IT Asset Management Checklist Template

Phase 1: Reconcile Discovery Against the Register

Assign this phase to the asset manager. It produces the exception list the rest of the month works through.

• Export the register and this month’s discovery, endpoint and SaaS reports — attach them so someone else could repeat the reconciliation
• List devices seen but not registered — confirm the weekly unauthorised-device process caught them, then register or remove each one
• List registered devices not seen for 30 days — ask each recorded owner whether the device is in use, in storage, lost or awaiting disposal
• Report lost or stolen devices through the security incident process — the register records the incident reference, not just a status change
• Merge duplicate records and correct mismatched serials — one physical device, one record
• Record the match rate between discovery and the register — the headline accuracy figure for the monthly report

Phase 2: Procurement, Receipt & Tagging

• Match this month’s deliveries to purchase orders — record serials at goods-in, not at first login
• Tag and register every item before it leaves stores — owner, cost centre, supplier, purchase date, warranty end and order reference
• File proof of entitlement for software bought this month — licence agreements and order confirmations, not just the invoice
• Flag purchases made outside the approved route — card-paid SaaS and kit bought on expenses, each with an owner asked to regularise it

Phase 3: Assignments, Moves & Returns

• Reconcile this month’s issues and returns — every issued device has a named user and a recorded acceptance
• Check this month’s leavers against returned equipment — chase anything outstanding through the line manager
• Triage returned devices — reissue, repair, hold as a spare, or mark for disposal and hand to the disposal process
• Check loan equipment is back by its due date — extend or recall, and update the record either way
• Compare spare stock with supplier lead times — reorder before the service desk runs out, not after

Phase 4: Software Licence Compliance & Reclaim

Tasks 3 and 4 appear only when the review finds unused seats.

• Compare deployments and assigned seats with entitlements for each key product — record the position as surplus, compliant or short
• Identify seats unused beyond your threshold, for example 60 or 90 days — list them by product with the monthly cost
• Confirm reclaim with each user’s manager — then remove the assignment and return the seat to the pool
• Reduce the licence count at the next renewal — a reclaimed seat that is still billed has saved nothing
• Review unauthorised and unsupported software — remove it, or record a documented exception with an owner
• Put any shortfall in front of the budget holder — buy, reduce usage, or accept the audit exposure in writing

Phase 5: Renewals, Warranties & Leases

Tasks 3 and 4 appear only when a lease ends within the next 90 days.

• List contracts, subscriptions, warranties and leases ending in the next 90 days — each with an owner and a decision date
• Decide to renew, renegotiate or cancel — using the usage data from Phase 4, before the notice period starts
• Recall devices on leases that are ending — allow for the lessor’s return window and the replacement lead time
• Check the lease’s return conditions — condition grading, accessories and the data sanitisation the lessor requires
• Plan replacements for kit out of warranty or near the end of vendor support — feed the list into next year’s refresh budget

Phase 6: Report & Sign Off

• Report the month’s KPIs — register match rate, assets without an owner, overdue returns, licence spend reclaimed and renewals decided on time
• Update the exceptions log — carry forward anything unresolved with an owner and a date
• Send the summary to IT leadership and finance — and attach it to the checklist as the record
• Sign off the month’s reconciliation — the asset manager’s sign-off is the evidence the register was reviewed