Asset Management

Keep track of the equipment, devices, and items your team manages. Record who has what, where it is, and what condition it's in, with activity and custody records for important changes.

What is asset management?

Asset management in FyneDesk lets you maintain a central inventory of physical items your organization owns or manages. This could be laptops and phones issued to employees, office furniture, networking equipment, vehicles, tools, or anything else you need to track.

An asset record can capture details such as manufacturer, model, serial number, purchase date, warranty, current status, and assignee. The asset detail page also shows its recorded activity and custody history.

Not just for ITAsset management works for any team that tracks physical items. Coworking spaces can track desks and meeting room equipment. Agencies can track cameras and production gear. Warehouses can track tools and machinery.

Setting up your asset fields

FyneDesk lets each organization decide what details its assets record. Rather than a fixed set of fields, you build your own, so a school, a workshop, and a software team can all use the Asset module without compromise.

The fastest way to start is an asset template. FyneDesk includes five starter templates – IT Asset Management, Facilities, Fleet, Lab Equipment, and Generic – and each one adds a ready-made set of fields in seconds. From there you can add, rename, or remove fields to fit your team.

Templates and fields are managed under Admin Settings → Assets → Setup. There you can open the Templates or Fields tab. You can also import assets in bulk from a spreadsheet once your fields are in place – see below.

How to add an asset

Navigate to Assets in the sidebar and click Add Asset. Fill in the following:

1Asset name (required). Enter a descriptive name, such as "Marketing MacBook Pro" or "Reception Desk Phone". FyneDesk generates the unique asset tag when you create the record; the new-asset form does not ask you to enter one.
2Type (required). Choose the kind of item, such as Laptop, Monitor, or Router.
3Additional fields. Fill in any custom fields your organization has configured. A custom field marked as required must have a value before you can save.
4Manufacturer and model (optional). The brand and model number, such as "Apple" and "MacBook Pro 14-inch M3".
5Serial number (optional). The manufacturer's serial number for identification and warranty purposes.
6Status. The current state of the asset. Defaults to "In Stock" for new items.
7Assigned to (optional). Search for and select a team member or contact to assign the asset to.
8Location (optional). Select a location from your organization's location list.
9Purchase date, cost, and warranty end date (optional). Financial and warranty details for tracking procurement and coverage.
10Notes (optional). Any additional information about the asset.

The form respects your organization's configured fields. Visible custom fields appear on the form; hidden ones do not. FyneDesk assigns an asset tag when you save a new asset.

Auto-status on assignmentWhen you assign an asset to someone while its status is "In Stock", the status automatically changes to "Assigned". Similarly, if you remove the assignee from an asset that is currently "Assigned", the status reverts to "In Stock".

Adding assets in bulk

When you have more than a handful of assets to add, import them from a spreadsheet instead of typing them in one at a time. Go to Admin Settings → Assets → Setup, scroll to Bulk Import, and click Start an import.

The import wizard walks you through uploading an .xlsx, .xls, or .csv file, matching its columns to your asset fields, previewing how the rows will land, handling any duplicate asset tags, and finishing the import with a summary of what was added, updated, or skipped.

Asset statuses

Every asset has a status that reflects its current state. Your organization can configure status choices, so the names available in your workspace may differ. Common examples are:

In Stock – The asset is available and not currently assigned to anyone.
Assigned – The asset is currently assigned to a team member or contact.
In Repair – The asset is being serviced or repaired.
Retired – The asset has been taken out of active use but is still on record.
Disposed – The asset has been permanently removed or disposed of.
Lost/Stolen – The asset has been reported as lost or stolen.

Assigning and returning assets

The guided Assign workflow records an asset handover. Open the asset, click Run workflow, and choose Assign asset. When it comes back, use Return asset. The resulting status follows your organization's status setup. See Asset Workflows for step-by-step instructions, the other available workflows, and the damaged-return ticket option.

You can also assign an asset directly by editing it and using the Assigned to search field. Start typing a name or email and select from the results. The dropdown shows both team members (people with a FyneDesk account in your organization) and contacts (external people in your contacts list), clearly labeled so you can tell them apart. To unassign an asset this way, open the edit form and clear the assignee field.

Viewing a contact's assetsWhen you open a contact's detail page, you can see all assets currently assigned to that contact. This gives you a quick overview of what equipment a particular person has.

Asset history

Open an asset's detail page to review recorded activity, including status changes, handovers, and workflow runs. Use the custody history to trace who held the asset over time. Check the detail page after a change to confirm the expected event was recorded.

Searching and filtering assets

The main Assets page shows all assets in your organization with summary cards for total count, assigned, in stock, and in repair. You can narrow the list using:

Search – Filter by asset name, model, serial number, asset tag, manufacturer, or assigned person's name.
Type filter – Show only assets of a specific type (e.g., only Laptops).
Status filter – Show only assets with a specific status (e.g., only In Repair).

Click any row in the asset list to open the full detail page for that asset.

Locations

If your organization operates from multiple sites, offices, or storage areas, you can create locations in Settings and assign them to assets. This helps you track where each item physically resides. Locations are shared across your organization and can be selected when creating or editing any asset.

Who can manage assets

Normal role-based access still controls who can view or manage assets. On Business, admins can also configure granular capabilities for workflows, fields, and compliance holds under Admin Settings → Assets → Permissions. See Asset Permissions for the full guide.

Editing and deleting assets

Open an asset's detail page and click Edit to modify its fields. Review the asset activity and custody history afterward if you need to confirm a significant change.

To delete an asset, open its detail page and use the delete option. A deleted asset is removed from the main list but can be brought back by an admin who has the "Restore deleted assets" capability. If you simply want to keep the record but mark the asset as no longer in use, change its status to "Retired" or "Disposed" instead.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import assets in bulk?

Yes. Use the bulk import wizard under Admin Settings → Assets → Setup to bring in assets from an .xlsx, .xls, or .csv spreadsheet. The wizard maps your spreadsheet columns to your asset fields and lets you handle duplicate asset tags before importing.

What happens to assets when a contact is deleted?

If a contact is deleted, any assets that were assigned to that contact will have their assignee cleared. The assets themselves are not deleted.

Can agents change asset fields and templates?

Managing fields and templates is controlled by Asset Permissions. By default it is an admin task, but admins can grant the relevant capabilities to specific agents or teams. See Asset Permissions.

Is there a limit on the number of assets?

There is no hard limit on the number of assets you can track per organization.

Can I track warranty expirations?

Yes. Each asset has a warranty end date field. You can use this to keep track of when warranties expire. Currently, FyneDesk does not send automatic reminders when a warranty is about to expire, but you can filter and sort by this date to stay on top of upcoming expirations.

What is the asset tag?

The asset tag is a unique identifier FyneDesk generates for each new asset. You can use it to find and refer to the asset. The new-asset form asks for a name and type, not a manually entered tag.

Can I export my asset list?

The export feature is available on the Assets page. You can download your asset inventory for use in spreadsheets or for record-keeping purposes.