An asset inventory system is the record of the things an organisation owns and uses, each one with a number, a holder and a location, kept true by recording every movement and by counting against it. It is not the inventory system a shop or a warehouse runs, which counts stock bought to be sold and turned over; the two share a word and nothing else. For the office manager or IT manager of a company, a school, a church or a laboratory, the asset inventory system is the operational half of the register: the fixed asset register carries the cost and the depreciation, and the inventory carries the custody. This page sets out what it keeps, how it stays true, and what it exists to print.
What the inventory asset record keeps on every line
A number issued by the register, a description, the serial number where there is one, the class, the holder, the location, the status, and the dates of the last issue, return and count. For devices, the warranty end date and the seats counted against the holder. The cost and the depreciation belong to the fixed asset register line, which can be the same line in software that keeps both; the inventory's own job is custody, and custody is a holder and a location with a date.
How it is kept true: movements recorded, and counts against it
Two things keep an inventory true. Every issue, return, transfer and disposal is recorded as it happens with a date and a person. And a count, a scan of every tag, is taken on a cadence with the lines not found listed and chased. For IT devices a third thing helps: a discovery pass against the network, reconciled against the inventory, which the discovery coverage worksheet on this site works from a scan's figures. CIS Control 1 describes the inventory of enterprise assets as the first control for a reason: nothing else can be checked against a list that is wrong.
What it exists to print
Who has what, by holder. What is where, by location. What was not found at the last count. What is out of warranty, with its replacement value, which the IT asset inventory worksheet here computes from the counts and the costs. What left this year and how. A system that keeps the lines but cannot print those from them is a spreadsheet with a login.
The stock inventory a shop keeps is a different system
A stock inventory counts units bought for resale, by SKU, with quantities that rise on receipt and fall on sale, valued at cost for the books. An asset inventory counts things the organisation keeps, one line per item, valued through depreciation. A business that sells goods needs both; the asset inventory system is the one this site is about, and the stock system belongs to a different product for a different person.
Questions people ask about asset inventory system
What is an asset inventory system in one sentence?
A record of every item an organisation owns and uses, with a number, a holder, a location and a history of every movement, kept true by counting against it.
Is an asset inventory system the same as a fixed asset register?
They are two views of the same lines. The register carries the cost, the life and the depreciation; the inventory carries the custody. Software that keeps both on one line is the practical answer for a small organisation.
What does inventory asset mean?
The same thing in the other word order: an asset that is held on the inventory, with a holder and a location, rather than a unit of stock held for sale.
How often should an asset inventory be counted?
Once a year for most small organisations; at least once every two years for federally funded equipment under 2 CFR 200.313; and, for IT devices, reconciled against a discovery pass before each close.