In the world of business, assets are among the biggest indicators of the financial position of a company. This ranges from real property to motor vehicles, equipment, cash, and the list go on. Some assets are short-term, whereas others are long-term. Some are fixed, whereas others are current. While most assets are tangible, many companies also have a range of equally important intangible assets.
The success of a company depends in part on the proprietors’ ability to manage their assets properly. Proper asset management helps reduce inconveniences, streamline business processes, and keep the company financially stable for growth and success. Nonetheless, managing company assets can be a mammoth task without experience or a few tips up your sleeve. This is especially the case for up and growing companies.
Luckily, here are a few tips to help you manage your company assets better, with the larger bias on security standards.
1. Keep Better Track of Cash Flow
Of course, cash is among the most important assets in any business. The growth and success of the company greatly depend on cash flow. You need money to pay suppliers, marketers, and employees, while ensuring other business expenses are catered for on time. However, it is not unusual to experience delays in the processing of invoices to your client, leading to a cash flow problem.
This makes it important to have a streamlined cash flow management plan in place. It is easier when you accept cash and checks only, but it gets a bit complex when you accept credit card payments. In the latter case, there are a set of security standards to observe so you protect your customer’s data and money safety. Thankfully, payment security and compliance pros are available today for the ultimate solution. They simply help ensure you observe compliance with the PCI industry requirements while protecting your most important assets – your clients!
To further upscale your cash flow management, here are some tips:
- Schedule expenses
- Match inventory to sales
- Use cash flow projections
- Employ an accountant
- Utilize financial management software
2. Catalogue Your Assets
One of the best ways to protect your company’s assets is to have an inventory of everything. The baseline catalog will need to indicate the type of each asset, its location, and who is in charge of its operation or safeguarding. Having this inventory helps ensure an accurate record and report of every asset owned by the company, thus making it easier to manage them.
Moreover, it helps minimize dangers like theft and the loss of company equipment, furniture, electronic devices, and other assets. A proper track of asset inventory also provides certain benefits to the company. For instance, older assets can reflect as depreciated on the company’s financial report, which means lower taxes and insurance costs.
Finally, it helps minimize the chances of ghost assets, which can hurt productivity a great deal down the line. When keeping an asset catalog, make sure to track each asset that comes into the company as soon as it does.
3. Leverage Asset Manager Software
With every tick of the clock, technology keeps on getting better. The asset management software could be all your company needs to increase productivity and grow to newer heights. While spreadsheets will help for the first few days of operation, you will need advanced software as your company grows.
Basically, the asset management software helps you record crucial data to keep track of each and every asset owned by the company. Depending on the tool you choose, you may also be able to record maintenance schedules and assign real value based on depreciation rates.
You can also generate a report on the company’s asset base upon demand. Be sure to pick the ideal asset management software to meet your company’s needs. It is best to choose scalable software which grows with the growth of your company’s asset inventory. If the software allows cloud data storage, your woes about the company’s asset management and safety will be reduced by a significant margin.
4. Protect Your Company Data
Yes, you have to protect your company data to safeguard your assets. While modern accounting standards may not recognize data as an asset, data is still an intangible asset. As a matter of fact, most if not all of your company’s assets could be at risk if a data breach existed. Therefore, it pays to take measures to ensure maximum protection for your company data.
Asset management is a crucial aspect of the growth and sustainability of any company. With a clear strategy and streamlined processes, the company could be on its knees faster than it took off. The above few tips will hopefully help to streamline your company’s asset management while observing security standards.