How to create an IT asset register (no database needed)

Picture a normal day. Then a supplier tells you a recent update to your CRM has a serious security flaw, and it needs to come off every computer that has it. Which computers are those?

If the answer is “let’s go and look”, you need an asset register.

The short answer: an IT asset register is a list of every device and every licence your business has, with who has it and when its support ends. For a small business a spreadsheet or a Microsoft List is enough. Once your devices are managed with a tool such as Microsoft Intune, let it record the technical detail automatically, and keep the register for what it can’t see, such as purchase date and warranty.

Why it matters now

In 2021 the case for an asset register was mostly about money: avoiding duplicate purchases and claiming warranties. That’s still true. The bigger reason today is security.

You can’t patch what you don’t know you have. When a vendor announces a flaw, the register tells you which devices to fix first. When software reaches end of support, as Windows 10 did on 14 October 2025, it tells you how many machines need replacing and roughly what that costs. And if you go for Cyber Essentials, the requirements expect in-scope software to be licensed and supported, which is hard to show without a list.

What to record

Keep it short enough that someone will actually maintain it. For each item:

• What it is: the make and model, and the type (laptop, phone, printer, firewall).
• How to identify it: the serial number, or an asset tag if you use them.
• Who has it: a person’s name, or “spare in the cupboard”.
• When it was bought, and for how much.
• When the warranty ends, and when the manufacturer stops security updates.

For software and subscriptions, record the licence count, who’s using them and the renewal date. Unused licences are money leaving every month.

Which tool to use

Our view: don’t build a database. The 2021 version of this article suggested Microsoft Access or writing your own in SQL. For a business of 15 to 250 people that’s a project nobody needs; the tools below do the job without a developer.

A spreadsheet

For a small team, a spreadsheet works. Give it one owner, and check it against reality twice a year. The risk is drift: it only knows what someone typed in.

Microsoft Lists

If you have Microsoft 365, Microsoft Lists has an Asset manager template for tracking physical assets, such as who has which one and which are in repair. It sits in your Microsoft 365, so access and sharing work the way they already do, and you can add columns such as warranty end date.

Your device management tool

Once your devices are managed centrally, the technical detail records itself. Microsoft Intune, for example, collects each device’s manufacturer, model, serial number and operating system version, and lists the apps it has found on the device. It refreshes that every seven days. What it doesn’t know is what you paid or when the warranty ends, so keep a light register beside it for those.

How to set one up

1. Pick the tool: a spreadsheet, a Microsoft List, or your device management tool plus a short list.
2. Walk the office, and check your Microsoft 365 admin centre, for everything you have, devices and subscriptions alike.
3. Give each device a unique ID; the serial number will do.
4. Fill in the details above, starting with the warranty and end-of-support dates, because those drive decisions.
5. Make one person the owner, and add a step to your starter and leaver process so the register changes whenever kit goes out or comes back.
6. Check it against reality every six months, and when you replace anything.

How Jera can help

Jera has supported Scottish businesses since 2003, from offices in Edinburgh (Loanhead), Glasgow and Aberdeenshire. If you’d rather not be the person who owns the spreadsheet, book a call and we’ll talk through how your devices and licences can be tracked for you.