Using a Fixed Asset Solution vs Excel Template: Which is Better?

Fixed assets are essential to any organization’s bottom line. At the same time, managing those assets can be one of your most time-consuming tasks. If you find yourself frustrated by the amount of energy your organization spends tracking its assets, it may be a sign that you’ve outgrown using a fixed asset Excel template. 

Sometimes small businesses with only a handful of assets to track opt for a free Excel template. This consists of manually recording critical details about each asset, including its name, age, description, and value. It is tedious but important work that keeps your company fiscally compliant and must be regularly reevaluated during internal fixed asset audits. 

If you find yourself wishing that you could do away with this laborious process altogether, it’s time to graduate to a modern fixed asset tracking solution. Find out why specialized software is better than a fixed asset Excel template, offering automation, accuracy, and scalability to save you time and effort. 

Challenges of a Fixed Asset Excel template 

When confronted with the necessity of tracking vital details about their assets, many organizations begin their asset tracking journey by Googling a fixed asset Excel template. After all, there are dozens of free sample templates available online. However, this method isn’t convenient for long. Here are some of the downsides that quickly become apparent. 

1. Manual entry

With an Excel template, you have to manually type in each asset’s details, row by row. This leaves your data open to the possibility of human error. No matter how diligently you update this data, you might not realize which details may have been entered incorrectly or missed altogether. 

2. No ability to attach related files 

Some essential data about your fixed assets doesn’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet’s columns and rows. From receipt of purchase to invoices for repairs and renovations, to photos that will help identify an asset more easily, these files should be directly attached to the right asset records. 

3. Extensive training required

Excel is a complicated program that is designed to meet many different use cases. The person in charge of updating the spreadsheet will need to be well-versed in its many features in order to make it fit the specific case of asset tracking. And time spent mastering Excel is time that isn’t being used on tracking your assets. 

4. No change history

As you continuously update each asset’s data, the spreadsheet won’t keep track of what was written there previously. It can give you a snapshot of your assets as they are right now, but not their vital lifecycle history. That means there’s no way to easily see an asset’s long-term repair history, for example, making it difficult to estimate its remaining useful life and determine when it will need to be replaced.

5. Version confusion

Since Excel spreadsheets are not set up to be collaborative files, there is plenty of room for people to overwrite each other’s work or create their own versions of the asset tracking spreadsheet. This can easily lead to confusion over which updates or file versions reflect the current state of your assets and, not to mention, create frustrating duplicate work for your team.

6. No notifications

With an Excel spreadsheet, there’s no way to generate a notification each time something significant happens with your assets. Does an asset need new repairs? You’ll have to send out a separate email to keep everyone in the loop. Are its repairs finally completed? That means another email for you. 

The Advantages of a Fixed Asset Solution

When you’re ready to put all this frustration behind you, ditch your Excel template and upgrade to a dedicated fixed asset tracking solution. Here are some of the top ways that asset tracking software can help you save time and improve efficiency.

1. Full asset visibility

With a comprehensive asset tracking solution, you can access the real-time status of your fixed assets along with their full lifecycle histories. This transparency helps you optimize resource allocation and utilization, ensuring your team has the assets it needs to get the job done. 

2. Seamless collaboration

When you’re using software specifically designed for tracking assets, it can be updated in real time by multiple users without data being overwritten. Custom user roles make it easy to assign specific people to manage assets across certain locations or categories for effective collaboration and accountability.

3. Attachments

Comprehensive asset tracking software not only allows for text and data fields but also multimedia attachments. Add user and safety manuals, original purchase receipts, or photos of the most recent condition of an asset to the correct record to enhance future asset use and management.

4. Easy to learn and use

While shifting to an asset tracking solution may seem daunting initially, it dramatically cuts down on training time for employees. Users only need to learn to work with the portion of the asset tracking software that applies to them. Plus, adding custom fields and workflows that reflect the way your team already works creates an intuitive user experience and fosters high adoption.

5. Better communication

With automatic notifications, everyone stays in the loop about any changes to the status or availability of the organization’s assets. Customized reporting and dashboards also allow you to communicate the right information to the right stakeholders, and set an automated schedule to do so.

Customizing Your Fixed Asset Tracking System with Asset Panda

Many organizations opt to create a fixed asset Excel template because they mistakenly believe it’ll be faster and easier. In reality, a modern fixed asset tracking solution will streamline your processes for years to come, saving you valuable time and resources. 

Chances are, your organization already has a deeply ingrained asset tracking system. Instead of forcing your company to ditch the way you already work, try Asset Panda, a highly customizable asset tracking software that can be tailored to your unique assets and use cases. From workflow configuration to user permissions to predefined forms, every aspect of the Asset Panda software can be adjusted to work for your business’s unique needs. Ready to make the transition from a spreadsheet to Asset Panda? Discover how this intuitive asset tracking software can be customized to your organization and request your personalized demo today.