This chapter contains these topics:
To create asset master records
To create other asset identification records
To locate assets and exit to a desired program
To track asset locations
You must identify every asset in the system before you can use the Fixed Assets system. Identifying assets consists of the following tasks:
Creating an asset master record
Verifying depreciation information
Entering additional asset information
Searching for asset information
Locating parent and component information
Tracking asset locations
Asset identification consists of three types of information:
Asset master record
Supplemental and specification information
Message logs
You must create an asset master record to identify each of your company's assets. You can also include supplemental data and message logs to further define the assets in the system.
The asset master record consists of the basic information that identifies an asset. You must create asset master records so that you can:
Manage asset depreciation
Track asset costs
Record asset splits, transfers, and disposals
When you create the master record, the system uses information from depreciation account rules to create balance records that are used to compute depreciation. The depreciation account rules define the various depreciation accounts that are associated with each class of assets, as well as the depreciation methods (either hard-coded or user defined) for each ledger associated with the asset.
You can enter supplemental information to record information that is important to your company but is not included on the asset master record. Enter specification data to record static information about assets. You define and maintain the databases for both supplemental and specification data. You can set up data types that use a columnar format, text format, or both. You can also set up security for supplemental and specification data by user identification.
Use message logs to record and track short informational messages about assets that the master record and supplemental data screens cannot accommodate. For example, you can use message logs to:
Indicate the status and condition of an asset
Record details about asset transfers or disposals
Log problems or complaints about a specific asset
You can use paragraph, outline, or any other format you choose to enter information in message logs.
You set up category codes to classify assets for tracking and reporting throughout the Fixed Assets system. You can define up to 23 category codes to meet your company's information needs. Use these category codes in asset master records to describe assets and group similar asset types.
JD Edwards World recommends setting up the first category code to group assets into accounting classes. In this case, the first category code is typically referred to as the Major Accounting Class. You can set up this category code with a one-to-one relationship with asset cost accounts in the general ledger. You can also select another category code to identify assets by the depreciation methods you assign each one.
If you use Fixed Assets with the JD Edwards World Equipment/Plant Management system, the two systems access the same category code tables. The system displays the first 10 of 23 category codes on the Asset Information and Asset Search and Location screens. Equipment/Plant Management users frequently use the first ten category codes as selection criteria for multiple tasks, such as selecting equipment for updating meter readings, selecting equipment to enter location information, and so on. You should reserve as many of the first ten category codes in the equipment master as you need for equipment maintenance purposes.
See Also:
Section 49.1, "Setting Up User Defined Codes" for more information about how user defined codes are used to organize asset information,
Set Up User Defined Codes in the JD Edwards World Equipment Billing Guide or Setting Up User Defined Codes the JD Edwards World Equipment/Plant Maintenance Guide for more information about reserving the first ten category codes for equipment and plant management
Section 59.1, "Mapping Category Codes" for more information about establishing relationships between category codes,
Section 53.1, "Setting Up Depreciation Account Rules" for more information about inserting default information into the asset master record.
You can use one of the following three numbers as the primary number to identify assets throughout your system:
Different branches of your company might refer to assets in different ways. For example, accounting personnel might identify equipment by item number. Maintenance personnel might refer to equipment by unit number or the manufacturer's serial number.
Every asset master record in your system must include an item number. You can enter unit and serial numbers if needed. You must define which of these numbers is used as the primary number for identifying assets in your system. Any identification number that you assign to an asset on the asset master record must be unique throughout your entire system.
See Also:
Section 48.1, "Setting Up Fixed Asset Constants" for information about using asset identification numbers.
You can set up parent and component relationships to group individual assets. For example, when you create master records, you can identify a computer as a parent item. You can identify the monitor, keyboard, and mouse as components of the computer. Those components, in turn, might be the parents of still other components, and so on.
Parent assets can be physical assets or "pseudo" assets. You can set up pseudo assets to group assets under a parent that does not directly incur costs or generate revenue. For example, you can set up departments as parent pseudo assets. Each department can have a certain number of cubicles as component assets. Each cubical can be the pseudo parent of real assets, such as computers, telephones, and so on.
You can establish up to 25 hierarchical levels of a parent item. The system assigns a number to each component according to its level in the hierarchy. This is particularly useful for tracking complex assets.