How to do a fixed asset count: preparation, count day and discrepancy report

It is the last week of the year. The count list comes out of the printer, and the teams head off to the floors with a sheet of paper and a pen each. An hour later, one floor has found several devices “not on the list”, and another has noted items that appear on the list but are not where they should be. The count ends, but the real work starts now: whose mistake are these discrepancies, which are genuine losses, and which are transfers that were never recorded? What makes a count valuable is not the numbers themselves but how the discrepancies are resolved and how the record is brought up to date. The checklist below covers this in three stages.

A fixed asset count is an item-by-item check of whether the fixed assets on record are really on site, with the right person, in the right location and in the expected condition. At the end, you should have an up-to-date list and explained discrepancies.

When is an inventory count carried out?

How often depends on the organisation’s policy and accounting set-up. Many companies do a full count at year end, and certain situations also trigger a count. On the accounting side, it is best to ask your accountant which counts are required.

• Year-end or period-end full count.
• Before and after an office or warehouse move.
• A change of department or manager.
• Suspected loss or an assignment mismatch.
• Preparation before an internal or external audit.
• Straight after moving to a new inventory system, to check the records against the situation on site.

How do you do a fixed asset count? Three stages

1. Preparation: what to do before the count

1. Set the scope and date. Which locations and which groups of items will be counted? The count date and duration are announced to all departments in advance.
2. Produce the current list. The count is carried out against the list on record; the list should be finalised before the count, and you should make sure nobody is keeping an unofficial copy.
3. Freeze movements. No transfers, returns or new assignments should be recorded during the count; otherwise the record of an item that has been counted changes on the same day.
4. Separate the teams. The people counting should be different from those who keep the records, so that nobody checks their own records.
5. Check labels and barcodes. If items with unreadable or missing labels are identified before count day, the count goes faster.
6. Prepare the count sheet. Fields for location, item description, assignment number, serial number, condition and notes are enough.

Sample announcement: The fixed asset count for [locations] will take place on [date]. Assignment, return and transfer transactions will be suspended during the count. Please keep the equipment assigned to you and its labels visible, and let the count team know if your device is not in its usual place.

2. Count day: steps on site

1. Set the order of locations and do not move on to the next one until the current one is finished.
2. Match each item to its entry on the list by label, barcode or serial number; “one of the same model” is not enough.
3. Write the item’s location, who has it and its physical condition on the sheet.
4. Do not skip items that are not on the list or have no label; mark them in a separate section and photograph them if possible.
5. At the end of the day, merge all sheets into a single list and pull out the items that were not counted.

3. Discrepancy review: understanding and closing the gap

What do you do if the count finds a fixed asset that is not on the list?

An item that is not on the list usually points to a gap in the records, not a loss. Even so, you need to proceed carefully: it could also mean that an employee is using a device that is not theirs.

1. Mark the item separately; do not move it; photograph it and record its serial number.
2. Write on the sheet who has it and where it is.
3. Investigate its origin: it could be a purchase, a donation, a transfer from another department or an old record.
4. Once its origin is confirmed, open a new inventory card and record its assignment.
5. If the origin cannot be determined, report it to management and consult your accountant about how the item should be treated in the accounts.

After the count: the discrepancy report and updating the records

A count is not finished until the discrepancies are closed and the records updated. Gathering unresolved discrepancies in a single discrepancy report both assigns responsibility and sets the starting point for next year. A discrepancy report can include the following:

• The date and scope of the count and the team that carried it out.
• The list of discrepancies: item, type of discrepancy and the information available when it was found.
• The review carried out for each discrepancy and its outcome.
• A split between closed and open discrepancies, with an owner and a deadline for those still open.
• Corrections made to the records: transfer, change of condition, new card, loss or scrapping.
• The names of the people who prepared and approved the report, with the date.

Setting a deadline for open discrepancies is important; otherwise the note “not found” is carried over to the next count every year. When a discrepancy is closed, this should also be reflected in the records, so that the same investigation is not repeated for the same item.

Where does counting with Excel and paper work, and where does it break down?

For a small number of items and a single location, a paper list and an Excel file are enough to run the count. As the number of items and locations grows, the same problems recur: errors creep in when paper sheets are re-entered into Excel, items of the same model get mixed up, the list changes during the count because movements were not frozen, and the causes of discrepancies are searched for by hand, one by one. The count results stay in the file, and the next year the same preparation starts from scratch.

If you are going to count with paper and Excel, four small habits reduce the risk:

• Produce the count list from a single file and lock the file for the duration of the count.
• Use a separate tab for each location; merge the tabs into a single list at the end of the count.
• Write down discrepancies on the same day with a first comment and cause; a discrepancy left until the next day is usually never resolved.
• Archive the count file and use it as next year’s starting list.

Records in the portal that make counting easier

In YazSis KurumsalPortal, the Asset & Assignment Management module has a barcoded inventory card for each fixed asset; the card shows the item’s holder, location, status and movement history. Because the existing list can be bulk-imported from Excel, there is no need to enter records one by one, and the current list can be exported as an XLSX report for use in the count. A discrepancy found in the count is tracked in the card’s movement history: the item can be set to Faulty, In Repair, Scrapped or Lost, or a transfer or return can be recorded.

For quantity-based items, the Inventory & Warehouse Management module validates counts by comparing them with the records and makes critical stock levels visible. The barcode scanner and other hardware to be used are agreed during the project.

If you want to turn the count from a laborious once-a-year job into a regular check, start with the Asset & Assignment Management page.