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Asset tracking is often considered to be an imposition on US businesses purely as a consequence of SARBOX, but asset tracking is more than just an accountancy compliance issue.It’s an essential component of informed and sound management.Assets must be managed both financially and physically and to do that you require knowledge of just where all your assets are.Many companies rely on a conventional spreadsheet approach to try to keep track of their fixed assets to ensure the company is compliant with national and international regulations.

That’s especially important with IT asset tracking for example tracking fixed assets.IT equipment is at the heart of any business today and often changes during its operational lifetime.Components can be switched, replaced or upgraded.Software especially is frequently installed, uninstalled or upgraded.Many of these changes are internal and therefore normally “invisible”. The value and highly portable nature of laptops, notebooks, peripheral devices and other items like the Blackberry may also explain their tendency to “disappear”. (more…)

It seems obvious to say so, but asset tracking is an essential part of any centralised asset register.Aside from issues of compliance with international accounting practice standards, business cannot afford to rely on piecemeal policies and outmoded practices.Doing so will leave a huge hole in corporate value and expose the company to potentially costly liabilities. Only through the implementation of rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about all the company’s hardware and software assets can an organisation retain full control over those fixed assets and understand its true business value.

That’s especially the case with IT assets, given the fact that computers and telecommunications now lie at the heart of almost every organisation or commercial business. (more…)

Over the past 10 years, the development of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) has grown to help companies in every industry track down and manage their fixed asset management. However, the technology has still not reached it’s optimum usage. Presently the technology is overly expensive and is only really used at the manufacturer stage or on more expensive products. (more…)

We’ve all used them, spreadsheets, whether it’s to do a simple list of items, or whether you are looking to create advanced sums for business forecasts. Despite being a pain to use and not having all our required features, we still use them for our work. No doubt the reason for this is because we would rather use a free package that came with our PC, instead of buying a new one that’s more suitable for the job. (more…)

We’ve all used them, spreadsheets, whether it’s to do a simple list of items, or whether you are looking to create advanced sums for business forecasts. Despite being a pain to use and not having all our required features, we still use them for our work. No doubt the reason for this is because we would rather use a free package that came with our PC, instead of buying a new one that’s more suitable for the job. (more…)

Whether you are a US company, or just a company with links back to the US, you may be required to know about the Sarbanes Oxley act. If you are a US company that has never heard of the act, then you will have most likely have learned something new. It’s an act.

The Sarbanes Oxley act is an act that was signed into US law in 2002. The act was created to stop what happened to Enron and Worldcom happening to other companies. Both of these companies were found to have been working using fraud deals for a number of years. At that current time, the companies weren’t required to show their records to the US government.

What the act does is it ensures that how businesses are run is legitimate and if they are not, it holds the key players responsible for the problems.

The act forces the Chief Executive Officers and the Chief Financial Officers to sign the books for the business. They are required to sign the records to say they don’t contain anything that’s false and that they match the companies earnings.

If the act is not abided by or the records are found to be false, the Chief Officers can be punished by the government.

Like what I said towards the top of the post, you might not be required to abide by the act. You only need to abide by the act if your company is based in either the US, UK or Europe and they have listings on the US stock exchange. You would also have to follow the act if your company was a subsidiary of a US company and based in Europe.

The Sarbanes Oxley act can be annoying for some US companies. Because the company is required to report every single business transaction, even the sale and purchase of company assets. This is where people have the problem because all the company’s fixed assets must before recorded.

The process of fixed asset accounting can be expensive and take time. If you attempt to do the job yourself, based on the size of your company, it can take a number of months and just cause more problems. The best way to make sure you have listed all your assets is by hiring an external company to do the job for you.

Unfortunately, this can still be expensive to do. However, a number of asset management companies offer features to make the next time you do an asset audit alot easier and cheaper. Many of the companies also offer Sarbanes Oxley compliance software which will make the job even easier for you.

Hopefully that helped you understand what the Sarbanes Oxley act is and what you have to do to abide by it. No doubt you won’t like the sound of the act, but you can blame Enron.