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, all with a complete change history.

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.

Each asset record captures details like the manufacturer, model, serial number, purchase date, warranty, current status, and who it is assigned to. Every change you make is automatically logged in the asset's history, giving you a complete audit trail.

Not just for IT Asset 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 by admins under Settings > Asset Templates and Settings > Asset Fields. 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:

1 Asset tag (required). A short identifier for the item, such as "LP-0042" or "MON-A12". This is how the asset is referenced throughout FyneDesk, so choose a format you can read at a glance. It must be unique.
2 Asset name (required). A descriptive name, such as "Marketing MacBook Pro" or "Reception Desk Phone". This is what shows up in search results and ticket links.
3 Type. The kind of item this is, such as Laptop, Monitor, or Router. The type you pick controls which custom fields appear on the rest of the form.
4 Manufacturer and model (optional). The brand and model number, such as "Apple" and "MacBook Pro 14-inch M3".
5 Serial number (optional). The manufacturer's serial number for identification and warranty purposes.
6 Status. The current state of the asset. Defaults to "In Stock" for new items.
7 Assigned to (optional). Search for and select a team member or contact to assign the asset to.
8 Location (optional). Select a location from your organization's location list.
9 Purchase date, cost, and warranty end date (optional). Financial and warranty details for tracking procurement and coverage.
10 Notes (optional). Any additional information about the asset.

The form respects whatever fields you have configured. Custom fields you have added appear automatically; fields you have hidden do not appear. When you save the asset, FyneDesk logs the creation in the asset's history.

Auto-status on assignment When 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 Settings > Asset Manager, expand 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. You can change the status at any time from the asset detail page or the edit form. The available statuses 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 simplest way to hand an asset to someone is the guided Assign workflow. Open the asset, click Run workflow, and choose Assign asset. It checks the asset out to a team member, sets the status to "Assigned", and records the change in the asset's history. When the asset comes back, the Return workflow checks it back in. See Asset Workflows for step-by-step instructions, including the option to raise a ticket for a damaged return.

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 assets When 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

Every change to an asset is automatically recorded in its history. This includes the initial creation, status changes, reassignments, workflow runs, and edits to any field. Each history entry shows what changed, the old value, the new value, who made the change, and when.

You can view the full history on the asset's detail page. The history is displayed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent changes at the top.

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

What each person can do in the Asset module – from running workflows to managing fields or placing a compliance hold – is controlled by Asset Permissions. Admins set this up under Settings > Asset Permissions, granting capabilities to permission groups or to individual people, and choosing whether those settings are enforced. See Asset Permissions for the full guide.

Editing and deleting assets

Open an asset's detail page and click Edit to modify any of its fields. All changes are tracked in the asset history, so you always have a record of what was updated, by whom, and when.

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 Settings > Asset Manager > Bulk Import 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 duplicates 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 the short identifier you give each asset when you create it, such as "LP-0042". It must be unique, and it is used to reference the asset throughout FyneDesk, including in the asset's URL. Choose a format your team can read at a glance.

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.