Wondering How to Track Assets? Consider These Factors in Your Decision

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So you're wondering how to track assets? Forget the Excel spreadsheet or pen and paper. Even if you’re a small business, you need a reliable means to track and manage the location, condition, and value of every one of your assets.

While it might be tempting to assume you don’t have enough assets to justify the purchase of an asset tracking platform, consider the lifespan of any one of your assets and how easy it can be to lose track of or mismanage those items. Companies lose thousands of dollars every year when assets mysteriously go missing in action or end up stolen (which can present an entire host of security risks). In the worst-case scenario, organizations continue to pay insurance on those items, or “ghost assets,” without awareness that those items aren’t even in their inventory anymore.

Keeping Track of Your Biggest Investments

It doesn’t matter the size of your company. Undoubtedly, one of your primary missions is to increase your Return on investment, or ROI. And although your fixed assets include everything from office space to furniture to vehicles, equipment, and machines, your IT assets may be most vulnerable since they’re often on the move. Given this, it's crucial to track your fixed assets properly.

Consider a company-issued laptop, for example. Your employee takes it to meetings, brings it home at night, and along with her on business trips. The opportunity for theft and loss is significant. If the asset hasn’t been properly secured, your data may also be at risk. On the other hand, your IT assets that don’t leave the building, like your servers, are likely to be among your biggest-ticket investments.

Those require routine maintenance and updates. Failure to keep up with critical asset maintenance can result in slow machines, breakdowns, wasted time, employee inefficiency, frustration, and, ultimately, the high cost of emergency repair or even replacement assets.

How Much Time do You Spend Trying to Track Assets?

Your decision about how to track assets should also consider the ability to monitor an asset’s exact location. Think of the time you currently spend trying to hunt down items. If you either haven’t been tracking your assets at all, or you’re using a manual process like an Excel spreadsheet, chances are good that your employees are spinning their wheels on the phone to locate those items. You need the means to locate any item’s location and the identity of the person who has it, along with its check-in/check-out status.

Asset Depreciation

Each year, you have to report the value of your fixed assets for accounting and compliance purposes. Manual asset depreciation tracking procedures all too often result in mistakes, which can lead to costly fines. An asset tracking platform enables companies to rest easy with the knowledge that their data is accurate, including depreciation.

Other Features to Consider

Finally, the decision about tracking your assets should also be based on such factors as ease of use, customization, price point, scalability, and flexibility. Your asset tracking efforts will only be successful if you can get all of your stakeholders on board. Closing the communication loop is critical for both accuracy and accountability.

The best asset tracking platforms are powerful yet streamlined in their interface, so users of all skill levels are comfortable using them. You should be able to organize and track your data exactly how you want, add as many users as you want, and import or export data quickly and easily. Your chosen platform also should be flexible enough to incorporate new technologies as they become available in the future.

Asset Panda's Asset Tracking Software

Asset Panda delivers all of the above – and at a price point competitors can’t touch. Our free mobile app enables you to track everything from assets, contracts, and inventory to fleet, personnel, and software. To learn more, get your free 14-day trial (no card needed)!

You’ll receive full access to user guides, video tutorials, free mobile apps, and call-in and live chat support from our fantastic Asset Panda support team!

By:

Courtney Roush

Courtney Roush is a freelance writer, editor, and communications strategist with 25 years of experience. Her favorite discipline is crisis communications – and it’s a highly relevant one in our present times.

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