Why Building-level Asset Management is the Perfect Complement to Your Fixed Asset System 

Asset identification is a widespread practice within school districts, but it is more common for capital assets above a specific monetary threshold. With the influx of lower-cost mobile devices, schools need a system in place to correctly verify the location and status of any asset necessary for instruction or operations to ensure they are accounted for accurately. 

Building level asset management systems allow the entire district to identify and update asset information as it is needed for department assets, eliminating guesswork and reducing the time spent hunting for information. And that means you can be sure the right assets are in the right hands at the right time, enhancing learning outcomes and teacher effectiveness. 

Most district business administrators cringe at the idea of adding thousands of low-cost, non-capital assets to their already large, fixed asset ledger. A building-level asset system provides you with a separate database for campus and department leaders to easily manage assets under their control. It also minimizes the need for paper forms by providing electronic asset transfer forms, documenting the movement of assets from building to building using barcode scanners. District and school leaders can easily report on asset location, status, utilization, and funding source, which is crucial for staying compliant with state and federal regulations for assets funded through Title I or CTE programs, or those that are designated for IEP requirements. 

Integrating your asset management system with your SIS and human resources software makes it easy to maintain an accurate view of devices assigned to students and staff. This visibility increases accountability and helps to minimize loss or misuse. With controlled access across schools and departments, the right asset management system ensures that every asset is accounted for and managed effectively. 

Using a building-level asset management system in addition to your fixed asset system, you can easily perform and monitor the progress of inventory audits in real time – giving the district instantaneous information about which assets are verified, missing, or misplaced. By validating the location of assets electronically, there is no longer a need to send paper printouts or spreadsheets from the fixed asset system for each school principal to account for site assets. Use room inventory reports as a starting place to find the asset in the school building, where schools can quickly identify the actual location of assets. This automation provides the same functionality that expensive physical inventory companies would use to systematically audit each site, saving both time and money. 

District business administrators reconcile the actual physical inventory of purchased assets to the district’s property listing. Without a building level asset management system, processing paperwork to update assets that have been lost, damaged, disposed, stolen, or transferred is a time-consuming, manual task. Producing an accurate property listing of all assets located within each campus is incredibly difficult without automating these processes. Building-level asset management systems give school staff the tools necessary to verify their physical inventory, while providing district administrators access to asset records and reports for each building, increasing transparency and reducing asset verification times. 

A building-level asset management system contributes to significant cost savings. By reducing loss, ensuring assets are used effectively, and automating inventory and audit processes, school districts can save money, time, and effort, which can be redirected toward furthering educational goals – and that is something to get excited about.