An asset management dashboard is the register read at a glance, and most of them are built the wrong way round: from the charts the software can draw rather than from the decisions the register keeper makes. For the owner, office manager or IT manager of a small organisation, six figures change decisions and everything else decorates. This page sets out the six, where each comes from on the register, what a person does when one moves, and the figures that look informative and are not. The free worksheets on this site compute three of the six from your own inputs before any register exists.
The value figures: book value and replacement value, by class
The sum of the register's net book values, by class, is the balance sheet's fixed assets figure and should tie to it; the sum of the replacement values is what the insurer covers and what a total loss would cost. The two are different numbers for different readers and the dashboard shows both, by class, because the decision they drive, whether the cover is adequate and whether a class is due for refresh, is made by class. The IT asset inventory worksheet here computes the replacement value for devices; the fixed asset register worksheet computes the book value for a line.
The exposure figures: out of warranty, and unknown on the network
Devices out of warranty, as a count and as replacement value, is the figure that turns into a refresh budget; when it crosses whatever share the organisation has decided it can carry, the decision is a purchase. Unknown devices, what the last discovery pass found that the register does not know about, is the figure that turns into a Tuesday afternoon of identifying them; when it is not zero, the decision is a reconciliation. The discovery coverage worksheet on this site works that count from a scan's figures.
The record figures: uncounted lines, upcoming renewals and this year's disposals
Lines not found at the last count, which should be falling towards zero and, if it is not, is the register telling the organisation something has walked. Seats and warranties renewing in the next quarter, which is the figure the budget meeting needs before the renewal notice rather than after. And this year's disposals with their gains and losses, which is the figure the accountant asks about. The GAO's Green Book puts the safeguarding of assets among the control activities any organisation is expected to run; these three figures are that control on one screen.
What only decorates: utilisation gauges, condition scores and a map
An asset dashboard sold to the enterprise shows utilisation, condition, mean time between failures and a map of sites. Those are maintenance figures, drawn from sensors and work orders a small organisation's register does not have, and a dashboard that shows them from a register shows guesses. NIST SP 800-53's CM-8 asks that the inventory be accurate and current, not that it be charted; a small organisation's dashboard earns its place by showing six true numbers rather than sixteen decorative ones.
Questions people ask about asset management dashboard
What should an asset management dashboard show for a small business?
Book value and replacement value by class, devices out of warranty, unknown devices on the network, lines not found at the last count, renewals in the next quarter, and this year's disposals. Six figures, each with a decision behind it.
Is an asset dashboard different from an asset management dashboard?
No. Both name the summary view of the register; the shorter phrase is common in software menus.
Can I build the dashboard from a spreadsheet?
The value figures, yes. The exposure and record figures need the history, the count results and the discovery reconciliation, which a spreadsheet does not hold, so those cells stay empty or stale.
Why not show utilisation and condition?
Because a register has no honest source for them. Utilisation and condition come from sensors and work orders in a maintenance system, and a dashboard that shows them from a register is showing estimates dressed as measurements.