Real Asset Management’s Asset Accounting And Integrated Barcode Tracking Solution

Released 05/07/2010

St Mary Magdalene Academy Selects Real Asset Management’s Asset Accounting And Integrated Barcode Tracking Solution To Manage £41 Million Worth Of Assets

St Mary Magdalene Academy, a mixed academy providing schooling from early years up to Sixth Form, has selected Asset4000 and Track4000 from Real Asset Management (RAM) to control and maintain its £41 million worth of fixed assets. The new integrated system will centrally manage all assets from the Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form departments, helping control financial, legal, accounting and compliance requirements across the entire school. In addition, the asset register will allow visibility of the assets within each department, ensuring the Academy maximises their utilisation and limits unnecessary purchases.

The recent opening of the Sixth Form College at St Mary Magdalene Academy in Islington meant that the previous disparate spreadsheets for asset recording were inadequate and needed to be consolidated into a manageable and user-friendly system. Ian Ship, Director of Finance and Administration at St Mary Magdalene Academy, explains, “We required an asset management system that would streamline our processes. Track4000’s barcode scanning technology allows us to carry out fast and accurate physical audits on a handheld computer by recording all relevant purchase, maintenance and movement information onto PDAs directly. Following a simple barcode scan of a new or existing asset, an update is sent to the RAM Asset4000 database without the need to manually re-enter data; we are then able to track everything from purchase through to disposal whilst maintaining a full audit trail.”

Asset4000 and Track4000 will offer the Academy an integrated asset management solution that allows the finance department to make additions and track assets, as well as have the ability to deliver extensive reporting across all departments effortlessly. Ship comments, “With the new system we will now be able to manage such items as furniture, fixtures and fittings, buildings, ICT and vehicles across the Academy. This will provide both us and the external auditors with a far greater financial account of the school.” Ship continues, “For the Academy it is essential that we have a clear understanding of each area of the business (Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form) and are able to track the type and values of the assets they hold, both capitalised assets which are depreciated, and those that are for memorandum purposes (Attractive items below capitalisation). With this level of information and reporting available, we can now entrust each department to be responsible and accountable for their own assets.”

Ship adds, “Principally, the centralised asset register will afford St Mary Magdalene Academy the ability to control spend by monitoring the values of assets and purchasing levels by department, ensuring we stay within budget and focus spend on those areas of the school that have a specific need.”

In addition, the RAM system also ensures that the Academy meets all legislative demands in line with the responsibilities attached to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) – which requires all items purchased with a value over the Academy’s category capitalisation limits to be entered into an asset register. Asset4000 will also facilitate the school’s compliance to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive that details the correct disposal of all electronic equipment.

Ship concludes, “Real Asset Management’s software will drive overall efficiency and management of the Academy’s six thousand-plus fixed assets on a day-to-day basis.”

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