THE PATH TO STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT Best Practices for Fixed Assets Technology Integration. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> White Paper

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1 THE PATH TO STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT Best Practices for Fixed Assets Technology Integration >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> White Paper

2 Introduction With fixed assets representing a significant sum on many organizations balance sheets, incomplete and out-of-date information can have a major financial and compliance impact. For instance, poor management of asset data could result in higher property taxes, income tax overpayments, and unnecessary insurance costs. And lack of controls and data validation could impact compliance with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley. For these reasons and others, companies today are looking for ways to gain more control and accuracy of fixed asset data. To do this, they are implementing solutions that address the problems they face in efficiently and effectively managing fixed assets, calculating depreciation, and reconciling book and tax data for fixed assets. This white paper introduces best practices for integrating fixed assets management technology into your organization as part of a strategic asset management initiative. These best practices are based on lessons learned over the course of decades of successfully implementing and integrating GAAP and tax depreciation and fixed assets management solutions in organizations ranging from SMBs to the Fortune 100. The Washington Post Company Saves $30M+ with Fixed Assets Analysis The Washington Post Company (WPC) used cost segregation studies to identify hidden assets within real property, such as mechanical systems, that qualify for shorter tax lives and therefore more rapid depreciation. WPC and its external accounting firms used BNA Fixed Assets Web to help conduct three studies in several wholly-owned WPC subsidiaries Cable ONE, Newsweek, and Kaplan. The result was more than $30 million in additional depreciation across three years. Success Requires More than Technology While fixed assets management technology is the centerpiece for improving asset management, achieving what we call strategic asset management requires more than software. It takes structure and commitment in addition to the technology to maximize the value of fixed assets management. In essence, the implementation effort really becomes a value integration effort. Empower the Finance Organization to advance their enterprises abilities to make smarter business decisions Figure 1: The Components of Strategic Fixed Assets Management To gain the maximum value from implementing a strategic asset management capability, your organization must create a strong foundation of processes and procedures. The technology then builds on this foundation and enforces it. The outcome is then more accurate, comprehensive asset data. But it doesn t end there. Analyzing that data provides insight into tax implications of business decisions, potential returns on capital expenditures, and more. It enables your organization to make informed, strategic business decisions in real time. 2

3 By implementing strategic fixed assets management, your company can address near-term compliance requirements and long-term process improvements to: Maximize the return on capital investment (return on assets) Increase the efficiency of fixed asset management, saving both time and money Reduce risk and improve the accuracy of financial and tax reporting Demonstrate Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and limit audit exposure Sinclair Reduces Fixed Assets Workload by 75% Sinclair Broadcast Group reduced headquarter s workload by more than 75 percent, while improving accuracy and eliminating after-the-fact adjustments through the implementation of a strategic asset management process. Strategic fixed assets management can enable your organization to improve decisionmaking, maximize cash flow, and ensure compliance with regulations saving your company potentially hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, per year. Implementing Strategic Asset Management Following proven best practices, consisting of well-defined manageable tasks, can help your organization effectively implement and integrate your fixed assets management solution. The best practices listed below deliver guidance in how to achieve strategic asset management helping you move to companywide implementation of processes, procedures, and technology. 1. Start by Evaluating Your Current Situation It s essential to begin by understanding how fixed assets are managed and tracked in your organization today, including processes in any subsidiaries. This will help you determine where there are gaps in processes and efficiency and what your organization s specific needs are to optimize fixed assets management. This Current-State evaluation answers questions such as: How are fixed assets tracked today? How are fixed asset dispositions, transfers, and modifications managed? How are your processes and procedures enforced to ensure regulatory compliance? What gaps exist in your current processes? What are the problems and shortcomings in your current processes and systems (e.g., efficiency, accuracy, timeliness, reconciliation, audit trail, compliance, etc.)? Along with answering these questions, it also is important to identify the amount of time it takes to complete each step in the fixed assets management process. This will help you determine which areas need the most improvement. Document the answers to these and other questions in a Situation Analysis report that you can utilize during the subsequent stages of the fixed assets system integration. 3

4 Companies often forget to check whether their depreciation policy is actually documented. Enforcement is virtually impossible without disseminating the information to all involved. 2. Assess Your Technology Requirements Once you ve documented how fixed assets are currently tracked and managed, it s time to evaluate your technology needs. Fixed assets management software can improve control and accuracy of asset data, deliver greater efficiency, and help ensure compliance with myriad government and accounting regulations. In assessing your needs and ensuring you select the best solution for you, consider the following: What capabilities do you need in a fixed asset management/tax depreciation solution to address the gaps you identified in the previous step? What are your fixed assets management priorities? You need to ensure that the highest priorities are going to be met by the technology solution you choose. Do you have the IT infrastructure and staff to support the new solution? Is a web-based or software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution a better alternative for your company? Are the timelines for the technology solution integration in line with your goals? The answers to these questions should be added to the Situation Analysis report referenced in the previous step. Make sure you rank gaps you identify by importance/priority (e.g., High-Medium-Low), and assess alternative technology solutions that meet all of your highest level gaps. 3. Create Consistent Policies and Procedures Defining consistent accounting processes and policies for fixed asset capitalization, depreciation, and taxation is a critical step to ensuring better control and greater accuracy of your data. For instance, to avoid having inconsistent application of asset classifications and depreciation methods, companies should establish policies that govern how to define assets and determine the appropriate depreciation methods to be used. Keep the following best practices in mind: Analyze and document your requirements, goals, and objectives for capitalization, depreciation, and taxation. Use one policy for depreciation lives. Link an automated capital project tracking system directly to purchasing, accounts payable, engineering, and labor systems for tracking purchased and constructed assets. Ensure there is an automatic setup of fixed assets based on data accumulated in the capital project tracking system. Conduct physical inventories routinely on a cycle-count basis using barcode scanners. 4

5 Specialize functional tasks to appropriately match activities with required skills (e.g., clerks perform data entry while accounting professionals perform data validation and report reviews). You will never have 100% consistency with policies, but you should set a reasonable threshold. Ensure that noncompliance with the current policies doesn t lead you to change what would be an acceptable policy when the correct tools are in place Develop and Document Your Fixed Assets Data Requirements Based upon your organization s policies, be prepared to document the data requirements for your fixed assets system integration: Define data requirements for book policies for Federal Tax, AMT, ACE, and State (Bonus). Define reporting policies for Federal Tax, AMT, ACE, and State (Bonus). Define book depreciation policies (e.g., 179/179A, multicurrency translations, revision treatment preferences). Develop consistent asset type categories (including property types, methods, rates, recovery periods [life], tax conventions, bonus depreciation, and any custom asset depreciation requirements). Define required reports and ensure the data to produce them is captured. Be aware of multi-entity/location transactions that may contain errors (e.g., asset transfers from one location to another where the remaining useful life and net book value of an asset have not been accurately transferred on the books from one entity to another). 5. Implement Strategic Asset Management Software Companywide Now you re ready to implement the technology that will enable your organization to more efficiently and accurately track and manage fixed assets. A robust, enterprise-class fixed assets management system delivers the control, efficiency, comprehensive reporting, and visibility companies need to maximize their return on asset investment while reducing the manual effort and inefficiencies managing, depreciating, and tracking fixed assets. When implementing a new fixed asset management technology, you should: Select a champion/process improvement owner. Select an expert fixed asset system with standard capitalization policies across the enterprise. Get trained on the system you employ. Implement simple data conversion techniques for existing assets. 5

6 Automatically post depreciation charges and asset activity to the general ledger. Develop consistent stakeholder reporting. The following diagram shows the typical project phases required for implementation of new fixed assets management software: Improved Financial Performance Figure 2: Implementation Phases for Fixed Asset Management Software Politics, politics, politics. To increase the probability of a successful implementation, include end users in the feedback loop throughout the process to gain their buy-in. Conclusion Choosing the best technology for fixed assets management is only the beginning. Achieving strategic fixed asset management requires thoughtful planning, development of consistent policies and procedures, and a commitment to realizing the full value of proper asset management. The result will pay for the effort many times over, enabling your organization to maximize return on assets, optimize tax performance, and make better business decisions. Whether the economy is up or down, every company can benefit from the improved cash flow and business insight that strategic fixed assets management can generate. About BNA Fixed Assets With BNA Fixed Assets from Bloomberg BNA, it s easy, efficient, and cost-effective for companies of any size to manage the complete fixed assets lifecycle from purchase to retirement saving you time and money while ensuring accuracy. Bloomberg BNA s renowned tax expertise is built right into the software it s like having a tax expert at your side, providing the most up-to-date, comprehensive insight into the latest accounting rules and regulations. Our unique validation engine enforces compliance with tax regulations and GAAP rules, automatically ensuring accuracy. Even novice users can correctly and easily use the software without compromising accuracy. 6

7 BNA Fixed Assets delivers all the capabilities of a robust fixed assets management system and grows with you as your business matures. Whether your company has tens, hundreds, or thousands of fixed assets, there s a BNA Fixed Assets solution designed to meet your needs and budget: Desktop Designed for a single user, it s powerful, but easy-to-use Server For multiple users within the same company Web-hosted Powerful, secure, anytime, anywhere access with no software to install or maintain About BNA Asset Inventory Integrated with BNA Fixed Assets, BNA Asset Inventory helps you track assets such as furniture, fixtures, software and hardware, plant assets, machinery, equipment, tools, and more from receipt of the asset through to retirement. Using bar codes, BNA Asset Inventory streamlines the management of all of your physical fixed assets, providing you with: More accurate asset inventory management Less effort and fewer errors by eliminating duplicate entry of assets Improved visibility into working and ghost assets, potentially reducing your property taxes Better internal controls for regulatory compliance With BNA Asset Inventory, you can efficiently perform accurate asset inventory, validate data and reconcile it with existing asset data on the books, and track the physical location of assets for accurate payment of personal property taxes and insurance payments just point and scan for accurate inventory tracking. About Bloomberg BNA s Software Products Bloomberg BNA offers expert software products for tax and accounting professionals. With category-leading software and top-rated technical support, we are the solution of choice for professional firms and corporations of every size. More than 70,000 customers, including the IRS, depend upon Bloomberg BNA s software products for the highest degree of tax, regulatory, and compliance expertise available in the market. About Bloomberg BNA Bloomberg BNA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomberg, is a leading source of legal, regulatory, and business information for professionals. Its network of more than 2,500 reporters, correspondents, and leading practitioners delivers expert analysis, news, practice tools, and guidance the information that matters most to professionals. Bloomberg BNA s authoritative coverage spans the full range of legal practice areas, including tax & accounting, labor & employment, intellectual property, banking & securities, employee benefits, health care, privacy & data security, human resources, and environment, health & safety. 7

8 Though intended to provide accurate and authoritative information, this publication is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute tax, legal, accounting, or other professional advice or service. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Bloomberg BNA. For more information call (select option 3), contact your local Bloomberg BNA Representative, or visit South Bell Street, Arlington, VA, BNA Software, a division of Tax Management Inc.. All rights reserved. FW002-WH rc 8