- TAG IT
- SCAN IT
- TRACK IT
Blog Article
A fixed asset audit is a physical count of the assets your business owns, compared against your asset records to confirm each asset exists, is in its recorded location, and is valued correctly.
Fixed assets are the long-term property and equipment your business owns and uses, from office furniture and laptops to tools and warehouse machinery. Regular audits help ensure the information in your asset records matches the assets you actually have.
For businesses managing laptops, computers, servers, and other technology, fixed IT asset management helps maintain accurate records throughout the life of each device.
Inaccurate asset records can affect financial reporting, make it harder to identify missing assets, and leave you without the equipment you need when you need it.
Fixed asset audits don’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Asset management software can replace manual records and physical checklists with barcode or RFID scanning, making it easier to verify assets and identify discrepancies.
With mobile capabilities, you can scan assets where they’re located instead of recording information by hand and updating your records later. This reduces manual work and makes regular fixed asset audits easier to manage.
Fixed assets are an important part of financial reporting. Inaccurate asset records can affect the accuracy of your balance sheet, particularly when depreciation and asset values are involved.
This can be extremely detrimental to a company, especially where depreciation and taxation are concerned.
When your physical assets don’t match your records, it can point to problems with how assets are being tracked. Assets may have been moved, lost, disposed of, or acquired without the corresponding records being updated.
Both private and public companies are required to keep accurate reports for a variety of reasons. Government, charity, and educational institutions may need to classify and track asset details by funding source or grant. Having incorrect fixed asset reporting can be problematic in these situations; a non-profit organization that does not properly track its fixed assets by grant could potentially lose or be forced to repay funds.
Meanwhile, companies that pay less than they are supposed to on their taxes as a result of inaccurate accounting can still be held financially and legally liable. Small businesses with little financial know-how are not exempt from following these rules.
Additionally, companies and organizations that depend on their fixed assets – where missing or lost assets impede employee productivity – are able to immediately correct asset management problems by regularly conducting thorough asset audits.
Accurate asset records depend on knowing which assets you actually own and use. When your records don’t match your physical assets, you can end up with ghost assets that appear in your records but can’t be found, or zombie assets that physically exist but aren’t recorded.
Both can lead to inaccurate asset records, reporting issues, and problems during audits. Learn more about ghost and zombie assets and how to identify and eliminate them.
Fixed asset audits can also help identify patterns of asset loss. If losses form a pattern and are consistent across all assets, reviewing how your assets are assigned, moved, or stored can help identify weaknesses within your company’s asset management procedures, allowing you to address and correct those procedural gaps before your losses become too severe.
Without regular audits, missing equipment may go unnoticed for longer, and your company may continue to lose equipment.
According to a recent study, more than two-thirds of employees have committed at least one type of theft at their current job. Without a reliable way to track assets, theft, loss, and simple mistakes can be harder to identify.
Furthermore, the longer an asset is missing, the more difficult it is to trace its path – a path that would lead to recovery of the asset. Identifying a missing asset quickly gives you a better chance of recovering it before you have to purchase a replacement.
Organizations of all sizes use asset tracking software to maintain accurate records and make audits easier. One example comes from the stadium operations team for the Arizona Cardinals, which implemented Wasp Asset to track equipment used during events.
The team manages up to $100,000 worth of equipment on any given day. Before implementing Wasp Asset, it lacked a reliable system for tracking equipment and maintaining accountability.
After implementing Wasp Asset, the team reported saving 20 hours of work per event, adding up to 1,000 labor hours each year.
The team essentially performs a daily audit to make sure equipment is accounted for and returned to the correct location. Most organizations don’t need to audit assets that frequently, but regular audits help ensure physical assets continue to match the information in your records.
By tracking asset locations, movements, check-ins and check-outs, and disposals with Wasp Asset, you can maintain more accurate asset records.
Every time an asset is moved, assigned, checked in or out, or disposed of, that transaction should be recorded. Barcoded or RFID asset tags make recording these transactions as simple as a scan. These detailed records can make audits faster and more efficient because you spend less time investigating discrepancies. Instead, you can scan the assets within a location and compare what you find against the records in Wasp Asset.
With the Wasp Asset mobile app, you can conduct audits from an Android or iOS device, including when you don’t have an internet connection. Scan assets as you move through a location, identify discrepancies, and update your asset records without being tied to a computer.
Asset tracking software like Wasp Asset makes it easier to maintain accurate fixed asset records. Regular audits verify those records, support accurate financial reporting, and help protect your business from asset loss.
A fixed asset audit compares the assets your business physically owns with the assets in your records. It helps confirm that assets exist, are in the correct location, and are accurately recorded. Regular audits can also uncover missing, moved, incorrectly recorded, or ghost assets.
Start with your current asset records, then physically verify each asset by scanning its barcode or RFID tag. Compare what you find with your records, investigate discrepancies, make any necessary corrections, and document the results. Barcode and RFID scanning can make this process much faster and more accurate than checking assets against a manual list.
Many businesses conduct a full fixed asset audit annually, with additional spot checks throughout the year. How often you audit depends on the number and value of your assets, how frequently they move, and your organization’s accounting or compliance requirements.
A ghost asset appears in your records but can’t be physically accounted for. Regular fixed asset audits can help identify these discrepancies so records can be corrected. Learn more about ghost and zombie assets and how they affect asset records.
Barcode and RFID tracking let you scan assets during an audit instead of checking them off a list manually. With Wasp Asset, you can use barcode or RFID scanning to conduct physical audits, identify discrepancies, and maintain more accurate asset records. This reduces manual work and makes it easier to complete audits across multiple locations.
