High-Tech Asset Inventory Procedures
High-tech assets provide challenges to inventory management. While most accountants can tell the difference between a company's blue tarp and green tarp offerings, having accountants distinguish between computer part X14587 and X18976 can be troublesome. By modifying common inventory procedures to reflect the challenges of high-tech assets, accountants can obtain accurate inventory counts and manage inventory effectively.
Other People Are Reading
-
Inventory Counts
-
One of the most effective inventory procedures is the physical count. By counting inventory on a periodic, but regular basis, company management can determine whether theft (known as shrink) exists, examine the quality of inventory on the shelf and send employees the message that management is watching and cares about controlling inventory. For high-tech assets, special care needs to be taken when performing checks for obsolescence. Inventory count personnel should be able to detect signs that technological assets may be outdated. This could include dusty boxes, checks for obviously outdated technology, such as floppy disk drives, or a list of current sales models to compare against.
Asset Tagging
-
For expensive custom inventory items, such as server systems or configured computers, asset tagging is an effective method to tell items apart. Two computer systems could look similar on the shelf; however, based on the components used in production, the inventory value for the systems could be drastically different. By assigning each inventory item a number and physically attaching the number to the item, specific identification can be achieved.
-
Employee Involvement
-
For technically complex inventory items, such as specific models of computer chips, chemicals or peripherals, it may be helpful to enlist employees in the counting of inventory. While accountants may be best at diagramming and leading the inventory count process, having employees count and identify items that are difficult to classify can lead to more accurate counts. If these are the same employees that are responsible for the inventory, supplying employees with count sheets that do not include the amount expected can help eliminate falsification of quantities by the responsible employees.
Physical Safeguarding of Assets
-
As many high-tech inventory items are also high-value inventory items, it is important to remember basic rules for safeguarding of assets when performing inventory counts. Count employees should be assigned specific count areas and be supervised while performing counts. For extremely high-value items, counts should be done in pairs while being supervised, and inventory locations should be under surveillance.
-
