How to keep an IT asset inventory
A simple, current record of your computers, network equipment, licenses and key accounts speeds up repairs, staff changes, insurance claims and security work.
Ask a small business how many computers it has and you will usually get a quick answer. Ask which ones are out of warranty, who has the admin password for the router, or which software licenses renew next month, and the answer is often "let me find out." An IT asset inventory is simply a written record of what the business owns and uses, kept current. It is unglamorous, but it saves time in almost every IT situation, from a broken laptop to a security incident.
Why it is worth the effort
- Repairs go faster. With the model, serial number and purchase date to hand, a technician can check warranty status and order the right parts without first tracking down the machine.
- Lost or stolen devices. The police, your insurer and your own response all need the serial number and to know whether the device was encrypted. Our guide to a lost or stolen company laptop covers what to do next.
- Staff changes. When someone leaves, you know exactly which laptop, phone, accounts and licenses to recover.
- Security. You can't patch or protect something you don't know about. The CIS Critical Security Controls, a widely used security framework, put an inventory of hardware and software first and second on their list for this reason.
- Budgeting. Seeing purchase dates in one place makes it obvious which machines will need replacing in the next year.
What to record
Computers, phones and tablets
- Type, make and model, and serial number.
- Who uses it, and where it normally lives (office, home, travels).
- Purchase date, supplier and warranty end date.
- Operating system and version.
- Whether the disk is encrypted, and where the recovery key is stored (record the location, never the key itself in the spreadsheet).
- Whether it is enrolled in device management or backup.
Network and shared equipment
- Firewall or router, switches, Wi-Fi access points, printers, NAS or server, phone system.
- Make, model, serial number and firmware version.
- Where it is physically, and where its admin login is kept.
- Whether it still receives security updates. Devices past end of support are worth flagging for replacement.
Software, subscriptions and online services
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, accounting software, design tools, line-of-business applications.
- Number of licenses, renewal date and who is billed.
- The admin account that owns it. This should be a company account, not someone's personal email.
Accounts that control everything else
Some accounts matter more than any device: the domain name registrar, DNS, the website host, the Microsoft 365 or Google admin accounts, the internet provider. Record who has access and whether multi-factor authentication is turned on. Losing control of the domain registrar account, for example, can take email and the website down together.
Where to keep it
For a business with up to a few dozen devices, a shared spreadsheet with one tab per category is perfectly adequate. What matters more is:
- Passwords live in a password manager, not the inventory. The inventory says where the credential is stored; the password manager holds it.
- Keep a copy you can reach during an outage, such as an exported copy stored with your other emergency information, in case the system it lives in is the one that is down.
- Limit who can edit it, so it stays reliable.
As the business grows, device management tools such as Microsoft Intune and remote monitoring software can collect much of the hardware and software detail automatically. They still won't know who owns the registrar account or when a contract renews, so a short manual list stays useful.
Keeping it current
- Add an item the day it arrives, before it is handed out. Make it part of buying anything.
- Update it whenever someone joins, leaves or swaps a device.
- Mark retired equipment as retired, with the date and how its data was wiped, rather than deleting the row.
- Once a quarter, walk the office and compare what you see with the list. It takes less than an hour in a small office and nearly always finds something.
Getting started this week
Don't try to make it perfect. Start with the computers and the five or six accounts that control the business, then add network equipment and software over the following weeks. A partial list that is accurate is more useful than a complete one that is out of date.
If you would like help building yours, or putting right what it turns up, see our small business IT support and hardware and software support pages, or call (213) 986-4855.