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Irrespective of a company's size, keeping track of company assets should be a central concern to every business. Assets are usually defined as those "permanent" objects that a business uses internally, including (though not strictly limited to) computers, tools, software, and office equipment. Although employees regularly utilize these tools as part of their job, the asset is legally owned by the company and must be returned after use; without an efficient and accurate system of tracking assets, it would be easy for a company to lose track of them.

Misplaced assets generally have a more serious effect on small businesses. Success in business cannot be sustained excpet by controlling costs. One of the most important procedures to control costs is to eliminate the need to replace assets. You can't possibly do this without having a system that makes sure all resources are accounted for.

With technology advancing rapidly, asset tracking software has become available that can be used by any business for tracking assets, regardless of the type of asset a company may have. A study issued in December, 2005 by ARC Advisory Group, set the worldwide market for Enterprise Asset Management at an estimated $2.2 billion, with an expected growth rate of about 5% annually, reaching $2.8 billion in 2010.

Software for asset tracking allows greater ease in tracking of all assets owned by a company, tracking location, possession, when it left storage and when it is due to be returned, scheduled maintenance, as well cost and depreciation of the assets.

Most asset-tracking solutions have a built-in reporting option with pre-built reports such as assets by category and department, asset check-in/check-out, net book value of assets, past-due assets, audit history, and transaction details.

All of this information is captured in one program and can be used on PCs as well as mobile devices. As a result, companies reduce expenses through loss prevention and improved equipment maintenance. They reduce new and unnecessary equipment purchases, and they can more accurately calculate taxes based on depreciation schedules.

The most common assets that a company must track include office and medical equipment, training and educational materials, videos, DVDs, books, software licenses, motor vehicles, maintenance equipment, production equipment, computers, and many more.

Government, educational agencies, and the healthcare industry have started using asset tracking products to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Many computer and office retailers have begun to carry asset tracking products both in-store and online.

Different varieties of asset tracking software have been designed for several types of scanning environments. Heavy Scanning capability is for businesses with asset quantities up to 100,000. Moderate scanning capability is commonly used in offices and warehouses. And standard scanning capability is used in light duty or small offices.

As business management becomes more critical for businesses of all sizes, and as businesses continue to grow and become more complex, choosing the appropriate asset tracking system has never been more important.

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