Spreadsheets are SO Last Year: Specialist Software for Managing Corporate 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 don’t come will all the feature we would want plus they can be annoying to use, we still force ourselfs to 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 major ones are that they are able to create simple calculations, create graphics and manage your business forecasts. 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 fixed asset.

Although spreadsheets sound like they would be good for storing company asset data, they are simply not as advanced as an fixed asset tracking software package.

To a certain extent, a spreadsheet is useful for asset management, however, as you increase the amount of assets your company has and the amount of data you want to store, they become useless.

Here are some handy features that you should look out for in your asset management software.

• It should be able to hold enough data and in enough detail as you need it to. Although a spreadsheet can store alot of information, it may not be enough. The data that’s stored may not provide enough detail.
• They must be able to reflect the structure of the company. If the asset sites in a number of sectors within the company, a spreadsheet cannot reflect this type of structure.
• They should be very flexible and be able to restructure very easily. Once you start creating a more advanced spreadsheet, it then becomes tough to add new data and alter the structure.
• They must be able to manage different price depreciation levels on seperate items. If different assets had been bought at different stages, but they were connected, like a computer and a keyboard. The management software should be able to handle multiple depreciation levels.
• Must be able to handle re-lifeing of assets. If one of your assets is assessed and found to be no longer useless, the levels of depreciation on the item should be changed.
• It should be able to create structured data reports. Spreadsheets are not good for creating structured graphical reports.

Those are just a few features that should be contained within any software package designed for asset management. Plus, it’s the main reason why a basic spreadsheet software suite would not be suiteable for storing asset data in a fixed asset inventory.

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