Asset Tracking/Integrations

How to use Reftab with Avery Sheets (with examples)

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

If you are reading this, you’re already well-versed in why asset tags are needed. However, most organizations aren’t using them to their fullest potential. 

This process doesn’t have to be time-consuming. And, what you can do once your process is dialed in is nearly infinite. 

In this post, we’re sharing how you can print and assign asset tags in bulk, as well as some specific use cases.   

Let’s dive in. 

Save time managing physical assets  

If you are still relying on paper sign-out sheets or manual check-in processes, you are wasting a lot of time. The chances of introducing human errors are high. 

In the pre-smartphone days, this was understandable. There wasn’t a quick way to scan a piece of equipment from your phone and immediately see all of the details about the contents, who last checked it out, when it was last checked back in, etc. 

Fortunately, these days, there is asset management software with integrated barcode generators, like Reftab, that make this process more efficient and secure. 

For example, if you are already using Jamf or Microsoft Intune, you get all of your equipment automatically populated in Reftab. When an IT person scans an asset tag, you can see all of the details on the phone or tablet. 

5 different use cases 

As we alluded to earlier in this post, the biggest reason to use this integration is to save time. Here are some specific use cases:

Managing equipment for commercial and photo shoots 

Let’s say you work in IT for a large advertising agency. You are surrounded by mountains of physical hard drives, laptops, film gear, chargers, and boxes upon boxes of tech accessories.  

In addition to your normal day-to-day IT responsibilities, your team is also responsible for updating all of the company laptops (for security purposes), getting new employees set up with all of the gear and software they need to do their jobs, and checking in and out all of the gear that agency employees need to go on film shoots. 

You could keep all of this information logged in an Excel spreadsheet.  That can work okay when you are a small company and don’t have much physical equipment outside of laptops and cables. 

However, when you start to have hundreds or even thousands of employees and millions of dollars in expensive tech and camera equipment, it doesn’t take long for that spreadsheet to become slow and unwieldy to manage. 

On top of that, if you are looking for a specific file for a photographer, you need to know the exact hard drive it is on. Or else, you could be spending several hours frantically connecting different hard drives up to your machine until you find the one you are looking for. That’s if the hard drive was backed up properly in the first place and not lost.  

Then, when you have to loan out equipment to an employee for a commercial shoot, you need to log all of the gear, including specific cables and tech accessories they check out, and then manually check and update it once it is returned. It is easy to leave chargers, cables, and other small tech accessories behind. So, you wind up wasting time trying to look for these items or spending extra money when you are replenishing these things that may or may not be lost.  

That’s where having printed asset tags on all of your gear and an integrated barcode generator in Reftab is key to bridging the physical with the digital. Now, instead of having to spend hours in the equipment room, you can simply scan a barcode on your smartphone. You can see the exact contents of the item when it was last checked, and so forth. 

Loaning equipment to students  

The same systems and processes that apply to large advertising agencies and film studios can also be applied to schools and universities. If you have a media lab, a robotics department, or even just loan out Chromebooks and tablets to students, adding printed asset tags to each piece of equipment and using an integrated barcode generator can save a ton of time and ensure that items don’t get lost.  

Instead of having an IT team member, teacher, or even a teaching assistant log the check-in and out information in a spreadsheet or paper sign-out sheet, they can simply scan the item(s) when it is checked in and out. All of the information is accessible in one central database.  

This can also apply to laboratories. If you have students or even scientists working on research,  you can use this same system for managing lab equipment. 

Keeping tabs on employee badges 

Most medium to large companies give out badges to all employees. These badges ensure that only your employees – and no outsiders – can get into the building. You may even restrict specific areas in the building to just certain employees. For example, your large sales team probably doesn’t need full access to your equipment room. 

When you have thousands of employees and potentially a hundred or more employees joining every month, keeping up with employee badges can be a full-time job. That’s where adding barcodes to badges can be helpful. You can scan an employee’s badge to quickly check things out to them, verify a person’s information, etc. It can also make it easier to deactivate someone’s badge automatically if they leave the company. 

Scanning physical folders and files with confidential information 

In the same way that you can scan employee badges, you can do the same with physical folders or paper files. 

For example, we see a lot of big law firms, government agencies, and hospitals do this. If you need to keep a paper trail for insurance or regulatory purposes, you can add a barcode to the folder. You can automatically log the contents and necessary details to a centralized, secure digital database. This is a way to bridge the physical and digital for casework and record management. 

Securing evidence for crime scene investigations 

This one might sound a little odd, but if you work for a police department or jail, there is a good chance you are in possession of a lot of vital records, evidence, and personal property. This is usually housed in evidence locker rooms, and can be vital for investigations, court cases, etc. You don’t want every single person in your department to have access to this information for obvious reasons. That’s where having asset tags on each piece of evidence can be helpful. So, when a police officer needs a specific folder or piece of evidence, you can log who’s using it, who needs that folder and why, when it is returned, etc. 

How to connect Reftab to Avery Sheets

The process for connecting Reftab to your Avery Sheet templates couldn’t be simpler. You can print out your barcodes in a big batch using your normal printer.  

By default, Reftab prints to pre-defined Avery templates. You can print barcodes using a normal office laser-jet printer.
Ready to get started? Try Reftab for free.

jamf asset management

A guide to using Reftab with Microsoft Intune and Jamf for asset management

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Whether you are a large financial institution, an enterprise technology firm, or a large school or university, you have at least one thing in common. 

You own a lot of expensive gear and equipment in the form of laptops, monitors, cameras, furniture, film / video equipment, tech accessories, staff badges, and much more. 

Between spreadsheets, Jamf, and Microsoft Intune, keeping track of all the equipment, including who it is assigned to, as well as device updates, can be a full-time job for multiple people in your IT department. 

A simpler method is to use asset management software that integrates with QR codes and barcodes. This can provide a holistic view where you can see all the assets you own and manage the process of checking gear in and out more efficiently and with fewer errors. 

In this post, we’re sharing how you can use Reftab with Microsoft Intune and Jamf to manage all of your company’s assets. 

Connecting Jamf to Reftab 

If you are using Jamf to manage all of your company’s iOS devices, connecting Jamf to Reftab is simple. 

The 80:20 version is you’ll go to the integration section under settings in Reftab and click, “configure”. You’ll be prompted for your Jamf server settings. 

Note: This is a read-only account so that Reftab can pull in all of the devices logged in Jamf.  Then, you can sync the categories in Jamf with Reftab. 

For example, you can say something like when I get a list of Macs from Jamf, put them into the Reftab category of MacBook Pros. 

You can also map specific fields. So, not only can you log MacBook Pros, but you also bring over the details like vendors, serial number, MAC address, warranty dates, etc. 

So, you can have a single source of truth for all of your device management and details within Reftab. This means when you find a random laptop in a conference room, you can scan the asset tag with the Reftab app. You can see all of the information—no need to power on the machine or anything. 

Connecting Microsoft Intune to Reftab

For PC organizations, the process works similarly for Microsoft Intune. 

The 80:20 version is you’ll go to the Reftab integration section, add in your details, and click configure. 

You’ll be able to pull in all of your Microsoft laptops and devices. For example, you can create a category in Reftab for Lenovo computers. Then, you can also set up and map various fields, including serial numbers, operating system version, whether or not the machine is jailbroken, current logged-in user, etc. 

Click here for detailed instructions on how to configure Reftab as an App in Intune: https://www.reftab.com/faq/ms-intune-integration-guide/

How these two integrations can help your IT department 

Reftab is a platform-agnostic software that allows you to see and manage all of your PC, Apple, and Linux devices.

This allows you to create asset IDs to track all of your equipment and establish a bridge between the physical and digital.   

Here are just a few benefits of using these integrations.

Save time tracking and maintaining equipment 

Whether you are tracking equipment assigned to different users or assets across different locations, you can manage all of your devices under one view in Reftab. 

In fact, Reftab customers save an average of 7 hours per week on administrative tasks related to tracking and maintaining equipment. 

For example, in Reftab, you see more than just iOS devices in Jamf. You are seeing all of the iOS and Android devices along with everything else your company owns like Lenovo computers, Macbook Pros, printers, monitors, headsets, your docking stations, office furniture, and anything else. 

You can also automatically log maintenance requests and send an email to a specific user to confirm they still have custody over the equipment you loaned them. 

It also makes the process of preparing gear for new employees simpler. You don’t have to worry about looking up information in different systems, figuring out what’s unassigned, and then trying to guess what type of machine and software the new hire needs. 

If you are using Reftab and know the department the new employee is in, you can simply search, “creative department”. Then, you can see new employees in that department need this specific Macbook Pro, Creative Cloud software pre-installed, and so forth. You can also quickly look up if there is an unassigned computer that you assign to the new employee instead of having to buy new.  

Reduce the number of data entry tasks 

Your IT team can spend more time on strategic initiatives and high-level tasks instead of manually updating information in spreadsheets, paper forms, etc.

For example, when you loan equipment to a team member, you can use your phone to scan a barcode on the item(s) when it is checked in and out. It will instantly update in the software. 

Spend less time building custom reports 

Whether you are just running standard inventory and equipment reports or going through a routine audit, reporting can take a ton of time. 

If you have all of your equipment in asset management software, like Reftab. You can automate these reports. 

For example, you can get a notification when a specific device has a low quantity. 

Or, if you have a hybrid or fully remote team, you can log into Reftab and automatically see how many devices have been assigned, which team members currently have access to what equipment, or if you have an unassigned computer that you can give to the new hire that’s starting – instead of having to buy new. 

That’s where having asset management software comes in because it provides a multi-system view to see which devices are assigned, what devices aren’t assigned to anyone, what devices are currently out of service, etc.   

*** 

In sum, managing all of your company’s assets shouldn’t require you to jump between multiple software and spreadsheets. Using asset management software that syncs with Microsoft Intune and Jamf makes this process a lot simpler. 

Ready to get started? Try Reftab for free. 

Nonprofit Asset Management

A detailed guide to asset management software for nonprofits

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

If you are like most of our nonprofit customers, you are likely using a spreadsheet or, more likely multiple spreadsheets to keep track of all your assets. 

If you have ever tried to load a spreadsheet with 15+ tabs and 10,000 rows (let alone search or update it), you know how slow and unwieldy this task can be. 

Add in all of your admin assistants and program managers reviewing and updating rows on the spreadsheet and checking in and out equipment, and you have a recipe for inefficient processes.  

Asset management software simplifies these processes. 

In this post, we’re sharing what asset management software is, the benefits of using it (over spreadsheets), and some popular use cases. 

Let’s dive in. 

What is asset management software? 

Asset management software, such as Reftab, allows you to keep track of everything your nonprofit owns so that you can stay organized, plan better, and understand usage patterns. 

In addition, most asset management software also have a request portal feature so you can keep track of any equipment or devices that you loan to others.  

What nonprofits should look for when evaluating asset management software 

When thinking about making the switch, here are some of the key things to consider when evaluating different asset management software options. 

Ease of use 

If you want the software to be adopted by everyone in your nonprofit, then it needs to be simple and straightforward to use. 

A steep learning curve or a hard-to-navigate UX means that your team will revert back to their old habits and start using spreadsheets again. 

Barcode scanning 

Using barcode scanners is a simple solution for reserving, checking in, and checking out equipment. This means you can always see whether a particular piece of equipment is available, as well as how often it is loaned out right within your request portal.  

Location tracking 

If you are a larger nonprofit with multiple locations, having geo-tracking enabled means you can easily see whether an item is checked out or what location it is at across your phone, computer, or tablet. 

You can also keep tabs on all of your assets in a single central hub – i.e., your asset management software, regardless of where they are physically located (be it your headquarters or satellite offices within the state) 

Reports and dashboards

This brings us to a related feature – reporting. Instead of having to create your own reports in spreadsheets, the software can do this for you. 

If you receive any government grants, you are required to keep detailed records for every asset you own. That’s where reports can save you a bunch of time since you can quickly see all of your assets alongside purchase price, depreciation value, location of items, condition, tag number, vendor details, and any additional financial metrics. 

Forecasting 

An added benefit of using software instead of spreadsheets is you can now run detailed forecasts. 

For example, with a couple of clicks, you can see how many people are using a specific piece of equipment and how often it is loaned out. You can project out these utilization trends into the future, which can tell you if you need to add budget for additional equipment or when to prioritize maintenance updates. 

Budget

Chances are, if you are a nonprofit, you don’t have an unlimited budget for software. So, it is important to make sure the software you are evaluating is not only easy to use and has the features you need, but it also fits your budget. 

4 use cases for how nonprofits are using Reftab 

Here are some popular use cases for how nonprofits are using Reftab for asset management. 

1. Loaning out equipment 

This is one of the most popular use cases. Many nonprofits have equipment like laptops, hotspots, books, and AV gear that they need to loan to staff.

Then, they need to track who it was loaned to and when it was returned. When you start having multiple people checking in and out items each day, a request portal and role-based access rights can make this process a lot more efficient. 

2. Insurance tracking 

If you have expensive assets, like vehicles, generators, computers, or heavy machinery, that are insured, you need to track that somewhere for insurance and financial reasons. 


So, if the item breaks or your building gets flooded, you have a digital paper trail. This makes it easier to file a claim down the line. 

3. Government funding and grants 

This brings us to another reason why you need a digital paper trail. That’s if you apply and receive any federal funding or grants. 

As we alluded to earlier in this post, you are required to keep digital records on where all of your assets are located, condition, vendor information, purchase price, etc. You also need to have everything serialized, which means asset tags are essential. 

4. Events management 

This is particularly common for religious nonprofits. For example, if you work in a megachurch, you probably throw a fair amount of events for your congregation. You need a way to keep track of all of your production gear and props. 

*** 

In sum, these are a handful of ways that nonprofit organizations can benefit from using asset management software. 

Want to make this process even simpler with asset management software designed for nonprofits? Try Reftab for free. 

nonprofit inventory

A detailed guide for nonprofit inventory management

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Do I really need dedicated software for managing all of my assets and inventory in my nonprofit? 

If you are like most nonprofits we talk to, this is a valid question. 

After all, you don’t have a massive warehouse or warehouses full of products that you are selling like a retail store.

However, if you are operating at any level of scale, there is a great chance that you have amassed millions of dollars in expensive gear and equipment, including laptops, laptop accessories, camera gear, AV equipment, books, furniture, and more. 

Keeping track of all of that is important for insurance and funding purposes (i.e. think government grants). If you are barely managing it or simply using spreadsheets, that’s not ideal. 

In this post, we’re sharing some actionable strategies for why you should consider moving off the spreadsheets and using dedicated inventory management software that is designed for nonprofit organizations like yours. 

What is inventory management software? 

Inventory management software helps nonprofit organizations keep track of all of their assets and inventory at scale. Once you have hundreds of expensive items or are operating from more than one location, it is no longer practical to manage everything from a spreadsheet, pen or paper, or worse internal tribal knowledge. 

The best inventory management software is quick and easy to use and doesn’t feel like a chore to update. 

What are the benefits of inventory management software for nonprofits? 

With many nonprofits operating at a global scale, this means they have likely acquired millions of dollars or more in expensive equipment. Some of which might be hard to replace if it is lost, damaged, or stolen. 

For example, most megachurches in the U.S. have a room – or many rooms – full of expensive video production and AV equipment. This gear is being used and loaned out all of the time to staff and volunteers. 

That’s where using intuitive inventory management software can be a lifesaver. 

For starters, it is a better alternative to clunky Excel spreadsheets. Spreadsheets become unmanageable once you have more than a few people actively updating them and thousands of line items. The loading speeds alone are enough to discourage your team from regularly signing in and out items and updating the spreadsheet. 

If you want people to regularly do something, it is important the process is as simple, efficient, and streamlined as possible.  

Not to mention, spreadsheets don’t have great revision histories, which can open up your nonprofit to human errors, a lack of perceived trust in the “data” you are collecting, and little to no oversight and accountability among your team. 

While you can technically run custom reports in your inventory spreadsheet, if the spreadsheet isn’t updated regularly or you don’t trust the inputs, then the reports you create—tracking everything from the number of items to location, condition, cost, and utilization trends— won’t mean much. 

Bottom line – the biggest benefit of switching to dedicated inventory management software is that it creates a single source of truth for your nonprofit. 

3 use cases for how nonprofits are using Reftab for inventory management 

Still not convinced? Here are three of the biggest use cases that we see from our nonprofit customers. 

1. Checking in and out equipment 

Whether you are loaning out computers, video cameras, or books to team members or volunteers, there are four critical things you need to keep track of. 

  • Who did you loan the item(s) to? 
  • What item(s) do they have in their possession? 
  • When are they supposed to bring the item(s) back? 
  • Did they bring the item(s) back on time? 

This isn’t exactly rocket science. If your nonprofit is still small and you are only loaning out a few items a week, this process is easy enough to keep track of with a simple Google Doc sign-out sheet. 

However, once you are loaning out a half dozen or more items each day, the number of items you need to keep track of adds up. It becomes easy for items to go unaccounted for.  

An added bonus of using software, such as Reftab, to manage the process of lending out this gear and equipment is that you can use barcode scanners to speed up this process. Instead of having to manually log all of the lending details, the process can be as simple and painless as taking a photo with your phone when an item is checked in and out. And, you can quickly pull up all of the details you care most about, like the location of the item, purchase price, vendor, condition, etc.    

2. Location-tracking 

As your nonprofit grows in scale and impact, it is likely that you’ll have a main headquarters as well as satellite offices. While this can help with mobilizing crews, it also means that your inventory and assets are spread across multiple cities, counties, states, and in some cases countries.

For example, if your organization sets up hundreds of computer labs for impoverished youth, you may have 10,000+ laptops, hotspots, and computer accessories. All of which are spread out between hundreds of computer labs as well as in your various offices. At this scale, you need a system where you can see all of this inventory quickly. It would be nearly impossible to keep track of all of that if you weren’t using software.  

3. Maintenance requests

Going back to our computer lab example, laptops can get lost, damaged, or stolen. All it takes is one student to spill a drink on the keyboard, and the computer is now out of commission. From preventative maintenance to troubleshooting problems when things go wrong (think spilling liquids on your computer), having a portal where you can document issues and log status updates is vital. 

***

In sum, inventory tracking is too important to manage from a spreadsheet. 
Want to make this process even simpler with asset management software designed for nonprofits? Try Reftab for free.

Education

How to Prepare for an Educational Audit

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Educational audits help ensure that your school, university, or district complies with state laws, federal rules, and regulations. Yet, these audits take time and can add additional strain on staff and administration. 

The more systems and processes you have in place, the easier it is to prepare for an audit.  Your audit will be more streamlined, allowing you and your team to focus on any recommendations instead of feeling overwhelmed trying to gather all necessary documentation at the last moment.   

In this post, we’re sharing how to make the educational audit process less stressful. 

Why would a school be audited?

Education institutions may be audited for different reasons. An audit doesn’t mean that your school or university is doing anything wrong. Most are annual audits due to state or federal requirements. 

Many audits focus on how the school, university, or department is spending funds since most receive federal funding. In addition, the audit helps ensure that funds and budgets comply with state or federal requirements. 

Schools may also have internal audits. These audits can cover various situations, including ensuring programs serve students’ needs and assess the impact of new services, funding, and more. 

What are the different types of education/school audits?

Schools have internal and external audits to ensure the appropriate use of public funds and that they meet state and federal guidelines. In addition to financial audits, schools or districts may also undergo a curriculum audit and a safety and security audit.

Internal audits, which are performed by the school or district, are usually smaller audits that address specific questions from the board of directors or the community the school serves. For example, an audit may focus on a particular department, classroom, program, or school. Internal audits also help management analyze and appraise programs, budgets, and departments. In addition, this process can help schools and districts evaluate how to best serve their students and provide data to help justify recommendations.

An internal audit provides a check and balance of a school or district’s systems. It can help identify any areas of improvement and ensure that finances are being spent appropriately. This type of audit also can make it easier when the school or district is faced with an external audit.

An outside organization performs an external audit. These audits help ensure that schools and districts that use public and federal funding comply with state and federal government standards. 

One example of a commonly used external audit is the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. An independent auditor conducts this audit in compliance with government auditing standards. 

5 tips to prepare for an educational audit

The key is to do audit preparation before you need it. 

Ideally, you’ll have a workflow process already in place to make preparing for the upcoming audit easier. However, if your school doesn’t have an established process, use this upcoming audit as an opportunity to create dedicated time for outlining your workflow and processes. You and your team will be less stressed when you’re confident you’re fully prepared. 

Try these five tips to help prepare for an educational audit.

1. Review past audit recommendations

You or another member of your administration team should review the last audit you received. Identify what was working well, any suggestions for improvements, and other comments. 

Go through all recommendations to determine whether your administration made any necessary changes. If a suggestion was not taken, take time now to indicate why and what was done instead. As a result, you’ll be able to explain the reasons if you’re asked about it in the upcoming audit.

2. Understand the purpose of your upcoming audit

Whether you’re undergoing a financial statement audit or a compliance audit, review the purpose of the audit to prepare properly. Take time to understand the audit’s scope, the timeline, and the auditor’s responsibilities. Ask questions ahead of time if you need additional information. This step will help you identify what type of electronic and paper copies of the information you’ll need and give you ample time to assemble it.

3. Review reasons for the upcoming audit with key members

Audits can feel stressful to everyone involved. Your administration and staff are busy providing a quality learning environment. Undergoing an audit can add extra work and may feel overwhelming. 

So, a crucial element is going over the reason for the audit with anyone who will be directly involved. This can help ease people’s concerns, normalize the process, and help people see it as something that can be useful feedback. The more members understand the reason for the audit, how it impacts them, and how the information will be used, the less stressful the process will be.  

4. Identify one person to oversee the audit process

While many people may have a role in preparing for and helping with the audit, you’ll want one person in charge of overseeing the process. Ideally, this person will have experience with past audits. Someone who has an understanding of the legal and financial matters involved would also be beneficial. This person will help coordinate the preparations and be someone others can go to with questions.  

5. Organize all necessary data using asset management software 

Providing all the necessary data in an easy-to-access format will help your audit proceed smoothly. The auditor will be able to assess and evaluate your information, making their job easier and allowing for a more comfortable audit. You can use prior audits as a guide for the type of information you’ll need to gather. In addition, the auditor may want to look at general ledger data, accounts payable, and vendor databases.

An asset tracking system can also help with this process if you’re undergoing an asset audit or budget review as part of an internal or external audit. You’ll be able to efficiently show what assets you have, how they are used, frequency of use, and more.  Having this data in one central place can save a huge amount of time.

*** 

In sum, taking the time to establish a dedicated system and processes early on will make any future educational audits less stressful.  

Additionally, ensuring your assets, data, and documentation are maintained and current throughout the school year will also make it easier when you’re being audited. 

Looking for software to help you gather and organize all of the information you will need for an upcoming educational audit? Try Reftab for free. 

Asset Tracking/Education

A Guide to Managing Your School’s Equipment Room

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz
Students with equipment

If you are like most schools and universities, you are probably using sign-out spreadsheets or pen and paper to manage all of the gear in your equipment room.

A student needs to borrow a camera. You log it on the sign-out sheet. The student initials it. Then, you log it back in on the sheet once the student returns it. This system works fine if you are only lending a couple of items per day.  

As the amount of gear in your equipment room grows, more students are checking things out each week, and you have more staff helping with this process. 

Suddenly, your sign-off spreadsheets are messy and out-of-date. Worse yet, there are no built-in accountability or loan verification systems in place. Students are returning gear late, damaged, or not at all. 

You need a reliable system to know who has what, when it was given to them, and what location it needs to be returned to. 

In this guide, we’re sharing tips to help you streamline and simplify your school or university’s equipment room management. 

Use asset management software to manage your equipment room 

If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars – or even millions – of equipment, such as laptops, cameras, lens, cables, microphones, AV equipment, microscopes, etc, you shouldn’t be managing it via a sign-out sheet in a binder, a simple spreadsheet, or a complex workflow involving a Google form and multiple spreadsheets. 

A much better solution is to use asset management software, such as Reftab, to manage this process. This allows you to have a request portal and a simplified way to organize, maintain, and keep track of all equipment in one place. 

6 tips for managing your equipment room  

While using asset management software is a great first step, here are some more equipment room tips designed to help equipment managers and equipment assistants streamline this process. 

1. Establish an efficient check-in and check-out system 

Do you have a way to quickly find and reserve equipment online?

What processes do you have in place to prevent double-booking? 

How do you ensure students are getting the right equipment based on their experience level? 

Do you have a detailed check-out procedure in place to ensure the equipment is brought back on time and in good condition? 

These are some questions you should answer when designing your check-in and check-out system. 

2. Track inventory regularly 

When you are using software instead of spreadsheets, it makes it easier to log and see all of your equipment in one place. Not only does this mean you can loan equipment to students faster, but it is also easier to check warranties and perform routine updates and maintenance. This is especially important for film cameras, computers, and expensive journalism gear. 

For example, if one of your cameras is out of commission and being repaired, you can log that in your asset management software. 

You can also assign statuses to each piece of equipment based on the condition they are in. 

In addition, you are able to run detailed equipment reports and get insights into gear usage 

3. Log assets for educational grants and insurance purposes 

Mapping out and getting a clearer understanding of all of your equipment and gear isn’t just important for lending it to students. It is also vital if your organization applies (or was awarded) to any educational grants as well as for standard insurance purposes. 

These asset logs should include all of the following information:

  • Each piece of equipment and any accessories tied to it 
  • When you purchased it 
  • How much it costs
  • Condition of the item 
  • Any warranties

For example, if a hurricane severely damages your school, having a detailed asset log of your equipment can expedite filing your insurance claim. 

4. Set up barcode scanning 

If you’ve ever been to a factory, you’ll notice that all of the warehouse workers walking the aisles have barcode scanners. These scanners make it easy to find the items they need faster. 

While an equipment room manager isn’t going to be finding 40 items to ship to customers each hour, setting up barcode scanning is easier and more efficient for sorting and organizing all of your equipment and inventory than any homegrown system. 

Not to mention, having a barcode on each piece of equipment is useful in the event anything is lost or goes missing. 

5. Create a booking portal 

Many schools and universities also have recording and/or studio rooms that students can book and use for projects. If you are using asset management software to loan cameras and AV equipment to students, you can set up a booking portal inside the same software to rent out these rooms. 

This is more efficient for everyone since students can reserve recording rooms at the same time they check out gear. And, it makes it easier for the equipment manager to keep track of everything and reduces the chance of double-booking. 

6. Establish role-based access controls 

When you are lending gear to students, you might want to have each student sign for the equipment to prove that they borrowed the item. That’s what’s referred to as role-based access control. 

So, different departments and students should only be able to see different assets from a particular location or from departments. For example, film students should only see film. Or, journalism students should only see the media lab, etc. 

***

In sum, these are a handful of ways you can simplify your school or university’s equipment room management. 

Want to make this process even simpler with asset management software designed for educational institutions? Try Reftab for free. 

Uncategorized/Updates!

March / April 2021 Release Notes

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Hello,

These are the latest new features and updates from Reftab for March 2021 – April 2021. These improvements to Reftab’s asset tracking software are built in response to requests from customers. Thanks to you, these updates make the platform more powerful and will improve your day-to-day operations.

New Features

1) Custody confirmation emails. (available to Pro plan subscribers and up)

When assets are on loan, you can send emails to loanees to confirm they still have equipment. As a Reftab admin, this will help ensure the accuracy of your assets over time.

From the loans page, the check boxes will display a new option “Request Verification“.

IT Asset tracking software

Your loanees receive an email with a link to a form in which they can reply saying, “yes” they have the equipment or “no” they do not. They can then provide additional notes and add their signature.

IT asset tracking software with auditing

Admins can see the status of historical verification requests.  To view this, go to an asset and click “Request Custody verification“. Or, view a loanee and on the Assets tab, click “Actions” >  “Request Custody Verification“.

IT Asset tracking software auditing

2) Convert loanees to user accounts.

When editing a loanee, you’ll now see a button, “Convert to User Account“.

This is helpful if you have loanees that need login access to Reftab. Loanees can not log in, so you will need to convert them to a user account with this button.

3) Preventative maintenance scheduling. (Available to customers with the maintenance module)

You can set preventative maintenance on assets in bulk:

Maintenance management software with bulk operations

You can customize how often maintenance should occur, which will issue a work order to a technician on schedule.

Customizable mobile maintenance software

Click here for a YouTube video to see additional info on our mobile maintenance system.

Report Updates

1) You can now report on consumable transactions.
2) Report on user roles. (Useful for knowing when a user / loanee is deactivated so you’ll know to pickup their equipment.) -> You can automate these reports so you know when a user was removed or disabled from AD.
3) Report on last scan dates of an asset’s barcodes. (Useful for auditing your inventory to know when something was last physically in possession and was scanned)

Admin Updates

1) Main administrator accounts can now be edited.

Click “Settings” > “SubAccounts“. You will now see the main administrator available for edit.

2) More customizations to columns in asset table. For example, you can remove the column for loan status, category, location etc.

IT asset tracking software customizations

What we’re currently working on:

1) Transferring accessories between locations.

With this upcoming feature, spreading accessories across locations will be easier to manage.

2) Adding New Integrations

As Reftab looks to continue integrating with IT departments to ensure maximum usability, data flow and visibility within an organization, we’re working to integrate with popular service desk software and automation management software.

Please reach out to info@reftab.com if you’d like to request a specific integration.

Thanks for reading and please keep the feature requests coming! We’re always excited about improving the platform for our users.

Log into your Reftab account here: https://www.reftab.com/login

Uncategorized

Feb 2021 Release Notes

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Hello Everyone,

We’re excited about another extremely productive month of feature releases and improvements to share with you. As always, these improvements are directly from customers like you so we are not only excited about how they improve your asset management experience but also improve your day-to-day processes. Let’s jump right into it:

Upgrades made to all plans:

  • Reports Generate Unique URLs
    • Let’s say you have automatic emails that send reports, this is very as you can now go straight into the report from a simple click of  a link, (helps if you want to build a graph or chart quickly).
    • Link only works when logged in to your account.
  • Location Calendars Now Generate ICS Links
    • These links allow you to pull in asset reservation events in your calendars for Outlook, iCal and more.  You’ll see these on the calendar page of your location.
  • Support for Multiple, Custom Asset Prefix ID’s
    • This is a more customizable way to generate asset ID’s based upon defined prefixes. You can have multiple prefixes for your account.
  • Loanees Can Convert to Sub-user Accounts
    • This is helpful if you start off with loanees and now want those people to log into Reftab. You’ll see a button  when you edit any loanee, “Convert to User Account”.

Upgrades to Pro Plan and Up

  • Custom Domain URLs and Custom Logo/Text on Login Page
    • This allows you to customize the login page so that your users see your logo and a custom message instead of the general Reftab page.
    • Must setup a custom domain for this to work.
  • New Actions for Maintenance in Workflows
    • When maintenance is started or completed on an asset you can now do more automated actions such as send an email, start another maintenance, etc.

Upgrades to Business Plan and Up

  • SCIM Integration
    • SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) is one of the best ways to automate user creation, user disabling and user group mappings.

Maintenance Management and Work Orders:

We mentioned this in our last monthly release, but I want to provide a friendly reminder:

Reftab has a new module allowing you to track and assign maintenance work orders. Work orders can auto generate based upon triggers like date and time settings for preventative maintenance and, trigger based upon data on your assets. (A example being if a vehicle has over a certain milage, a work order can be issued.)

Maintenance can be completed easily from the mobile app and allow technicians to fill out a customized form that can include their signatures, notes and other customizable inputs.

Reach out to mike@reftab.com if you have any questions or would like to trial this feature.

Thank you as always for your continue support! You keep the suggestions coming and we’ll continue to improve the platform. 

Uncategorized

January 2021 Release Notes

Posted on by Michael Caslowitz

Hello from the Reftab team! 
We hope everyone’s new year is going well. Here are some of the new features and updates we’ve made to the Reftab platform.
We’re excited to share them with you, mainly because these features are requested by you, the customer. We’re excited and proud to help improve and streamline the way that you manage your asset inventory.

New Updates For Customers on All Plans:

  • Reserving assets can now be done within the mobile app. 
    • This is for assets only (no kits or accessories – yet).
  • Business hours can now be individualized for each location. 
    • Prior to this update, when business hours were set, they were set for each and every location you had.
  • Business hours can now handle exceptions. 
    • This is useful if you want to restrict loans for holiday breaks or specific times during the year. 
    • Click, “Settings” > “Date and Time” > “Configure Business Hour Exceptions”.
  • Sub user accounts can now save data for Employee ID and Title fields.
    • This is useful for scanning barcodes of users who will borrow equipment.
    • Prior to this update, Employee IDs were only available to loanees.
  • On the loans page, you’ll see a column of check boxes. These can be used to return items in bulk.
    • Prior to this update, loaned items were returned one-by-one on the loans page.
  • Saved assets can now be moved between categories. 
    • This will only work if the new category includes all the fields of the original asset category. (This way, data is never unwittingly removed).
  • Custom loan fields now display in the accessory & license page table of loans.
  • You can now print multiple of the same barcode for accessory items. 
    • Prior to this update, the system had no option to print duplicate barcodes.
  • There is a new setting on fields called, “No duplicates”.
    • This is recommended for holding data such as serial numbers that must not be duplicated through your list of assets.

New Updates for Customers on Pro Plan and Up:

  • Kit emails now list the individual assets and accessories within the kit. 
    • Before this update, the kit email only showed the kit name and loan information. There was no way to know what was in the kit from looking at the email.
  • Consumables can now have a default selected transaction. Click “settings” > “personal”  scroll to the bottom and find the setting for, “Default Value for Consumable Transactions”.
    • This is helpful when you need to quickly perform transactions without having to manually select transactions like “purchased” or “used” every time.
  • Consumables can now be tracked to a loanee. 
    • This is useful if you perform a transaction and also want to log to whom.
  • Workflows have been updated to include new trigger of “Scan barcode”.
    • Helpful if you want to do something to an asset each time the barcode is scanned. 
    • For example, if a specific person scans a barcode, you can automatically move the asset to that person’s location.

New Features Available by Request:

Maintenance tracking  – this is a new feature that will allow you to log maintenance and assign work orders to technicians. 
The work orders can be completely customized to display tasks specific to what needs to be done. For example, you may have assets that need safety inspections or items that need cleaning or calibration in order to be used.

This feature will do the work for you of placing these assets in a state of maintenance and will automatically notify someone to complete the work.
The system will trigger an email to a technician and the tech can then use the Reftab mobile app to complete the maintenance which will automatically place the asset back into an operational state.
Demo Video
Here is a short demo video giving a good overview of this feature: Asset Maintenance and Work Orders

Thank you all very much for your continued support!

The Reftab team is completely dedicated to each and every one of our customers. We hope these updates will make your daily lives easier.
As always, reach out to info@reftab.com for any questions, we are happy to help.

Log back into Reftab: reftab.com/login

Asset Tracking

What Assets Should I Track? Types of Fixed Assets

Posted on by Robert Hoyt
Onboarding Image

As businesses and schools move their staff to remote work environments, it’s easier than ever to lose track of company equipment. Companies lose thousands or even millions of dollars each year with improper asset tracking. Many companies do not even know where to start or the fixed assets they own, opening them up to losses and liability.

This blog post will explain the types of assets you absolutely should be tracking and hopefully get you thinking about ways to implement a well planned asset tracking system for your company.

Fixed assets have a specific meaning when it comes to accounting. They are physical entities such as buildings, equipment, furniture, and other property. To be considered a fixed asset, the purchased items must be expected to be used for longer than a year. Additionally, the items must be directly involved in the operation of your company.

What Are Examples of Fixed Assets?

Buildings: All of your facilities
Computer Equipment: Your computers, servers, laptops, tablets
IT Software: Any software that you purchase outright, not leased or paid as a service
Furniture: Your tables, chairs, filing cabinets, etc.
Property: The cost to purchase land and any land improvements
Machinery: Machines used for production
Equipment: Can include office equipment or field equipment
Vehicles: Your company cars, trucks, bicycles, and other motor vehicles

Some of these items, like buildings and property, will never move, but it is important to keep track of their purchase costs and depreciation for audit and tax liability purposes.

Other items are distributed to employees and may not be in a fixed location, like laptops and vehicles. When you track these items, it allows you to ensure accountability for the items as well as for purchase and tax purposes.

Start by writing down the assets your company or school has and pull in other department heads to help complete a thorough list.

Factories have many complex assets used to run a business.

What Aspects of Fixed Assets Should I be Tracking?

Once you have your list of the types of fixed assets to track. The most important thing to remember is that your data needs to be kept up-to-date on not only where an item is and who has custody over that item, but if / when items need to be maintained via a maintenance schedule.

The world is changing fast, asset tracking has never been more vital.

Here is a good starting point of what to track on each fixed asset:

  1. Vendor (This is the company you purchase assets from)
  2. Purchase Cost (this is needed if you’re tracking asset depreciation)
  3. Serial Number (important for warranty information)
  4. Warranty Expiration Date
  5. Location of the asset
  6. Who has custody over the asset

Asset Maintenance

If your company has equipment that needs maintenance every so often, such as a safety inspection or calibration. You’ll want to document this too. Reftab has a dedicated maintenance module designed specifically for asset maintenance.

Assets need periodic maintenance to keep them operational and safe to use.

Asset Depreciation

If your company needs to track the depreciation of assets for accounting purposes, Reftab has a dedicated depreciation module designed specifically to track asset depreciation.

What Are Not Examples Fixed Assets?

Anything that your company purchases with the intent to sell is not a fixed asset. This includes stock and inventory.

For example, if you’re in the retail clothing business, the clothes that you sell online or in store are not fixed assets. That clothing is your inventory and should be tracked in a designated inventory platform such as QuickBooks.

What are Consumables?

Consumables are a form of assets, however, they are items that are used and not returned into operating stock. The reason to track a consumable is to keep informed of a running total of available quantity.

For example, screws, printer ink, t-shirts that you give to employees, construction vests and so forth. These are items that get used up and once they are used, are either thrown away or not able to be used again. A system that keeps you informed of how many you have at any given time is ideal so you don’t needlessly purchase equipment. Reftab has a dedicated consumable tracking feature.

Conclusion

Asset tracking is something every business needs to do. It’s important to have a reliable way of knowing how much equipment you have, where it is and be able to easily manage maintenance and depreciation.

Your organization should be tracking the assets that help your business operate and grow. Fixed assets are equipment that helps your business make money, they should be well maintained and accounted for.

In short, keeping an up-to-date asset register will save you and your company time and expense. You should be focusing on running your business instead of the hassle of working with broken equipment or needlessly ordering duplicate equipment which wastes money and resources.

Is your company doing asset tracking?
Reftab is free for your first 50 assets. Start tracking assets today!