No matter what size a company is, managers must be concerned with tracking company assets. In normal accounting terminology “assets” are permanent objects used internally within the company to conduct business. Things such as computers, tools, software and office equipment are all considered assets. An employee might use tools and be responsible for them, but ultimately it belongs to the company. Therefore, companies need accurate records for tracking where assets are located. No company wants to lose their valuable assets.
Those companies that tend to be most profoundly affected by lost assets are, of course, small businesses, as keeping costs low is the key to the success of small businesses. Making certain that assets are fully accounted for is a way to keep control of a company’s costs, through the elimination of the expenses involved in replacement.
With the many advancements in technology, asset tracking software is now available that will help any size business track valuable assets such as equipment and supplies. According to a study issued in December, 2005 by the ARC Advisory Group, the worldwide market for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) was then at an estimated $2.2 billion and was expected to grow at about 5.0 percent per year reaching $2.8 billion in 2010.
With the assistance of asset tracking software, any company has the capacity to track which assets it owns, where each asset may be located, whose possession it is in, when it was checked out, when it will be due back, when it has been scheduled for maintenance, and of course the net cost and depreciation of every asset.
Constructed as an integral part of the asset tracking solutions service, the reporting option offers pre-built reports, which list assets by category and department, check-in/check-out features, net book values of each asset, those assets that are past due, audit histories, and all transactions related to each asset.
All of this information is captured in one program and can be used on PCs as well as mobile devices. As a result, companies reduce expenses through loss prevention and improved equipment maintenance. They reduce new and unnecessary equipment purchases, and they can more accurately calculate taxes based on depreciation schedules.
The most common assets that a company must track include office and medical equipment, training and educational materials, videos, DVDs, books, software licenses, motor vehicles, maintenance equipment, production equipment, computers, and many more
Government, educational agencies, and the healthcare industry have started using asset tracking products to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Many computer and office retailers have begun to carry asset tracking products both in-store and online.
Different varieties of asset tracking software have been designed for several types of scanning environments. Heavy Scanning capability is for businesses with asset quantities up to 100,000. Moderate scanning capability is commonly used in offices and warehouses. And standard scanning capability is used in light duty or small offices.
Selecting the appropriate asset tracking system is an important component in the successful operation of any business, large or small.
