How to assign asset tag numbers: five rules and a register template

However carefully a fixed asset register is built, its reliability rests on one column: the tag number. It is what links the code on the label, the line in the register and the card in the accounts. Choose the numbering scheme badly, and within a year or two you have two assets with the same number, numbers that "lie" after a move to another room, and prefixes whose meaning nobody remembers. Below are five rules for assigning numbers and a way to keep them working in practice.

A number with no meaning and no repeats

It is tempting to build the room, department or category into the number. For example, a printer in room 15 on the second floor gets 2-15-PR-003. The problem is that on the day the printer moves, the number starts giving the wrong information. Change it, and you have to re-label the asset and correct the card in the accounts. The right approach: the number only identifies the asset, while location and category sit in separate columns of the register. For example, INV-000125: a prefix and six digits, nothing more.

The second rule follows from the first: a number is never reused. When an asset is written off, its number becomes free, and handing it to a new item looks convenient. Don't. In old certificates, count sheets and archived photos that number still refers to the old asset. The row of a disposed asset stays in the register; only its condition changes. A new asset always gets the next free number.

One number, one accounting object

Be careful with sets. Are a computer, monitor and keyboard one number or three? The answer must match the accounting records. If they are recorded as one object, they get one number and a "set" note; if recorded separately, three numbers. The decision is written down once and applied the same way in every department. Otherwise, at the next count the monitor turns up as a "surplus" and the computer as a "shortage", although both are sitting right there.

The same question needs an answer for office furniture sets, a machine with attached devices, and a vehicle with extra equipment. Write the rule for each group in the register's notes.

Ranges for branches and a readable tag

If there are several branches or legal entities, give each a number range in advance so that they never overlap. For example, head office 000001–049999, the Samarkand branch 050000–069999. Labels can be printed in advance in the same order. That removes the risk of two branches using the same number on the same day. Only one person issues numbers: the register owner.

The fifth rule concerns the tag itself. The barcode is for the scanner; the number is for people. The tag must carry the number in large print, so that it can be typed in by hand if the code is damaged. Choose a font in which O and 0, I and 1 cannot be confused.

Keeping the register alive

The numbering rules work together with the register. For every asset record at least: tag number, name and model, category, location, custodian, purchase date, cost, condition and the date of the last check. The last column is the one most often forgotten, yet it is exactly what shows which asset nobody has seen for over a year. You can update it without waiting for a count: once a quarter, send each department head an extract of the register for their rooms. They check the list on the spot and return it signed, and you enter the check date.

All of these columns are in the ready-made fixed asset register template. Category and condition are chosen from a list, rows whose last check was more than 365 days ago are flagged automatically, and a second sheet totals count and cost by category. When an asset moves, only the location and custodian columns change; the number stays the same.

Conclusion

A good tag number has no meaning, is unique and never changes. Location, custodian and condition live in other columns of the register and change as needed. Inventory counts fixed assets, prepares and applies barcode and QR-code labels, and builds the register according to these rules.