Integrated Fixed Asset Management
Create an integrated approach to Fixed Asset Management to optimise tracking, maintenance and asset accounting.
Tag Archive for: Fixed Assets
FMIS announces new NHS partnership
FMIS announces new partnership with NHS Shared Business Services to supply FMIS Fixed Assets and IFRS 16 Leasing software to their clients.
ChannelPorts moves to FMIS GDPR compliant cloud hosting
ChannelPorts have selected FMIS Cloud as a simple and secure option to host their FMIS Fixed Assets solution.
Sheffield Hallam University ensures FRS102 compliance with FMIS Fixed Assets
Leading University selects FMIS Fixed Assets to ensure compliance with FRS102 standard on a tight schedule.
IFRS 16 – What you need to know
IFRS 16 brings with it the biggest changes to Lease Accounting in 30 years. Here is what you need to know in brief to get compliant.
What if Santa were an Accountant?
How different would Christmas look if Santa were an accountant? Twelve ways Christmas would never be the same.
Fixed Assets Case Study Essex Fire Authority
Essex Fire Authority use FMIS Fixed Assets to ensure compliance with IFRS, Component Accounting and additional standards.
Purchase to Pay Case Study with ESA
From Purchase to Pay with ESA – FMIS Purchase to Pay software allows ESA to manage stock and inventory for properties across London and the South East over the full asset life cycle.
Ghost Assets
Ghost assets increase expenses, reduce productivity and exist in almost every company. Here is how to identify them, remove them and prevent them recurring.
The 3 big asset management project killers and how to avoid them
How to avoid the most common mistakes that will derail your project
Sam was enthusiastic and friendly as she told me about her project to look for a new asset management system. Her company had built the current system in-house, but as they grew they realised they needed something a bit more comprehensive. It sounded like a great project, but being new to asset management software I didn’t see the warning signs.
Fast-forward 9 months and Sam sounded a lot less enthusiastic and I felt the same. Despite all the initial enthusiasm, and a lot of work, we were still no closer to deciding if the project would go ahead. Where did it all go so wrong?
Looking back, we made three simple mistakes that can derail any asset management project before it even gets going:
1) Resources
Sam’s title should have been a red flag – “Project Support”. It was not her fault, but she did not have the experience or authority to drive through a project this big. When a project does not have an internal project sponsor or ‘champion’ with the authority to agree or veto changes, they usually just get passed on to the potential supplier as an additional feature request.
The lack of a clear, well thought through and targeted project specification increases the risk of an overly complex solution that is delivered late and over budget. The worst case scenario is that the project gets bogged down through a lack of direction and multiple layers of complexity. It eventually gets shelved without ever being delivered, but still at a significant cost to the client.
CHECKLIST
✓ Plan for the project sponsor to be actively involved
✓ Ensure the sponsor has the authority to agree the scope and specifications
✓ Establish the budget early on to avoid shocks at a later date
2) Planning
George Harrison’s lyrics to ‘Any Road‘ could have been the theme for this project – “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”. Asset management systems can cover anything from purchasing through production and sales orders, as well as depreciation, tracking and maintenance.
Typically, asset management projects will involve finance, operations and IT as a minimum, so the potential for scope creep is a big risk. Sam’s task was to find the best system, except no one really knew what that looked like.
CHECKLIST
✓ Establish a cross functional project team before you start
✓ List your must-haves and nice-to-haves for any potential supplier
✓ Agree scenarios for suppliers to show you rather than a generic demo
3) Integration
When I asked Sam which finance package her company used, she sounded a bit surprised and asked why I needed to know. It had not occurred to her that any asset she managed would need to be loaded from somewhere and its value posted back.
A recent survey by the Access Group estimates that almost half of employees in the UK waste 3 hours a day or more on inefficient systems. A lack of integration can wipe out the savings that your new system is intended to deliver.
CHECKLIST
✓ Map the asset life cycle to see how and where each stage will be recorded
✓ Check what software integration each supplier provides
✓ Record all your interfaces centrally for future upgrades or new software
For more information on getting asset management systems right, have a read of the 10 Steps Guide to Asset Management.
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