ATTENTION SCHOOL DISTRICTS! Summer break is NOT the best time for an on-site inventory!
We can’t tell you how many times school districts try to schedule an on-site inventory during the summer hours. While its true that students have summer break and common sense will tell you the less students in the building the easier it is to inventory. I am here to tell you that’s bologna! Let me explain.
Most of the school districts sign up for an on-site inventory in the summer time. Trying to close out the fiscal year at that time, on paper it makes sense to do an on-site inventory since all fixed assets/projects for the fiscal year have been purchased/completed. Because everyone signs up for an inventory in the summer, there is not much flexibility on dates or you might not even get a date because it’s all booked up.
Another overlooked aspect of doing an on-site inventory in the summer time is that projects start up during that time. You got renovations, building additions, moving, etc. During the project, a lot of these assets get moved around and blocked off. There is no way to getting to these fixed assets and tagging them. Then you add the summer time waxing of floors. Entire classrooms are closed off and there is no way of tagging those assets.
Fall and Winter time are the best times to go. I know what you’re thinking “but there are students in during those times!”. We always inventory after school hours during those time periods. We recognize fall and winter sports will be practicing during those times. But having done an on-site inventory both in summer time and fall/winter time, there isn’t much of a difference in the amount of people in the buildings. Summer has sports and activities as well. We don’t have to worry about capital projects or floors being waxed at those times so we can get to all the fixed assets much easier.
“We still have haven’t purchased all of our fixed assets for the year!”. A reasonable concern to have is the all current fiscal year assets won’t be on site during the fall and winter time. During the end of the on-site inventory, we provide asset tags as well as a change form (a spreadsheet that ask for a list of fixed assets with a specification such as an asset tag number, make, model, etc.). By keeping up to date with the change form and tagging assets as they are purchased, you will be GASB34 compliant. There are times when school districts buy large quantities of fixed assets at once such as laptops and Chromebooks. In that case it might be difficult for the client to tag all those assets at once. So, its important to do an on-site inventory every year or every other year in order to have all your fixed assets tagged and tracked.
In conclusion, book your on-site inventory right now! We work after school hours. Every fixed asset will be accessible since there will be no projects or floor waxing. Most importantly, you will still be GASB34 compliant. The fixed asset inventory will go much smoother and its one less thing you have to worry at the end of your fiscal year. Oye!