The Asset Management Glossary.
Demystifying the technical terms of inventory control and asset lifecycle management for modern teams.
ITAM (IT Asset Management)
The set of business practices that join financial, contractual, and inventory functions to support life cycle management and strategic decision-making for the IT environment.
Fixed Assets
Tangible pieces of property, plant, or equipment (PP&E) that a business owns and uses in its operations to generate income. These are not expected to be consumed or converted into cash within a year.
Digital Chain of Custody
A permanent, unalterable digital record that tracks every individual who has handled, possessed, or managed a specific asset from acquisition to retirement.
QR Tagging
The process of attaching physical Quick Response codes to assets, enabling instant mobile lookup of digital asset records, history, and manuals.
Asset Lifecycle
The series of stages an asset goes through, typically including planning, acquisition, operation/maintenance, and disposal or retirement.
Consumables
Inventory items that are intended to be used up or exhausted (e.g., printer ink, safety gloves, cleaning supplies) rather than tracked as permanent assets.
Inventory Audit
A physical counting and verification process to ensure that the actual items in stock match the digital quantities recorded in the asset management system.
Depreciation (MACRS)
The Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System is the current tax depreciation system in the US, allowing for larger depreciation deductions in the early years of an asset's life.
Ghost Assets
Items that are recorded in the asset register but cannot be physically found, often due to theft, loss, or unrecorded disposal.
Asset Retirement
The final stage of the asset lifecycle where an item is removed from service, sold, donated, or recycled, and its record is closed in the system.
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