Assigning asset numbers: one numbering scheme for sites and classes

An asset number is an asset's identity card. If it is issued twice, two items can no longer be told apart. If it is reused, an item appears in the history that never existed in that form. And if it is missing altogether, nobody can say during the fixed-asset count whether the computer in the office is the booked one or a different one. Every company therefore needs a numbering scheme with clear rules: it must be unambiguous, must never be issued again, and should show at a glance which site and which class an asset belongs to.

Four basic rules

1. Unambiguous: every number belongs to exactly one asset.
2. Unique over time: even after disposal the number stays blocked in the register and is never issued again.
3. Unchanging: the number stays the same through relocation, repair and transfer.
4. Legible: short enough to write down, long enough to tell apart, preferably without characters that can be confused, such as O and 0 or I and 1.

Structure of a numbering scheme

A common choice is a "meaningful" number in three parts: site, asset class and running number. Two fictional examples:

• TAS-LT-000047: site Tashkent (TAS), class warehouse equipment (LT), running number 47.
• SAM-IT-000112: site Samarkand (SAM), class IT equipment (IT), running number 112.

Further classes in the example: MB for furniture, MA for machinery, FZ for vehicles. The running number has six digits, so it covers 999,999 assets and never needs extending. Whether the sequence runs per company or per site and class is something you decide once and record in writing. If it runs through per company, uniqueness is easiest to secure.

Anything that can change does not belong in the number. A room, a department or a responsible person will change, the number will not. The site part, too, only says where the asset is kept in the books, not where it happens to stand. The current room is recorded in the register. Which classes make sense and how they fit the structure of your accounts is something to agree with your chief accountant and your auditor.

Organising the allocation

• One office allocates the numbers, for example the fixed-asset accountant. Nobody else sticks on labels at their own discretion.
• A number register lists all numbers that have been allocated, blocked and printed.
• Labels are printed in blocks, with an issue log. Unused labels come back and are destroyed on record.
• On disposal the record stays in place with the status "disposed".
• For accessories and parts you decide whether they receive their own number or are assigned to the main unit.

Finally, test the numbering scheme with a simple question: can a counter who does not know the rules read from the number which site and which class the asset belongs to? If not, the structure is too complicated. Three codes and a running number are the maximum for most companies.

Cleaning up an existing stock

Anyone introducing a numbering scheme usually finds old numbers with gaps and duplicates. A fictional example: 640 positions, 590 of them with a number and 50 without (590 + 50 = 640). Among the 590 numbered positions, 14 numbers each occur twice. One item of each pair keeps the number, the other receives a new one. So 50 + 14 = 64 new numbers have to be issued.

The old number stays in the register as an additional field so that old documents can still be matched. A renumbering list documents every change with date and name.

In short

A good numbering scheme is inconspicuous: it works because everyone keeps to the same rules. AuditMaster marks assets with inventory tags and reconciles them with your register. We agree the structure of the numbering scheme with your accounting department.