Fixed Asset Register Template
What you own, what it cost, and what it is worth after depreciation.
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As at [date].
| Asset | Tag | Acquired | Cost | Life | Method | Depreciation | Net book value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [add one asset per line] |
Straight line spreads the cost evenly over the life. Reducing balance charges more in the early years; the rate here is derived from the life you entered, leaving 5% residual.
What is a Fixed Asset Register?
A fixed asset register lists everything the business owns that will last beyond a year — vehicles, machinery, laptops, shop fit-out — with what each cost, when it was bought, how it is depreciated and what it is worth now. The balance sheet shows one number for fixed assets; the register is the only thing behind it. Without one you cannot prove the figure, insure accurately, or notice that a van sold two years ago is still on the books.
Bookkeepers and finance teams maintain the register through the year and prove it at year end. Schools, charities and public bodies keep one because their auditors and funders expect asset verification. Facilities and IT managers keep a parallel version for practical reasons: who has which laptop, when the warranty ends, which machine is due for service. It gets used hardest at three moments — an insurance renewal, an audit count, and a disposal, when someone works out the profit or loss on what was sold.
You set your own capitalisation threshold as a policy, but tax depreciation is prescribed and differs sharply. Capital allowances apply in the UK, MACRS in the US, capital cost allowance classes in Canada, Division 40 and 43 in Australia, and rates under the Companies Act and Income Tax Act in India. Book depreciation, which follows the accounting standard and the asset's useful life to you, is commonly different from the tax figure, so most registers carry both in separate columns.
The register is not proof of ownership. That comes from the purchase invoice, the vehicle registration document, the lease or the title, and the register should point at where those are filed rather than stand in for them. It is not an insurance valuation either: insurers usually want replacement cost, which has little to do with net book value after depreciation. And it posts nothing — the depreciation charge still has to reach the ledger as a journal.
What to put in a Fixed Asset Register
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Register as at | Free text |
| Assets | One per line: Asset | Tag | Purchased | Cost | Life (yrs) | Method |
How to write a Fixed Asset Register
Give every asset a unique tag
Assign a reference and physically label the item where you can. Without a tag, a verification count of eleven identical monitors tells you nothing about which two are missing, and disposals get recorded against the wrong line. Use a sequence that will not collide when a system changes, and record the serial number too, since that is what the insurer and the police will ask for.
Record cost the way the ledger does
Capitalise the purchase price plus the costs of getting the asset into use — delivery, installation, commissioning — and exclude recoverable VAT or GST. Machine £18,000, delivery £600, installation £1,400, capitalised at £20,000 is useful. Machine, about eighteen grand is not, and it will not agree to the ledger. Where an asset came with a trade-in or under finance, record the full cost.
State method, life and residual value
Depreciation method, useful life and any residual value belong against each asset, not in a note somewhere. A laptop on three years straight line and a fit-out on ten sit on the same register and must be able to say so. Record the date depreciation starts, which is when the asset is ready for use rather than when it was ordered or invoiced.
Record location and custodian
Add where the asset is and who is responsible for it — site, room, vehicle, or the employee holding it. This is what makes the annual verification possible and what stops equipment quietly leaving with departing staff. Update it when things move. A register with a location column nobody has touched in three years is no better than one without it.
Close out disposals instead of deleting
When an asset is sold, scrapped or written off, keep the row and add the disposal date, method, proceeds and the resulting profit or loss. Deleting it breaks the reconciliation to the ledger and makes prior-year comparatives impossible to reconstruct. It also removes the only evidence of what happened to something valuable, which is the question an auditor is most likely to ask.
Common mistakes
- Deleting disposed assets rather than marking them disposed breaks the link between the register and the balance sheet, and leaves nothing to show where the item went.
- Expensing an item that should have been capitalised, or capitalising one that should not, misstates both the profit for the year and the asset total, and the correction runs through two periods.
- Recording cost as the amount that left the bank, including recoverable VAT or GST, overstates every asset and every depreciation charge that follows.
- Keeping only tax depreciation and no book depreciation leaves the accounts carrying figures that do not reflect how long the assets are actually useful to you.
- Never running a physical verification means missing, broken and stolen items stay on the books at value for years, which surfaces as one large unexplained write-off.
Frequently asked questions
What should a fixed asset register include?
For each asset: a unique tag, description, serial number, supplier, purchase date and invoice reference, cost, the date it came into use, depreciation method, useful life, residual value, accumulated depreciation, net book value, location, custodian, and disposal details once it goes. Anything less and you will be going back to purchase invoices to answer routine questions.
What is the difference between cost and net book value?
Cost is what you paid to get the asset into use and does not change. Net book value is cost less the depreciation charged so far, so it falls each year. The balance sheet usually shows cost, accumulated depreciation and the net figure, because that split tells a reader how old the asset base is.
What value should be capitalised rather than expensed?
Most businesses set a capitalisation threshold, a value below which an item goes straight to expenses even if it lasts years, and apply it consistently. The threshold is an accounting policy you choose, but tax rules may treat the same purchase differently and some jurisdictions set their own limits, so agree it with your accountant and write it down.
How often should assets be physically verified?
Annually is the common cycle, often timed just before year end so any write-offs land in the right period. High-value or portable items such as laptops and tools are checked more often. The point is to compare what is on the register with what is physically there and account for every difference, rather than confirm the register still exists.
Is the register the same as an insurance valuation?
No. The register carries historic cost less depreciation, which is an accounting measure. Insurers usually work on replacement or reinstatement value, which can be far higher for older assets. Use the register as the list of what to insure and where it is, then take the values from the insurer's basis rather than the depreciation columns.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.