asset tracking. However, the current technology is not yet fully optimised for all businesses. Presently the technology is overly expensive and is only really used at the manufacturer stage or on more expensive products. continue reading »