Asset custody and verification schedules
By the OrbitPi product team · Updated · 5 min read
Custody means a named person, team or location is responsible for an asset at a point in time. A transfer is complete only when the register shows who handed it over, who received it, and where it is now. A verification schedule says which assets are checked, how often, and who counts them. Count against a frozen register extract, investigate anything not found or found in the wrong place, and write an asset off only after that investigation is approved.
Key takeaways
- Every asset line needs a custodian and a location, not only a cost centre.
- A move between people or sites is a transfer with a date. Do not edit the old location away.
- The schedule can be yearly for portable assets and a multi-year cycle for fixed plant. Write the rule down and follow it.
- Counters should be independent of the custodian where that is practical.
- Found in the wrong place is a location correction. Not found is an investigation, not an automatic write-off.
- Keep the count, the reconciliation and the approval with the register.
What does custody mean?
An asset register that only stores a purchase cost cannot answer “who has this laptop?” Custody is the current answer to that question: a person, a department or a location, with the date the responsibility started. When the answer changes, the old answer has to remain readable. Overwriting the location field leaves no history of where the asset was.
Issue and return are custody events. So is a transfer between branches. A custodian who leaves the organisation should trigger a return or a reassignment, not a silent gap in the register.
How do you set a verification schedule?
A schedule is a policy, not a date someone remembers. It names the assets in scope, how often each class is verified, who counts, and who approves the result. Portable and high-value items, such as laptops and tools, are often verified every year. Large fixed plant is often covered by a cycle that reaches every asset at least once over a longer period, with a set share each year.
CARO 2020 does not prescribe one frequency for property, plant and equipment. The auditor looks at whether management’s interval is reasonable and whether material differences were dealt with. The fixed-asset side of that reporting is covered in the CARO 2020 guide on this site. The schedule you write is what makes “reasonable” demonstrable.
| Asset class | How often | Who counts | What “done” means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laptops and phones | Every year | Someone other than the employee who holds the device | Seen, or investigated if not produced |
| Tools and instruments | Every year | A counter who does not keep the store | Tag matched to the register line |
| Plant and vehicles | At least once in a three-year cycle | A team named in the policy | Location and condition recorded |
| New purchases | In the quarter they are capitalised | The team that received them | Tag, custodian and location filled in |
How do you run one verification?
- Take a dated extract of the register for the locations in this round. That extract is what you reconcile to.
- Count from the assets you can see, not only from the list. A list-only check never finds items that are not on the register.
- Record the tag, the location, the custodian and the condition. Photograph damage if your process asks for it.
- Match the count to the extract. Separate “found elsewhere”, “not found” and “found but not on the register”.
- Investigate before you adjust. A laptop in another office is a transfer. An asset nobody can trace is a write-off candidate, and it needs approval.
- File the count, the reconciliation and the approval with the register.
Why keep location history?
If the register only shows the latest location, a verifier who finds a machine in the wrong building has nothing to compare except today’s row. History shows whether the asset was transferred and the transfer was never recorded, or whether it left without a transfer at all. Those are different problems: one is a late update, the other is a control failure.
The same history answers a leavers check. You can see what was still assigned to someone on their last day, and whether it was returned.
When is a write-off the right outcome?
Not found is the start of an investigation, not the accounting entry. Search the likely locations, ask the last custodian, and check whether the asset was scrapped or sold without a disposal record. If it still cannot be traced, record that result, get approval, and then remove it from the books so the register and the accounts match.
Do not leave the same missing assets on the register for several years with no note. An unexplained list is itself a finding, even when each item is small.
General information, not professional advice. This guide summarises the rules as we understand them on the date shown. Laws, notifications and thresholds change, and their application depends on your facts. Check the official sources below and consult a chartered accountant or tax adviser before acting on it.
How OrbitPi Assets helps
OrbitPi Assets keeps the fixed asset register, records the person or place an asset is assigned to, and stores the result of a physical verification, including how a difference was closed. This guide describes the custody and scheduling practice. It does not add product features beyond that register and those verification records.
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