Assets

An asset is the record of one identifiable physical unit, such as a machine, vehicle, device or piece of furniture, that your organisation owns or has sold and services. The same record serves as the fixed-asset register for finance and as the install base for service. Goods receipts and sales invoices create most assets for serial-tracked items. Service orders, campaigns and asset service contracts then work against the asset, and an asset disposal retires it.

Overview

An asset record carries the following information:

• Identity: name, asset code, item, serial, lot, batch, component and registration numbers.
• Ownership: the customer Account and Contact who own the unit.
• Purchase and sale facts: purchase date and cost, goods receipt, supplier invoice, sale date, price and invoice number.
• Service history: last service date, branch and partner, plus usage readings.
• Finance: depreciation method, depreciation policy, net book value, and disposal date and value.
• Hierarchy: a Parent Asset, so that a package can hold its components.

The register is descriptive. Saving an asset posts no journal, and the depreciation fields on it do not drive any calculation. Depreciation is posted by Recurring Depreciation schedules, which are described in Running depreciation.

When to use it

• Track a serialised product through its life. Switch on Track Asset for the item, and receipts and invoices create and update the asset for you.
• Record equipment that was never received or sold through xMatix, such as office furniture, a machine bought before go-live or a customer's unit that you start servicing. For these, create the asset by hand.
• Look up a unit before service work. Check its owner, its last service and readings, and whether it is already in the workshop.
• Retire a unit. Post an asset disposal, which marks the asset Disposed.

How xMatix handles it

Goods receipt. When you receive a goods receipt line for an item with Track Asset on, xMatix creates one asset for that line. The line must have its item lot, and Receive asks for a Serial Number on such lines. The new asset takes the following values:

• Name and Asset Code come from the lot's serial number.
• Serial Number, Lot Number, Batch No, Component Number, Manufacture Date and Registration Date come from the lot or the line.
• Item, Goods Receipt, Purchase Date (the receipt's document date) and Purchase Cost (the line's unit cost) come from the receipt.
• Quantity is the received quantity.
• The receipt's branch goes into the field labelled Last Service Branch.

The goods receipt line then links to the asset. See Goods receipts.

Sales invoice. When a sales invoice line for a Track Asset item is posted to inventory (Post Inventory), xMatix looks for an asset that already holds the line's item lot.

• If one exists, the invoice updates that asset rather than creating a second one.
• Otherwise it creates a new asset.

Either way the invoice writes the following onto the asset:

• Account, Contact and installation address come from the invoice.
• Sale Date, Install Date, Put To Use Date and Purchase Date are all set to the invoice date.
• Price is the line amount, and Quantity is the line quantity.
• Invoice Number, plus the selling branch and partner.

An asset that a goods receipt created therefore keeps its Goods Receipt and Purchase Cost, but its Purchase Date and Quantity change to the sale's values. Lines that belong to a package line become child assets, with their Parent Asset set to the package's asset. A line without an item lot stops the posting with Item lot is required to create tracked assets. The same posting creates asset service contracts for service-contract items. See Asset service contracts. Delivery orders do not create assets.

Service. Service work writes back to the asset at three points:

• Opening a service order. Opening a service order for the asset marks it as under service. While the asset has an order that is not Delivered, a second order for it is refused.
• Invoicing the order. When the service order is invoiced, the asset's last service date, branch and partner and its last usage reading and hours are updated.
• Delivering the order. Delivery clears the under-service mark.

See Service orders.

Disposal. Posting an asset disposal sets the asset's Status to Disposed. It also copies the disposal date and proceeds onto the asset and sets Net Book Value to 0.

Everything else is yours to maintain. No process writes the asset's Status (apart from Disposed), Current Usage Reading, Average Usage, Depreciation Method, Depreciation Policy or Net Book Value (apart from disposal), or the lifecycle fields. They hold what you enter.

Prerequisites

• Access to the Fixed Assets app and to the Asset entity in your security profile. See Permissions.
• For automatic assets, the item must have Track Lots and Track Asset switched on (Details → Inventory Settings on the item). See Items and Lots.
• For a hand-made asset that belongs to a customer, the customer Account must already exist.

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the asset list

Open the Fixed Assets app and choose Assets. The list opens on the All Assets view, which shows the following columns:

• Name, Account and Registration Number
• Sale Date, Price and Status
• Created By, Created Date, Modified By and Modified Date

The All Fixed Assets view shows Name, Asset Code, Purchase Date, Price, Parent Asset, Quantity and Status instead. Use search and the column filters to find a unit by name, account or registration number.

Step 2 — Create an asset by hand

Choose New. The form opens with these fields at the top:

• Name, Asset Code and Item
• Price, Status and Account

Two sections follow:

• Asset Details: Asset Category, Asset Sub Category, Quantity, Contact, Purchase Date and Is Competitor Product.
• Other Details: Install Date, Serial Number, Usage End Date, Sale Date, Asset Condition and Depreciation Method.

Enter at least a Name, because a record without one is refused with Name is required. No numbering series fills it in. Choose Save. The asset opens on its record page with the status you chose. If you left Status empty, the asset has no status.

On a single-company or single-location tenant, xMatix hides company and branch fields automatically.

Step 3 — Read and complete the record page

The record page header shows the asset name with Edit and Delete. The Details tab has these sections:

Fields on the record page edit in place: click a value, change it and save. Edit in the header opens the create form in a dialog instead. Use the dialog to change Name, Asset Code, Price, Status and the other fields that appear only on that form.

Step 4 — Review related records

The Related tab lists the following records:

• the asset's depreciations and asset service contracts;
• asset disposals, purchase orders and bills;
• the asset's child assets (assets whose Parent Asset is this one).

In the standard layout the Asset Disposals, Purchase Orders and Bills lists are not linked to the asset, so they show records of every asset, not only this one. Open a disposal and check its Asset before relying on it. Your administrator can link these lists to the asset in the layout.

The Service & History tab lists the following records:

• campaign members (with New);
• leads, appointments and opportunities raised for the asset;
• service orders (with New).

It also has a files area for documents and photos, and Sense AI insights.

Step 5 — Build a hierarchy

To record that one unit is part of another, open the component and set Parent Asset on the Details tab. The component then appears in the parent's child-asset list on the Related tab. Package sales do this automatically for the package's lines.

Step 6 — Retire an asset with a disposal

1. Open Fixed Assets → Asset Disposals and choose New.
2. Fill in Company, Branch, Asset, Disposal Method (Sale, Scrap or Donation), Disposal Date, Disposal Reason (Sold, Damaged or Obsolete), Disposal Value (the proceeds) and Purchase Cost.
3. Save the disposal. On the saved page, fill in Accumulated Depreciation and the GL accounts:
   • Fixed Asset GL Account and Accumulated Depreciation GL Account are required;
   • Proceeds GL Account is needed when there are proceeds;
   • Gain/Loss GL Account is needed when the sale makes a gain or loss.
4. Choose Post Disposal.

Posting creates a journal with these lines:

• debit accumulated depreciation;
• debit proceeds;
• credit the asset's cost;
• a gain or loss line for the difference against net book value.

The disposal is then Posted, and the asset's Status becomes Disposed. The disposal takes its purchase cost and accumulated depreciation from what you type on the disposal, not from the asset. Stop the asset's recurring depreciation schedule yourself. See Running depreciation.

Step 7 — Delete an asset

Choose Delete in the header and confirm. xMatix does not check for service orders, contracts or disposals that point at the asset, so make sure nothing still needs it. For a retired unit, prefer a disposal or set Status to Obsolete. Both keep the history.

Fields

Create form

Record page fields

Business rules

• One asset per item lot. A goods receipt makes one asset per received line of a Track Asset item. A sale of that lot updates the same asset.
• Unique batch number. Batch No must be unique across assets, whether you type it or a receipt copies it from the lot. Two serialised units from the same supplier batch cannot both carry that batch number.
• Readings only move forward. A service order or opportunity whose usage reading or hours are lower than the asset's last reading is refused.
• Meter resets. A service order has Reset Usage Reading and Reset Usage Hours fields, but they are on no standard form. When one is ticked, invoicing sets the asset's last reading to 0. It also stores the order's reading in Usage Reading Reset At or Usage Hours Reset At.
• One open service order per asset. A second service order for an asset is refused while the first one is not Delivered.
• Sale after manufacture. Sale Date cannot be earlier than Manufacture Date.
• Phone follows the owner. The asset's phone number is copied from the account when the asset is created or its Account changes.
• No delete guard. Deleting an asset is not blocked by linked records.

Example

A dealer receives a ride-on floor scrubber, serial FS-20417, on a goods receipt. The item has Track Asset on, so receiving the line creates the asset FS-20417. Its Purchase Cost is 182,000, its Purchase Date is the receipt date, and Goods Receipt links back to the receipt.

Three weeks later the dealer invoices the unit to a hospital chain. When the invoice posts to inventory, the same asset is updated rather than duplicated:

• Account becomes the hospital chain;
• Sale Date, Install Date and Purchase Date take the invoice date;
• Price takes the line amount.

A one-year asset service contract is created alongside.

At the first service the order records 410 hours. When it is invoiced, the asset shows Last Usage Reading (Hours) 410 and the servicing branch under Branch. The service order can't be raised with fewer than 410 hours next time.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox:

1. Create an asset by hand with Name Practice Compressor 01, Status Purchased, Asset Category Machinary and a customer Account.
2. On its record page, enter a Manufacture Date of today.
3. Open Edit and set Sale Date to yesterday.

Expected: the save is refused with Date Of Sale cannot be before Manufacturing Date.

1. Set Sale Date to today and save.
2. Create a second asset and set its Parent Asset to the first one.

Expected: it appears in the first asset's child-asset list on the Related tab.

Quick reference

• Assets live in Fixed Assets → Assets.
• Track Lots plus Track Asset on the item make receipts and invoices build assets for you.
• A sale updates the asset the receipt created. It doesn't make a second one.
• Name is required, and there is no numbering series.
• Last Service Branch is the receiving branch. Branch is the last service branch.
• Service invoicing updates last service and readings. Delivery ends "under service".
• Status and Net Book Value change only by hand or through a posted disposal.
• Posting a disposal sets Status Disposed. Stop the depreciation schedule yourself.

Permissions

Asset records follow the Asset entity's access in the user's security profile: see, create, edit and delete. The asset has no server actions of its own.

• Seeded profiles. The seeded Sales Executive, Sales Manager, Service, Standard User and System Admin profiles have full asset access.
• The Fixed Assets app. The app is granted to Sales Executive, Sales Manager, Standard User and System Admin. A Service user can open assets from service orders and other linked records, but does not see the app.
• Post Disposal. This is a server action on the disposal. It is granted to Standard User and System Admin. Other users don't get the button.

See Security profiles.

Configuration

• Automatic assets. Switch on Track Lots and Track Asset on the item, under Details → Inventory Settings.
• Picklists. Status, Status Reason, Asset Category, Asset Sub Category and Depreciation Method can be changed in Setup → Design Studio → Entities → Asset.
• Forms and lists. An administrator can do the following:
  • add fields that are on no standard form, such as Useful Life, Salvage Value, Installation Address, Storage Location, SKU, Item Lot, Asset Serviced By and the lifecycle fields;
  • link the Related tab's disposal, purchase order and bill lists to the asset.

  See Design a form layout.

  • Navigation. The Assets entry is in the Fixed Assets app. To show it in another app, such as Service, add it with Setup → Design Studio → Apps → Manage Items.
  • Service-overdue nudge. The seeded business rule Nudge Asset Service Overdue is inactive. When active, it raises a Sense AI insight for the asset's owner once Current Usage Reading is 2,000 or more above Last Usage Reading. Nothing updates Current Usage Reading, so the rule depends on someone entering it. Activate the rule in Setup → Process Studio → Business Rules. See Business rules.
  • Depreciation. Create a Recurring Depreciation schedule per asset or pool. See Running depreciation.
  • Mobile. No mobile app includes the Fixed Assets app. Field and workshop screens such as check-in, health check and service booking read assets, and a visit activity can update Asset Condition.

  Common problems

  "Item lot is required to create tracked assets."

  An invoice or receipt line for a Track Asset item has no item lot. Pick the lot on the line, then post again.

  "Batch No '…' already exists"

  Another asset already has that batch number, and Batch No must be unique. Clear the field or make it distinct. If a receipt hits this error, the lot carries a batch number that an earlier asset already uses. Check the lots before receiving.

  "Date Of Sale cannot be before Manufacturing Date"

  Sale Date is earlier than Manufacture Date. Correct whichever date is wrong.

  A service order says the usage reading is less than the last recorded reading

  The asset's Last Usage Reading (or hours) is higher than the reading you entered. The message quotes the last recorded value. Check the meter first. If the meter really was replaced or reset, a user with edit access corrects Last Usage Reading or Last Usage Reading (Hours) on the asset's Details tab, then saves the service order again.

  "An open service order already exists against this asset"

  The asset already has a service order that is not Delivered. Finish or deliver that order first. See Service orders.

  The Related tab shows disposals or bills for other assets

  In the standard layout those lists are not linked to the asset. Ask your administrator to link them in the layout.

  Common questions

  Why did selling an asset change its purchase date?

  Posting the invoice writes the invoice date into Purchase Date, Sale Date, Install Date and Put To Use Date on the asset that holds the sold lot. The goods receipt's date is replaced. The Goods Receipt link and Purchase Cost stay, so you can still trace the receipt. For the original purchase date, open the linked goods receipt. If finance needs the receipt date on the record, an administrator can add a separate field and fill it in. No standard process keeps both dates.

  Does the asset's Net Book Value follow depreciation?

  No. Net Book Value holds only what you or an import enter, and a posted disposal sets it to 0. Depreciation is posted by Recurring Depreciation schedules, which find their asset by name rather than by a link and never update the asset. To report a carrying value, reconcile the schedule's written-down value and the posted journals, and treat the asset field as a note. See Fixed assets in xMatix.

  Why are "Last Service Branch" and "Branch" the wrong way round?

  The labels are transposed. The field labelled Last Service Branch holds the branch that received the unit on a goods receipt. The field labelled Branch holds the branch of the last invoiced service. Both appear under Past Service Information. Read them with this in mind, or ask your administrator to rename the labels in Design Studio. Campaign schedules that create leads use the last-service branch first and fall back to the selling branch.

  Can a delivery order create an asset?

  No. Only goods receipts and sales invoices create or update assets automatically. Delivering goods on a delivery order leaves assets unchanged. The asset is updated when the sales invoice for the unit is posted to inventory. To record a unit that was never invoiced through xMatix, create the asset by hand.

  Related topics

  • Fixed assets in xMatix
  • Running depreciation
  • Goods receipts
  • Lots
  • Service orders
  • Asset service contracts
  • Check-in inspections
  • Asset entity reference