Lack of an audit trail and parent/child assets

Now let’s visit two more examples relating to the importance of a dedicated fixed asset register.

Lack of an audit trail and overall security
A specialist fixed asset management system will track and record every detail of every action ever made by any user, which is unattainable with spreadsheets. Dates, times and explanations are recorded as well, making it very simple to ensure the security and integrity of your fixed asset data. A specialist system will require a valid username and password combination to enter the system and will enable department heads to define security at an individual level to ensure that confidential information can be viewed only by those that need to see it and safely hidden from those who don’t. In other words, limited access can be set by user in order to restrict read only and editing rights.

Inability to link ‘parent/child’ assets or conduct asset splits, batch disposals, etc.
The ability to link ‘parent/child’ assets is key in order to establish hierarchical relationships and dependencies. A specialist fixed asset management system will display such links pictorially in collapsible branches. A typical example of this might be the association between a PC and software license, where the PC is the ‘parent’ and the license assumes the role of the ‘child’. The option to transfer or dispose of the ‘child’ asset will subsequently follow the transfer or disposal of the ‘parent’ asset, keeping the relationship in tact

For obvious reasons, spreadsheets are unable to accommodate ‘parent/child’ asset relationships in such a way, making it difficult to accurately track and manage these important hierarchical dependencies. The ability to conduct automated asset splits and batch disposals will provide similar benefits.

In our next post we’ll look at the remaining reasons why organizations should implement a dedicated fixed asset register to manage and address a variety of issues surrounding the traceability and accountability of assets.