Register A Fixed Asset

Buying a centrifuge is not the same as putting it on the balance sheet. Registering a fixed asset is the moment the purchase becomes a tracked, depreciating, maintainable thing in Veona. A fixed asset is a long-lived item the facility owns and uses to deliver care — an analyzer, a generator, a ward bed — carried on the balance sheet rather than expensed at purchase. The asset register is the single list of those assets (Veona titles the landing tab “Fixed Assets”). The record you create here is both the financial asset the accountant depreciates and the operational record the biomedical engineer schedules maintenance against — there is no second register to keep in step.

Who / when: the asset manager (the biomedical or facilities lead) registers an asset as soon as it is received and commissioned; the accountant can also register one, because the registration posts an accounting entry. Do it once per physical item.

We will follow Emeka the biomedical engineer, commissioning a newly delivered chemistry analyzer.

1. Asset manager — open Assets → Asset Register. This is the “Fixed Assets” landing tab: the full register, with tiles across the top for active assets, total net book value, open work orders and what is due soon.
2. Asset manager — press “Register Asset”. A drawer opens.
3. Asset manager — give the asset a Name (e.g. “Cobas c311 Chemistry Analyzer”) and a Category (e.g. “Laboratory Analyzer”). The category groups like assets for reporting.
4. Asset manager — set the Acquisition Date (when the facility took ownership) and the Acquisition Value (what it cost — this is the asset’s gross value, the figure depreciation works down from).
5. Asset manager — set the Salvage Value (what you expect it to be worth at the end of its life; depreciation never takes net book value below this) and the Useful Life (Months) over which it depreciates (e.g. 60 for five years).
6. Asset manager — choose the Depreciation Method:
   • Straight Line — the same amount of depreciation every month across the useful life. Simple and even.
   • Written Down Value — a fixed percentage of the remaining net book value each period, so it depreciates faster early and tapers off. Use it for equipment that loses value quickly when new.
7. Asset manager — choose the Capitalization Source — how the purchase is funded on the books (the credit side of the entry):
   • Cash or Bank — the facility paid for it; Veona credits the cash or bank account.
   • Accounts Payable — bought on credit; Veona ages a balance owed to a supplier. Picking this reveals a Capitalization Supplier field — search and choose the supplier whose payable is credited.
   • None — the value is already on the books (for example you are loading an opening balance for an asset the facility has owned for years). No funding entry is posted; the asset is recorded at value with no acquisition voucher.
8. Asset manager — press “Register”. Veona mints an asset tag (the asset’s unique reference), saves the record, and — unless the source was None — posts the capitalisation entry.

Note

Capitalization means putting the asset on the books at its acquisition value. With a real funding source, the entry is Dr Fixed-Asset / Cr (Cash | Bank | Accounts Payable) — the asset goes up, and whatever paid for it goes down (or, on credit, the supplier balance goes up). With source None, nothing posts; the record simply carries its value.

Caution

The accounting entry is best-effort. If the relevant Finance accounts have not been mapped (the fixed-asset account, the cash or bank account), Veona records the asset but the entry silently does not post. An administrator must map these in Finance & Ledger → Settings so capitalisation actually reaches the General Ledger — see Map your finance accounts. Salvage value cannot exceed acquisition value, and useful life must be at least one month.

What happens next

The asset appears in the register with its tag, gross value, net book value (equal to gross until depreciation runs) and an Active status. Click its row to open the detail drawer — category, the accumulated-depreciation and net-book-value figures, the method and life, and a depreciation schedule that is ready to post period by period. From here the asset is ready to be depreciated, scheduled for maintenance, calibrated, and — at end of life — disposed. Because it is one record, every one of those activities hangs off this same asset.

Follow the trail

• Next: Capitalize A Connect Device Into An Asset
• Then: Run Monthly Depreciation
• Related: The Finance fixed-asset view · Map your finance accounts · Assets & Maintenance module reference