Asset management is everything an organization does to plan, acquire, use, maintain, value and dispose of its assets so they deliver value at acceptable cost and risk. The ISO 55000 family of standards describes it, in general terms, as the coordinated activity of an organization to realize value from assets.
Two meanings of asset management
The same phrase is used for two different jobs. Check which one a search result, job advert or vendor means.
| Item | Physical asset management | Investment asset management |
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Equipment, vehicles, buildings, IT hardware | Shares, bonds, funds, property portfolios |
| Goal | Availability, safety, cost and lifecycle value | Investment return for a client or fund |
| Typical people | Operations, facilities, IT, maintenance, finance | Fund managers, wealth managers |
| Standards and rules | ISO 55000 family, IAS 16 for the accounting | Securities and fund regulation |
| Tools | Asset register, CMMS, tagging, audits | Portfolio and trading systems |
This glossary covers physical asset management.
The asset management lifecycle, including disposal
- Plan. Identify the need and compare buying, leasing or repairing what you have.
- Acquire. Purchase, receive and inspect; capitalize the cost if it is above your threshold.
- Register and tag. Add the asset to the asset register with a location, custodian and tag.
- Operate and maintain. Record moves and check-outs, run preventive maintenance and repair faults.
- Verify. Run regular asset audits so the register matches the floor.
- Dispose. Approve the disposal, choose the method (sell, donate, recycle, scrap), wipe any data, record proceeds and remove the asset from the books.
Disposal is where many registers go wrong. An item that is scrapped physically but never recorded stays on the books as a ghost asset. A standard asset disposal form captures the approval, method, date, proceeds and who signed it off. See disposal for the accounting.
What is an asset management system?
The phrase has two senses. In the ISO 55001 sense, an asset management system is the set of policies, objectives, roles and processes an organization uses to manage its assets. In everyday use it means the software that holds the register and runs the work. You need both: software without a policy records inconsistent data, and a policy without a tool is hard to follow. A written asset management policy is a good place to start.
What it includes
- An accurate asset register — what you own, where it is, who is responsible.
- Asset tracking — keeping location and custody current.
- Audits — proving the register matches reality.
- Maintenance — preventive and corrective work that keeps assets available.
- Finance — depreciation, NBV and disposal.
- Governance — roles, access control and an audit trail.
Why it matters
Assets tie up capital. Managing them well means fewer losses, fewer duplicate purchases, less downtime and financial statements that reflect what you actually own.
Examples
- Hospital: clinical engineering keeps medical devices on a maintenance and calibration schedule and retires them at end of support.
- School: the bursar keeps a register of laptops and furniture by classroom and runs a count each year.
- NGO: donor-funded vehicles and equipment are tracked by project, with disposal approvals recorded for the donor.
Spreadsheet vs asset management software
| Item | Spreadsheet | Asset management software |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Nothing beyond the software you have | Free tiers exist; paid plans add features |
| Finding an asset | Search a column that may be out of date | Scan a tag to open the record |
| History | Overwritten when someone edits a cell | Every change logged with who and when |
| Audits | Print, tick, re-type the results | Scan the room and reconcile against the register |
| Disposal | Delete or colour a row | Recorded with method, proceeds and approval trail |
A spreadsheet is a reasonable start for a few dozen items. When several people edit it or assets move every week, it stops being reliable.
Common mistakes
- Buying software before agreeing a policy on what to track and who owns it.
- Treating it as a one-off project. A register built in a big push decays unless moves are recorded as they happen.
- Leaving disposal out of the process, so the books keep items that are long gone.
In Asetavo
Asetavo brings these together in one platform: register, tagging, zones and alerts, check-in/out, audits, maintenance, depreciation, reports and an API. The Starter plan is free; see free asset tracking software for what it includes, and pricing for the Growth and Business plans.
