7.1 Asset information requirements

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Comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information on assets is vital to effective asset planning. Good information is necessary to:

• support sound decisions about assets relating to service delivery capacity, acquisition, maintenance and disposal; and

• comply with statutory financial reporting obligations.

Information generated about assets must match the decision-making purpose (see below) for which it is required:

Strategic decisions: These generally require small amounts of information about a range of issues and asset characteristics related to trends, rather than specific data about individual assets. In this situation, the level of accuracy is of less importance than completeness. Approximations or proxy information are often acceptable for these decision-making purposes.

Tactical decisions: These require a broader range of information, and at a greater level of detail. The level of accuracy of the data required depends on the criticality of the decisions to be made.

Operational decisions: These tend to require source data with high levels of accuracy as the information supports day-to-day decisions by individual staff in the field. Operational data are the prime sources of aggregated information for tactical and strategic purposes.

Asset information systems Entities are to maintain asset registers in accordance with the Department of Treasury and Finance guidelines in order to facilitate the implementation of appropriate portfolio and risk management strategies across the budget sector. 13

Asset information systems use a database of asset information known as an ‘asset register’. For a register to fully support effective decision-making about asset utilisation, it must:

• be comprehensive, and include all assets under the control of the entity;

• be structured in a way that allows different classifications of assets to be distinguished, and treated appropriately. For example, assets such as buildings and plant may have a long life and complex maintenance requirements. These may be recorded in a specialised section of the asset register which contains more information than the section used to record furniture and office equipment;

• capture details of all transactions affecting the assets, as they occur;

• have associated procedures, controls and audit trails to maintain the integrity of the information;

• identify the individual or organisational unit accountable for the asset and the location of the asset; and

• carry the financial information needed for statutory reporting.

Information in the asset register must be readily accessible to individuals who are accountable for the control and management of a nominated asset or group of assets, preferably on a ‘real-time’ basis.

Entities may elect to use separate asset registers for different classes or categories of assets. If this course is taken, common data standards should be employed so that consistent consolidated reports on assets can be readily prepared for the entity as a whole.

Asset performance data
Asset registers should have provision for recording performance data for individual assets. As examples, useful performance data may include:

• measures of the operational performance of the asset in relation to its service delivery objectives (as revealed by performance indicators for the quality of the service delivered by using the asset);

• measures of how intensively the asset is utilised (to disclose any surplus capacity that could be taken up for other purposes); and

• operating costs (to include, for example, cleaning and energy costs and maintenance expenditure).

The information should be appraised by entities against best practice data to establish whether assets are being managed effectively.

Asset Management Catalogue of Reference. Victorian Government, 1995 Asset Management Principles Victorian Government, 1995 Australian Accounting Standard 29 – Financial Reporting by Government Departments Australian Accounting Research Foundation Financial Management Act 1994 Department of Treasury and Finance, Accounting and Financial Reporting Division Telephone 61 3) 9651 2187

13 Budget Sector Asset Management Principles
Budget and Expenditure Review Committee, 1993

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