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Posts Tagged ‘Assets’

We’ve all used them, spreadsheets, whether it’s to do a simple list of items, or whether you are looking to create advanced sums for business forecasts. Even though they are not really advanced enough for some of our requirements, we still use them. No doubt this is because they come free with our operating systems and the majority of people prefer to put up with a free one instead of buying a new one.

Even though spreadsheets come with a number of problems, they do have some useful features. The main ones are that they can handle simple calculations, they can create graphics, create business forecasts to see how much money you will lose. These all come in handy for certain jobs. However, due to the large number of problems spreadsheets have, they simply are not appropriate for tasks like tracking your UK fixed assets.

Even though spreadsheets intially sound useful for managing asset data, they can’t compete against an asset tracking software UK package.

Up until a certain point, a spreadsheet would prove to be useful for asset management, however, as obtain more and more assets and you wish to store more data about the assets, the spreadsheet becomes redundant.

Here is a list of a few features that every asset management software package should contain.

• It must be able to store enough information for your use. Despite being able to store massive amounts of data, a spreadsheet can’t store enough for asset management. The data that’s stored may not provide enough detail.
• They must be able to match the structure of the company. If the particular asset can be located in a number of sectors within a company, a basic spreadsheet cannot reflect this complex formation.
• It should be flexible enough to be restructed quickly a easily. Once a spreadsheet becomes very complex, it’s difficult to try and modify the data and especially the structure.
• They should be able to calculate different depreciation rates on individual items. If items were bought at different points in time, for example a computer and a monitor. The software should be capable enough to store individual price depreciation levels.
• It should be able to cope with re-lifeing of assets. If an asset is assessed and found to be useful, the depreciation level must be altered as the asset is now useful.
• They must be able to export the data into structured reports. It’s not easy to create a structured data report using a spreadsheet.

Those are just a few features that should be contained within any software package designed for asset management. Also it’s the reason why a spreadsheet is not good for adding asset data to a fixed asset register.

If you are an American company, then you might be required to know about the Sarbanes Oxley act. If you are a American company and have never have heard of the act, then you have already learnt something new. It’s a United States act.

The Sarbanes Oxley act is an act that was signed into US law in 2002. The act was designed to try and stop companies doing what Enron and Worldcom did. Both of these companies announced that they had been running on fraudulent deals for several years. At that time it was not required for the companies to show their books to the government.

What it does is it makes sure that the companies are run safely and lawfully, if it’s found that they are not, the owners are help resonsible for any wrong doing.

The act forces the Chief Executive Officers and the Chief Financial Officers to sign the books for the business. They are required to sign the records to say they don’t contain anything that’s false and that they match the companies earnings.

If the act is not abided by or the records are found to be false, the Chief Officers can be punished by the government.

Like I said at the beginning, you may not have to abide by the act. You only need to abide by the act if your company is based in either the US, UK or Europe and they have listings on the US stock exchange. You should also be required to follow the act if your company is based in Europe and it;s a subsidiary of a US company.

Some companies find the Sarbanes Oxley act to be a real pain. Because the company must report every transaction that has been made, even the sale and purchase of assets is required. This is where people have the problem because all the company’s fixed assets must before recorded.

The process of fixed asset accounting can be expensive and take time. If you do it yourself within the company it can take several months and can often result in errors. The easiest way to ensure you have recorded all your assets is by outsourcing the process to an asset management company.

Unfortunately, it’s still not a cheap process to do. However, a large number of asset tracking companies will give you different deals to help asset auditing alot simpler in the future. Many of the companies also offer Sarbanes Oxley compliance software which will make the job even easier for you.

Hopefully you will have learnt what the Sarbanes Oxley act it, whether you need to abide by it, and how you do it if you are required to. No doubt you won’t like the sound of the act, but you can blame Enron.

Worldwide, companies are being pressed by the current recession, so managing your fixed assets UK and using them to get the most money out of them is being more imporant than ever before. A great deal of companies are finding that asset management is more of a competitive edge as they try and get the most money from their assets that they own.

This need for efficiently managing asset tracking UK has led to more companies using real time solutions to manage their assets. By getting real time information as to how much your assets are worth, you can make business decisions based on real time data. It has also led to more companies using asset management services like reliability centered maintenance (RCM) or condition based maintenance (CBM).

RCM is a way of assessing your assets and trying to ensure that equipment failure that could damage the business does not happen. RCM finds out how the item is used within the company. It then looks at how a failure of that equipment occurs and how it effects the business. Finally, it then looks at how these failures can be avoided.

A study has been carried out by the Aberdeen Group called “Asset Performance Management: Driving Excellence Though a Reliability Approach in Real Time”. The study looked into companies and ranked them based on a number of different factors, overall equipment effectiveness, unscheduled asset downtime and finally complete and on-time product shipments. The study found that the best companies managed a 89% equipment effectiveness, 97% complete and on time shipments, and finally only 2% unscheduled asset downtime.

The study also found that the top performing companies are more likely to use a range of techniques to ensure that they can retrieve the best possible data about their assets. There are a number of different technologies that are used by the best companies. It was discovered that many of the top performers would happily invest money in more advanced methods of asset managment, such as remote asset monitoring.

These different technologies allow the companies to keep the information about their assets up to date for their employees and maintenance staff. This means that the companies can make decisions based on the information from their assets. It also aids companies to see how their financial earnings are effected by the performance of their assets.

The worldwide need for asset tracking has resulted in a number of companies offering different types of asset accounting UK software to try and help you sort the data you received from the assets.

Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by Lindsey Harper

If you have never visited an online auction site, you’re missing out! You will find that the deals are beyond belief!

Take this gorgeous diamond jewelry, for example. It is going for the “buy now” price of $59,990. A lot of money, right?

But what if I were to tell you that you can bid on this beautiful necklace at only $36! The current bid on this impressive piece is only $36. Incredible!

I found this necklace at an online auction site that puts goods from government and private industries in one place! You’ll find diamond jewelry, but also real estate, vehicles, computers, timeshares, equipment, government seized assets and much more. If you’re looking for US government auctions, this is one place where you’ll find them.

This diamond jewelry, from Beverly Hills, California, has been certified worth over 59,000 and it is a 14 KT white gold necklace with round brilliant cut diamonds. Few women could turn such a necklace down! Put your bid in today. The auction ends on May 2nd at 9:30 p.m. ET. With such a low starting bid, I’m certain you can get this necklace at a very low price.

Go here for more information about this beautiful piece of diamond jewelry:

Online Auction Site Diamond Necklace

I found this great deal at Government Auction Network. Every day, I am continually amazed at the deals I find. In today’s world, with sites like Government Auction Network, you do not have to be rich and living in Beverly Hills to enjoy the finer things in life! You just have to know where to shop!

I’m always here to help you win big with incredible deals on US government auctions and other auctions.  Contact me with any questions you may have! Click on “About Lindsey” then click on “Just Ask Me.”

Government Auction Network – US government auctions – online auction site – diamond jewelry