Why Not To Use A Basic Spreadsheet for Asset Management

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. Despite being a pain to use and not having all our required features, we still use them for our work. 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.

Although spreadsheets have their downsides, they do have advantages and are useful for a number of uses. The major ones are that they are able to create simple calculations, create graphics and manage your business forecasts. They all prove to be useful at some point in time. However, due to the large number of problems spreadsheets have, they simply are not appropriate for tasks like tracking yourUK fixed assets.

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

Up until a point, asset management can live with a spreadsheet, however, once you wish to start storing more assets and keeping more data about each item, the spreadsheet quickly becomes useless.

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 information stored may also not be detailed enough.
• 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. Altering the structure and data of a spreadsheet is easy, but once it becomes complex, the task automatically becomes difficult.
• 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 management software should be able to handle multiple depreciation levels.
• The software should be able to do re-lifeing of business assets. If an asset is assessed and found to be useful, the depreciation level must be altered as the asset is now useful.
• Must be able to create structured reports. Spreadsheets are not good for creating structured graphical reports.

That was a list of a few features that any asset management software suite should come with. Also it’s the reason why a spreadsheet is not good for adding asset data to afixed asset register.