IoT has made asset tracking solutions so much more adaptable, accurate and efficient that now the long-term benefits of the software outweigh any initial cost and adoption.

In the digital era, asset tracking uses data to track business equipment. With the help of technologies like IoT, asset tracking provides more small business benefits, like GPS tracking, such as when employees are using tools and equipment in the field. Asset tracking using IoT uses cloud solutions, sensors and other IoT devices to track the location and status of business assets in real time.

What is IoT?

In asset tracking, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that uses different sensors to transmit specific data through an internet connection. The main elements of the IoT are devices and cloud platforms. Devices are sensors that send data flow continuously to device data aggregation systems used for data pre-processing, and secure connection to the cloud platform.

What is RFID?

By now you know that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the technology that uses an electromagnetic field to track and identify assets through implanted tags.

The primary components of RFID include a radio receiver, a radio transponder, and a transmitter that uses a special antenna with a 1-100 meter range.

If RFID technologies allow you to track items using unique tags attached to them, barcodes let you identify RFID sensors even if they are not in the line of your sight.

How RFID differs from IoT in Asset Tracking

Businesses use RFID and IoT technologies to identify and track assets, objects and even people.

• RFID utilizes an electromagnetic field for data transmission.
• IoT sensors and the whole system work according to a particular machine-to-machine communication method.

The main difference between RFID and IoT regarding asset tracking is that the IoT technology allows your company to track objects in real-time using a network connection, while the RFID approach is limited. Businesses can use RFID technology primarily for inventory tracking or access control using RFID readers to know where the tagged asset is located.

RFID and IoT Asset Tracking

Check out some of the main features of RFID and IoT for asset tracking.

RFID Asset Tracking

Main features:

• Ability to transfer data within 1-100 meters using an electromagnetic field. You can track tagged objects even if they are not in the line of sight.
• Tags contain and transmit information about an asset where they were implanted.
• Capability to read multiple tags at once.

Benefits of RFID Capabilities

• Longevity of devices. The lifespan of RFID tags varies from one year to decades.
• Small size of tags. Sizes of tags various sizes and inches in size.
• Tag’s radio signature is small. The amount of data stored in an RFID tag is concise enough for asset tracking.

IoT’s Asset Tracking

Main features:

• IoT sensors transfer data 24/7 to the cloud, placed a few miles from your business headquarters.
• Capable in various distances and spaces.
• Ability to analyze vast amounts of data for integration into other systems.

Additional Benefits with IoT Capabilities

• Data accuracy increases. IoT asset tracking allows you to receive up-to-date information to make strategic decisions.
• Asset visibility enhancements. Track equipment, goods, or even people in real-time.
• Operations improvements. IoT systems ease asset tracking so you can use them more efficiently.
• Anti-theft protection. Employees can see equipment, tools, or other assets 24/7
• Downtime prevention. Efficient asset monitoring using IoT helps you optimize equipment usage and prevent breakdowns or shutdowns.

Use RFID and IoT as a hybrid solution

There are many benefits to asset tracking with IoT. The first benefit is that it’s more adaptable. IoT asset tracking solutions are now so much more adaptable that the long-term benefits of the software outweigh any initial cost and adoption.

Integrate RFID tags and IoT into your asset tracking systems for increased reliability and efficiency. By talking to one of our IoT Asset Tracking experts, you can learn more about how IoT works and the benefits it can bring to your business.

The post How IoT Asset Tracking and RFID Work as a Hybrid Solution appeared first on AnytimeAssets.

• waste
• theft
• loss
• duplication
• ghost assets

When it comes to fixed-asset audits, there are several ways to prepare. Below we list a quick, three-tip guide to help you prepare for your audit and then some steps to perform your audit with less headache.

Don’t miss: The Cost of Lost Assets Toolkit

How a Fixed Assets Audit Benefits You

A fixed assets audit’s purpose is to assess whether the information presented in the report reflects the true fixed assets picture for the organization at a given date.

Any audit can be stressful, and this one is no different. But understanding how to perform fixed assets audits and committing to routine audits helps confirm the following:

• Existence of the asset
• Date of asset’s purchase
• Cost of the asset
• Classification of asset
• Location of the asset
• Ensure valid barcode/ID number labeling
• Condition of the asset
• Quantities of the asset
• Access to assets
• Depreciation
• Disposition

An asset tracking system means you will save time instead of searching high and low for the asset data you need.

3 Tips For Staying Prepared For An Asset Audit

With the fiscal year-end approaching, annual audits are right around the corner. Preparation is key! While preparation for asset audits typically sends shivers down your spine, it doesn’t have to this year.

Use the three tips listed below to stay prepared and make your audit less awful:

1.   PLAN AHEAD

First, you need to plan ahead. An easy way to get started is to consider creating a proactive internal audit plan. Devote time to the small things, such as proper documentation throughout the year, to help to reduce the time and stress involved in last-minute asset audit preparation.

When you document asset purchases as they happen, you not only make your auditor happy but will save time at the end of the year trying to hunt everything down.

2.   PERFORM A RANDOM SAMPLE INVENTORY

While it may seem like there is no time to perform a random sample inventory, if you follow tip one, planning, you should have plenty of time to conduct an inventory through a random sample. In this type of inventory, a small, random subset of assets needs to be inventoried and then identified by a statistically valid sample. This means it needs to represent all of the items in your inventory.

After a physical inventory has been completed, we encourage you to review your organization’s current policies and procedures regarding asset tracking. Realistically, the inventory likely revealed some gaps in your process.

This opens up an excellent opportunity to clarify or adjust current processes to ensure all policies and procedures are being followed appropriately.

3.   CLEAN UP YOUR DATA

The key to a successful audit is clean and accurate data. One way to ensure your data is clean is to invest in automated asset management software. Benefits your business can reap from this investment include time and money savings, along with clean and accurate data you can depend on for your audit.

The right automated asset management software should allow you to have all your asset information in one centralized location at your fingertips.

It’s a great tool to have for your annual audit because it eliminates the process of digging through old emails and documents to find information the auditor may need. An automated asset management system can also help keep asset information organized throughout its lifecycle and eliminate human error.

How to Perform a Fixed Assets Audit

Auditing fixed assets is essential. This is because auditing is needed to ensure that capital assets and depreciation complies with your organization’s objectives.

Below are some basic guidelines on how to audit fixed assets and what you need to know beforehand.

UNDERSTANDING CORE TERMINOLOGY

Before you begin to audit fixed assets, you first need to be aware of the terminology and what it means.

CAPITAL ASSETS

Capital assets can be defined as equipment, property, furniture, fixtures and leasehold improvements that a company can acquire during the normal course of business. These assets usually have a useful life for at least one year. An example of a capital asset is computer software used for internal use.

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE

Repairs and maintenance are expenditures made to physically maintain a usable asset without extending its life and/or increasing its capacity.

INSTALLATION COSTS

You can define installation costs as expenditures made to third parties to place an asset in service.

FREIGHT

Freight is any expenditure to transport an asset to the asset’s resident location.

SALES TAX

Sales tax is any state or local tax applied to the purchase of an acquired asset.

CREATING POLICIES FOR VALUABLE ASSETS

Once you are more familiar with the terms associated with auditing fixed assets, you can move on to identifying valuable assets and creating a policy reflecting the set cash threshold.

When auditing all items other than software, a policy should be created that states that a single item of tangible property, with a gross (including sales tax, freight and installation) cost of a specified dollar amount or more, will be capitalized.

Update: Capital Planning not Limited to Big Corporations Anymore

When auditing all software, a policy should be created that a single package with a gross cost of a specified dollar amount (or local currency equivalent) or more will be capitalized.

Items that do not meet the necessary requirements for capitalization should be expensed through one of your business’s major GL accounts. After this is done, a depreciation schedule should be created for your fixed assets.

Once created, a retirement and disposal policy should also be created. When an asset is determined to have been sold or disposed of, the asset’s cost and accumulated depreciation should be removed from the general ledger and the sub ledger.

For an asset to be properly retired, an asset disposal form must be filled out. This form needs to be submitted to the general ledger by a business unit controller before any disposition. Notably, all asset disposition needs to be approved by department controllers responsible for assets before disposition.

An audit is inherently not fun. But a cloud asset management and tracking platform makes this process a whole lot easier because it ensures real-time accuracy from a single, centralized location.

Anytime Assets makes fixed assets audits run smoothly. By simplifying a complex process into a seamless step-by-step roadmap, Anytime Assets helps you perform audits faster with the real-time data you need to fix problems and run your business more cost-effectively.

If you’re preparing for a fixed assets audit but are finding yourself not-so-prepared, contact one of our audit specialists to lend a hand.

The post How to Prepare for and Perform Your Annual Fixed Assets Audit appeared first on AnytimeAssets.

How can your business ease unexpected asset loss?

Getting the business started

Nearly half of all U.S. businesses track their business assets ineffectively. Most start with some manual process like spreadsheet management or even no asset tracking process at all.

But growing a small business with spreadsheet asset management eventually becomes frustrating and inefficient. The cost and lost revenues associated with searching for and replacing missing assets are so high that companies began using systems like barcode, Q.R., and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) to track assets.

Now that the systems and capabilities are here, asset tracking has become a top priority across industries in businesses of all sizes.

A company for growth

As your company continues to grow in an expanding marketplace, the time will come when you’ll have to truly consider your company’s assets and how you’ll manage them.

Spreadsheet tracking and other manual methods you use to assess the financial impact of missing tools and equipment are inadequate today. We know this because it happens to every business once it reaches a certain point.

A complete asset tracking solution is the answer to these ineffective methods of controlling the costs of lost assets.

How much money do lost assets cost a business?

Lost equipment isn’t just frustrating; it’s outright expensive. But it’s a complex number to nail down for many reasons. Many lost assets are never tracked or measured, and it can be challenging to determine the indirect costs of the missing asset.

However, a simple web search will return the following:

“100 assets idling 40% of the time costs $312,000 per year. 100 assets idling 40% of the time costs $1,560,000 over 5 years.”

“Unplanned downtime also comes at a hefty cost, ranging anywhere from $30K per hour for a single machine being down to hundreds of thousands…”

“…pilfering alone costs a staggering $50 billion each year in the U.S.”

Calculating the financial impact of your company’s asset loss is made more challenging by ghost assets on the books and lost hours of productivity spent locating missing tools

Not with asset tracking software

The costs of loss assets are preventable with the right strategy, process, and technologies in place. Asset tracking software helps you determine how much missing, damaged, expired, or stolen assets can cost your business.

By making your business more efficient and saving you money, an asset management solution can help your business grow.

Increasing productivity with asset management software

Manual tracking processes often miss the assets that move between departments or locations. Then how would you determine how many assets you have, where they are, how many need repair?

Without asset tracking software, data silos between departments force employees to search for unaccounted-for items. Asset recovery processes become more time-consuming and destroy productivity.

Reducing these inefficiencies increases productivity. Instead of looking for tools and equipment, your staff has more time to spend on essential tasks that save money and resources.

Saving money with asset management software

You can better plan your budget by knowing when scheduled maintenance occurs so you can allocate the appropriate funds for replacements.

Asset tracking software reduces theft which helps protect your investment. Then as your business grows, negligent asset tracking can lead to unnecessary spending by allowing you to purchase assets you already own.

Growing your business with asset management software

By tracking your assets properly, you’re able to develop a system of streamlined workflows based on functioning equipment with high productivity and efficiency. This allows you to scale your business faster and reach your goals on schedule.

Asset tracking software decreases costs and increases cash flow to be able to implement strategies that increase customer value. Tracking asset status like receivable updates, asset orders, and status updates allows you to organize assets strategically to ensure proper utilization of resources.

Ease of accessibility of business asset information saves time on decision-making processes that inspire growth.

When to consider asset management software for your business

Asset management software will help you control your business costs by ensuring you utilize every asset you procure and keep it and your employees accountable.

While spreadsheets have been the most user-friendly and reliable asset management tools for decades, the technology is outdated for managing and tracking today’s business assets.

Apart from improving the accuracy of your asset record, asset management software streamlines your business processes and generates revenue to ensure you continuously grow and scale your business. Also, asset-tracking software reduces the risk of compliance issues that often occur due to human errors in laborious manual processes of asset management. Automatically sharing compliance reports with your customers strengthens customer relationships and build loyalty.

Every business that relies on tools and equipment needs asset management software. Contact one of our asset specialists to learn more about how you can get the most out of your assets with Anytime Assets.

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