Keeping an Asset Register

Your inventory already answers the quartermaster's questions -- what have we got, where is it, who has it. The asset register answers the treasurer's and the trustees': what did it cost, who paid for it, what is it worth now, and what happened to it when it went.

It is the same kit, not a second list. An item you already track as equipment can also sit on the asset register, and switching that on adds the financial fields to the item you already have.

Where to find it#

Open the Equipment page and choose the Asset register tab. Trustees do not see the Equipment page, so they get their own Asset Register item in the left-hand navigation instead -- same view, read-only.

Four figures sit across the top:

If any warranties are running out in the next 90 days, the first card says so.

Putting an item on the register#

There are four ways in. Use whichever fits what you are already doing.

• When you add or edit an item -- the equipment form has a Record on the asset register switch. Turn it on and the financial fields appear underneath. If the item cost £250 or more, the switch nudges you, because most groups record items at that level so trustees and insurers can see them.
• From an inventory row -- open the ... menu on any row and choose Add to asset register. The option disappears once the item is already on it.
• In bulk -- tick several items in the inventory, then choose Add to asset register from the action bar at the bottom. Anything already on the register is skipped.
• From the item's own page -- every equipment item has an Asset register card. If the item isn't on the register yet, the card offers Add to asset register.

Adding an item this way puts it on the register straight away with no figures. Fill those in whenever you have the receipt to hand.

What you can record#

Replacement value is the equipment item's own field, further up the form. The register reuses it as the insured value, so filling it in once covers both.

Depreciation#

Choose one of three:

• Not depreciated -- the book value stays at cost. Pick this if your accounts write items off in the year you buy them.
• Straight line -- the same amount comes off every year. Tell it the useful life in years and it charges cost less residual value, spread evenly.
• Reducing balance -- a percentage comes off what is left each year. Tell it the annual rate, for example 25%.

Either way the charge runs monthly from the month you bought the item, so a mid-year purchase is not over-charged. Open any asset and you will see a Depreciation schedule -- a year-by-year table of the opening value, the charge and the closing value.

Finding things on the register#

Search by name or asset number, and use the filter to narrow by:

• State -- On the register, Disposed of, or All assets
• Category -- any of the asset categories above
• Warranty -- Expiring within 90 days

Sort by asset number, name, acquired date, cost, book value or warranty date. Click any row to open the asset, where you'll also find the supplier, funding source, where the item is kept, any linked accounting transactions, and a full history of every change anyone has made.

Disposing of an asset#

When kit is sold, scrapped, donated, lost, stolen or transferred to another group, open it and click Dispose. Record:

• How it left and the date
• Sale proceeds, if you sold it
• A linked transaction from the ledger, if the sale or purchase is in your accounts
• Notes -- anything the trustees would want to know a year later

The item is retired from the inventory so nobody can book it, but it stays on the register with what happened recorded. If you get it back or record it in error, click Reinstate.

Every registration, edit, disposal and reinstatement is written to the item's history with who did it and when -- so the audit trail is there when someone asks.

The two exports#

Use the Export button above the table.

• Asset register (CSV) -- the full picture for trustees and auditors: acquisition date and cost, supplier, funding source, depreciation method and rate, accumulated depreciation, book value, replacement value, warranty, disposal details, and any linked transactions.
• Insurance schedule (CSV) -- shaped for an insurer: what each item is, where it is kept, its serial number, quantity, condition, and what it would cost to replace. Only items currently on the register appear.

Both open in any spreadsheet, so you can attach them to your annual accounts or send them straight to your broker.

Importing a spreadsheet you already have#

If your kit list already lives in a spreadsheet, the equipment CSV import will carry the register fields across too. Download the template from Actions > Import CSV -- the asset columns (isAsset, assetCategory, acquisitionDate, acquisitionCost, supplierName, fundingSource, warrantyExpiresAt, depreciationMethod, usefulLifeYears, depreciationRatePercent, residualValue) are all optional, so you can fill in as much or as little as you have.

Who can see and change it#

Trustees get read access because they carry a duty to know what the charity owns. Bookkeeping stays with the people who do it.

What's next#

• Managing Your Equipment Inventory -- adding, editing and importing the kit itself.
• Accounting and Bookkeeping -- the ledger the purchase and disposal transactions come from.
• Getting Started as a Trustee -- what else sits on a trustee's navigation.