Fixed Asset Register

What is a Fixed Asset Register?

A list identifying all fixed assets held or utilized by the company in the running of the business along with important information about each asset such as type, cost, age, condition, value, and depreciation information.

A fixed asset register is a schedule lists all material assets owned by the business and documents the characteristics of each asset such as its purchase date, purchase cost, estimated useful life, written-down-value, the historical maintenance performed, future maintenance required, usage metrics, utilization rates and any independent valuation appraisals.

This register is then kept up-to-date regularly to reflect any asset purchases, asset disposals or changes to asset related policies.

Why is a Fixed Asset Register important for business today?

Having a comprehensive and up-to-date fixed asset register provides a number of benefits to your business including:

• Improving the utilization of assets by tracking their usage in a formal way and then using the Fixed Asset Register as a single-source-of-truth for reporting purposes
• Assisting in the planning process by contributing up-to-date information on all company assets
• Helping to reduce the likelihood of fraud occurring by tracking all assets within the business and conducting audits to ensure accuracy
• Helping to ensure the maintenance requirements outlined in each asset’s warranty are tracked and then complied with
• Reducing the potential for assets purchases unnecessarily through accurate and accessible information on what assets already exist within the business and their current levels of utilization and depreciation

Why is a Fixed Asset Register important for an event tomorrow?

The fixed assets of the business represent an important source of value for a business to utilize while also representing a potential source of liability or costs in the future. Therefore understanding the assets of the business in detail is an important aspect of any due diligence related exercise. A fixed asset register will help to:

• Provide a complete record of all assets
• Act as an input into a financial model for forecasting depreciation, maintenances costs and asset replacement costs
• Identify where asset utilization rates could be improved
• Ensure warrant requirements for regular maintenance have been met

Pros of addressing Fixed Asset Registers

• Planning assistance
• Fraud prevention
• Optimizes asset usage
• Compliance with warranty maintenance requirements
• Reduces the potential for assets to be purchased unnecessarily

Cons of not addressing this topic

• Increased potential for fraud due to asset loss
• Increased asset wastage from under-utilization
• Increased potential to void existing warranties by missing required maintenance
• Increased potential for errors in calculating depreciation