Stop Bleeding Value
Many businesses pay insurance on assets they sold years ago, or fail to claim tax deductions on new equipment. A clean Fixed Asset Register (FAR) stops this leakage immediately.
- Ensure IFRS for SMEs or SA GAAP compliance
- Accurately calculate depreciation and wear-and-tear allowances
- Track location, serial numbers, and custodians of company assets
- Identify 'Ghost Assets' (paying insurance for things you don't have)
- Essential for insurance claims and audit verification
Total Asset Visibility
We track the three critical lifecycles of your business assets.
Acquisition
Correctly capitalising costs (purchase price, delivery, installation) vs expensing them. Maximising input VAT claims where allowable.
Utilisation
Calculating monthly depreciation to reflect usage. Assessing impairments if an asset is damaged or obsolete.
Disposal
Calculating profit/loss on sale. Ensuring recoupments are declared to SARS and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is handled correctly.
Who This Is For
A Fixed Asset Register is critical for businesses in these situations.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Businesses with heavy machinery, plant equipment, and vehicles that require Section 12C accelerated depreciation tracking and strict lifecycle management.
IT & Technology Companies
Companies with hundreds of laptops, servers, and monitors allocated to staff who need to track custodianship, replacement cycles, and write-off thresholds.
Property & Construction
Property groups managing fit-outs, furniture, and leasehold improvements across multiple sites who need to separate capex from opex correctly.
Growing SMEs Facing Audit
Businesses approaching their first external audit or SARS review that need a compliant register in place before the auditors arrive.
Companies Claiming Insurance
Any business that needs to prove asset ownership, location, and value for insurance claims, loss assessments, or disaster recovery.
Problems We Solve
Without a maintained asset register, businesses lose money through missed deductions, ghost assets, and audit failures. These are the problems we fix.
- Paying insurance premiums on assets that were sold, scrapped, or stolen years ago
- Missing tax deductions because depreciation and wear-and-tear are not calculated or claimed
- Audit findings and qualifications due to incomplete or non-existent asset records
- No visibility into where company assets are located or who is responsible for them
- Incorrect financial statements because asset values, residual values, or useful lives are wrong
- Capital vs revenue expenditure misclassified—overpaying tax or understating profit
Every asset your business owns should be tracked, depreciated, and accounted for.
How We Help — Getting Started
Our six-step process for building and maintaining your asset register.
Asset Audit & Stocktake
We review your current list against physical reality. If needed, we assist with a physical verification and tagging process.
Data Collection
We gather purchase invoices, delivery notes, and installation costs to correctly capitalise each asset at its full acquisition cost.
Register Setup
We build a compliant register tracking purchase date, cost, location, useful life, residual value, and custodian for every asset.
Depreciation Run
We calculate monthly depreciation (Accounting) vs Wear-and-Tear (Tax) to ensure your books and tax returns are both accurate.
Disposal Processing
We process asset sales, scrappings, and trade-ins—calculating profit/loss on disposal and ensuring SARS recoupment is handled.
Ongoing Maintenance
We process additions, disposals, and impairments monthly or annually to keep the register current and audit-ready at all times.
Prerequisites & Documents Needed
To set up or clean up your Fixed Asset Register, we need access to your asset data and financial records. Here is what to prepare.
- List of all known company assets (vehicles, equipment, furniture, IT hardware, fixtures)
- Purchase invoices or proof of acquisition cost for each asset
- Access to your accounting software (Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, or Pastel)
- Any existing asset register, spreadsheet, or depreciation schedule
- Insurance schedule showing insured assets and values
- Details of any assets sold, scrapped, or donated in the current or prior year
Deliverables & Outcomes
Every engagement produces tangible outputs that support your financial statements, tax returns, and insurance records.
- Compliant Fixed Asset Register with full asset detail (cost, date, location, useful life, residual value)
- Monthly or annual depreciation schedule for accounting purposes
- Wear-and-tear allowance schedule for tax purposes (s11e, s12c, s13)
- Asset movement report showing additions, disposals, and transfers
- Reconciliation between FAR and general ledger asset accounts
- Insurance schedule cross-reference highlighting ghost assets and under-insured items
Timeline & Expectations
Realistic timeframes so you know exactly what to expect.
Initial register setup (new)
2–4 weeks depending on asset count
Register cleanup (existing)
1–3 weeks depending on data quality
Monthly depreciation processing
1–2 business days per month
Annual verification & reconciliation
3–5 business days
What can cause delays: Missing purchase invoices, incomplete prior-year records, physical verification requirements for multiple locations, or unreconciled general ledger balances can extend timelines.
Benefits of a Professional Asset Register
What changes when your assets are properly tracked and managed.
Maximise tax deductions by correctly claiming depreciation and wear-and-tear allowances every year
Audit-ready records that satisfy external auditors, SARS, and financial statement requirements
Eliminate ghost assets—stop paying insurance on items you no longer own
Accurate financial statements with correct asset values, useful lives, and residual values
Clear custodianship so you know exactly who has what and where every asset is located
Informed replacement planning—know when assets reach end-of-life before they fail
Industry Examples
The Manufacturing Plant
Heavy machinery with complex Section 12C tax allowances. Needs strict tracking of asset lifespan and residual values.
The IT Company
Hundreds of laptops and monitors allocated to staff. Needs to track 'who has what' and when to replace aging hardware.
The Property Group
Managing fit-outs, furniture, and improvements across multiple properties. Needs to separate repairs (opex) from improvements (capex).
How We Work
We believe good accounting starts with structure and consistency. Our approach is designed to give business owners clarity without unnecessary complexity.
Related Insights and Resources
Use these links to move from service scope into practical guidance, supporting documents, and regional pages.
Practical guidance on how Management Accounts Improve Business Decisions.
Practical guidance on what a Monthly Accounting Service Should Deliver Each Month.
Practical guidance on why Cash Flow Management Fails Without Current Management Accounts.
Practical guidance on budgeting vs Forecasting for Business Owners.
Practical guidance on how to Build a Clean Month-End Close Process.
Practical guidance on the 5 Accounting KPIs Every Owner Should Review Monthly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need a Fixed Asset Register?
The Companies Act and Tax Administration Act require you to maintain a register of assets. Without it, you cannot legally claim depreciation or wear-and-tear allowances, meaning you pay more tax than necessary. It is also essential for accurate financial statements and insurance claims.
What is the difference between Depreciation and Wear-and-Tear?
Depreciation is an accounting concept (spreading cost over useful life per IFRS or SA GAAP). Wear-and-Tear is the SARS tax allowance (s11e, s12c, etc.). They are often different figures, and we track both separately to ensure your financial statements and tax returns are both optimised.
What counts as a Fixed Asset?
Typically, tangible items held for use in the production of income with a life span of more than one year (e.g., vehicles, computers, furniture, machinery). Small items under the SARS threshold (currently R7,000) are often written off immediately for tax purposes.
Can you help me tag my assets?
Yes. While we focus on the financial register, we can advise on barcode or QR code tagging systems to link the physical asset to the financial record. This makes stocktakes faster and more accurate.
What documents do I need to get started?
You will need purchase invoices or proof of cost for each asset, any existing register or spreadsheet, your insurance schedule, and access to your accounting software. We guide you through the full checklist during our discovery session.
How often should the register be updated?
At minimum, the register should be updated annually before financial year-end. However, we recommend monthly processing of additions and disposals to keep the register current and avoid a year-end backlog.
What happens when I sell or scrap an asset?
We calculate the profit or loss on disposal by comparing the sale proceeds to the asset's carrying value. Any recoupment (where you sell for more than the tax value) must be declared to SARS. We handle all of this as part of the disposal processing.