PeopleMuster

IT asset audit checklist

Hardware registers rot at a predictable rate. Machines get swapped at a desk, a repair replaces a component, a leaver takes a laptop home for the last week. Twice a year, somebody has to physically match the list to the objects.

Twice a year, plus immediately after any month with several leavers. A day for a hundred devices, mostly spent finding the ones nobody can place.

The checklist

  1. 01Export the register before touching anything, as the starting positionOwner: IT
  2. 02List every device not yet marked verified and put it at the topOwner: IT
  3. 03Physically match serial numbers to the register, desk by deskOwner: IT
  4. 04Mark each matched device verified, with today's dateOwner: IT
  5. 05Chase every device assigned to someone who has leftOwner: IT
  6. 06Check devices marked under maintenance are actually being repairedOwner: IT
  7. 07Retire anything nobody should still be using, and record whyOwner: IT lead
  8. 08Reconcile the available count against what is physically in the cupboardOwner: IT
  9. 09List the unexplained gaps by name and hand them to the department headsOwner: IT lead
  10. 10Note what caused each gap, so the next audit is shorterOwner: IT lead

What goes wrong

  • Matching by description instead of serial. Five identical machines produce a register that looks complete and proves nothing.
  • Devices still assigned to leavers, months later, because offboarding had no serial to chase.
  • Under maintenance as a permanent state. A machine sent for repair a year ago is not under maintenance, it is lost.
  • Marking everything verified in one pass without opening a cupboard, which produces a clean register and no information.
  • No record of why a gap happened, so the same gap reappears at the next audit.

Questions people ask

How often should hardware be audited?

Twice a year for most teams, and again after any month with several leavers. Annual is too slow to trace where anything went.

What does the verified state mean?

That somebody has physically confirmed the device matches its record. Rows still unchecked are where the audit starts.

What should happen to retired hardware?

Mark it retired with a reason and keep the record. Deleting the row loses the history you need the next time someone asks where a machine went.

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