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Nikki
A.7. Asset Register
What is an asset register and why do you need one? No it’s just another piece of admin to make your life more cluttered and just give you one more thing to do – actually it will probably un-clutter your life and simplify it! An asset register is a list of all your assets, such as your computer and printer, your desk, chair and so on. What does it do? Well it helps your Accountant work out what the correct depreciation is and how long it should be depreciated and also, if you have a theft, it will expedite your claim. Cool hey! The asset register should list the date that the item was purchased and the amount of the purchase and then in the instances where there is a serial number (in the case of computers and/or printers and so on), this should also be recorded. All the assets should be given a unique number and this number should be attached to the item (a little sticker under the chair or desk) to identify same. In very big companies each asset is broken down even further. For example it may be a visitor’s chair in the Accounts department that was purchased in October 2000 and the reference number could then be something like 013/10/00/VC/ACC (this would indicate that it was the 13th asset purchased in October 2000 - that it is a Visitor’s Chair and it is located in the Accounts Department. When the stock take is done (which should be done on an annual basis, just before your year end), the item can be verified as present and if it is missing, you know exactly where it went missing from. I am sure you can understand the reasoning behind this when you think of these huge corporations like FNB, in Bank City in the CBD, where there are thousands of employees, in hundreds of offices in 4 high rise buildings that are interlinked. Can you imagine trying to find where a chair went missing from and which department is responsible for its loss if the chair was only allocated a number like 12345? Always start in the manner that you intend to continue, so even if you have the bare minimum in your little office in a corner of one of the bedrooms in your home, number the items appropriately. It will save you a lot in time and effort down the line.
Keep your asset register up to date and current. As soon as you purchase a new asset, add it to the register. This will take you a few minutes to do rather than hours at the financial year end when you have to look up the cost of the items before handing the books over to the Accountant for your financial year end figures.
A copy of an Asset register spreadsheet can be obtained, at a cost from me.
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