Like with most problems or tasks, people have a preferred solution approach. In the example of conducting an inventory of your fixed assets – it falls into two general camps: Planned or Blind.
There are pluses and minuses in both. And, like anything else, it’s best to consider all of these factors before you get started.
The Blind Approach
This approach is pretty common – especially with smaller organizations. The gist of it is just to send out whoever is going to be conducting the inventory and have them report back whatever they find.
Upside:
- It can get the audit going pretty quickly
- Results may start coming in shortly after the audit launch
Downside:
- There’s almost always things missing that the audit team didn’t know about
- The audit team usually needs to go out at least one more time to locate the stragglers
The Planned Approach
This approach is used more in larger organizations and those with compliance requirements. After all, when you have a lot of assets to keep track of (or specific ones), you probably want to have a plan for getting it done before anyone starts counting. These usually focus on factors like locations, types of assets, funding sources, asset custodians, etc. – or some combination.
Upside:
- There’s clarity on what is being audited
- Results tend to be more complete, minimizing or eliminating the need for recounts
Downside:
- It takes a little time upfront to prepare
Our mobilePLUS product solutions were built for those larger organizations. So, we tend to prefer the Planned Approach. To minimize that downside, we’ve put in the capability to speed up your planning with tools that enable you to repeat previously defined inventories – with the click of a button.
We’ll always have different tasks we need to complete, whether we want to do them or not. But when you align your preferred approach with the right tool, it does make the job a whole lot easier.
Contact us if you’re looking for solutions to align with your fixed asset inventory audit efforts. We’d be happy to provide you with a demo and discuss if mobilePLUS might be a good fit for you.
