Fixed-asset count: from the asset register to the location list

The asset register is a picture of the past: it shows what accounting once bought, numbered and booked. What stands in the office, the workshop and the warehouse today may be different. Computers have moved, racking has been replaced, a forklift works at the branch instead of the main site. A fixed-asset count compares both sides, room by room and number by number. Unlike a stock count, it does not count quantities; every item is identified individually.

Two lists, two directions

A complete comparison needs both directions:

• From the register to the room: is the booked asset actually there? This tests existence.
• From the room to the register: is there something in the room that is missing from the register or carries no number? This tests completeness.

Whoever only ticks off what is on the list will never find items that were not recorded in the first place. Whoever only walks through the rooms will not notice what is missing. The count team therefore needs two things: the location list and a few free lines for everything that is not on it.

From the register to the location list

The starting point is an extract from 1C or your spreadsheet at the cut-off date: asset number, description, asset class, location, responsible person, purchase date and, where available, serial number. The real work is re-sorting. The register is ordered by number, but the walk-round follows the rooms. Sort the extract by site, then room, then number, and print one sheet per room.

If rooms are named only roughly in the register ("warehouse", "office 2"), clarify the names with the warehouse management before the walk-round, otherwise the team will look in the wrong room. Purchase prices and book values do not belong on the location list. The team does not need them, and they only distract.

The walk-round, room by room

1. Enter the room, if possible together with the responsible person, who opens doors and gives information.
2. Find every item with a tag, read the number and tick it off on the list. Only what has been seen is ticked, not what is "surely there".
3. Compare the description and, for valuable equipment, the serial number with the register.
4. Record items without a tag or without a register entry on a free line: description, room, visible features and a photo.
5. If a registered item stands in another room, it is recorded there and noted on both sheets.
6. Finally, sign off the room on the list with the time.

Condition and use (defective, scrapped, not in use) are added as a short remark. Nothing is valued.

Typical findings (fictional example)

A register lists 540 positions in 36 rooms. After the walk-round the picture is this:

• 498 positions stand at the booked location.
• 21 positions stand in a different room.
• 7 positions are present but defective or scrapped.
• 14 positions cannot be found (498 + 21 + 7 + 14 = 540).

In addition there are 26 items that are not in the register, 19 of them without a tag. The 14 missing positions are about 2.6 per cent of the register. For them a separate clearing procedure begins, with searching and enquiries, before anyone decides on a disposal.

What accounting receives

The result is a location list with a status on each line: found, location differs, not found, not in the register. The count team establishes the facts, accounting decides. Whether an item is written off, newly recorded or transferred, and what the accounting and tax consequences are, is something to clarify with your auditor and tax adviser.

In short

A fixed-asset count is only as good as the location list it rests on. AuditMaster records fixed assets with inventory tags, reconciles them with your register and delivers a location list with a status for each position, for accounting and the auditor.