Depreciation, Theft & Loss: 3 Great Reasons to Track IT Assets

The need to track IT assets cannot be overstated, considering that technology serves as the backbone of most modern organizations.

Among the details you must track as a business owner or manager is depreciation. Depreciation “is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible or physical asset over its useful life or life expectancy.” Those calculations, performed each year an asset is in use, help business owners determine how much of the asset’s total value has already been used. Companies continue to earn revenue from the asset. But at the same time, they expense a portion of its cost.

Depreciation: It's Complicated

Companies most often calculate depreciation for fixed assets with a useful life of more than one year. Such assets tend to be large investments – for example, your IT assets, which are likely among the biggest-ticket items you’ll purchase for your business.

Calculating depreciation can be complicated, particularly for those who aren’t numbers-inclined. Many organizations attempt to perform these calculations and track IT assets manually. However, doing so can lead to errors. Whether it’s an occasional typo, missed number, or inadvertent omission, mistakes in your recordkeeping can lead to significant hassles later. You most certainly will lose valuable time and productivity trying to correct these accounting mistakes and/or searching for missing IT assets. You may pay the price for that confusion come tax time.

Here’s the good news: When you track your IT assets through a reliable and accurate platform, you effectively outsource this function and can focus on your other priorities.

Asset Theft & Loss: They Add Up - Fast

Estimates differ on how much revenue the average organization loses due to IT equipment theft or fixed asset theft in general. However, it’s not difficult to understand that those losses begin to add up – and quickly.

Additionally, due to the sensitive nature of the content stored on your IT assets, it’s not the equipment loss that places you at the biggest risk. According to tech blogger Adrian Sferle, the reality is that the information on those devices “is an organization’s lifeblood. If an employee loses a laptop, organizations can be faced with the loss of financial documents and information, HR records, regulatory filings, and valuable intellectual property. Additionally, lost content could put an organization at risk of falling out of compliance with the HIPAA or the SEC.”

Not that the monetary loss of the physical asset is anything to ignore; a few smartphones here, a few laptops there, and the costs begin to add up.

Creating a Culture of Accountability

Tracking IT assets is essential for the health of your business. Asset tracking platforms enable you to tighten your standards around IT asset security and create a culture of accountability. At any time, you know what you have, the location of each asset, what kind of condition it’s in, along with other pertinent details related to asset use like warranty and insurance information and, of course, depreciation.

IT asset management software also enables IT managers to set up custom notifications to remind them of critical updates and routine maintenance. Staying on top of those service dates helps prevent slow-moving machines, lost productivity, and even compromised IT security.

Asset Panda's IT Asset Management Software

Asset Panda is the world’s most powerful platform for tracking IT assets. With an intuitive interface, completely customizable features, and anytime mobile access, Asset Panda gives you and your employees an easy-to-use comprehensive directory of all of your IT assets.

Give our IT asset management software a try with a free 14-day trial (no credit card required)! You’ll receive full access to user guides, video tutorials, free mobile apps, and call-in and live chat support from our helpful Asset Panda support team.