Non-Current Asset Register
Non-current assets can turn out to be large amounts of expenditure in some businesses and these will require some control measures being put in place to ensure the costs are being monitored.

In setting controls in place, many businesses maintain a non-current assets register in addition to the general ledger entries. The non-current assets register is used to record all relevant information of all the non-current assets owned by the business. It helps act as a control mechanism to monitor the existence of non-current assets and to act as a check on the relevant non-current assets general ledger balances.

There is no set format for the register, as businesses can add in information useful specifically to its operations. Information contained in the non-current assets register may include:

• Assets description
• Assets location
• Date of purchase
• Purchase price
• Depreciation method
• Depreciation charge for the year
• Accumulated depreciation to date
• Estimated useful life
• Net book value
• Location of assets
• Disposal date
• Proceeds from disposal
• Gain or loss on disposal
• Estimated residual value

An example of a non-current assets register layout, could be as below;

In the non-current assets register layout above, the cost column is used to record the total capitalised cost of the asset (net amount without VAT); the depreciation charge is the yearly depreciation charged on the asset and the carrying amount is the difference between the cost and the accumulated depreciation to date, which is commonly known as the net book value of the asset.

There needs to be regular checks put in place to ensure that the all non-current assets recorded by the business are actually still existing and in use by the business and to ensure that all non-current assets owned by the business are correctly recorded in the non-current assets register.

These physical checks could reveal discrepancies and this could be as a result of the non current assets register not being updated with disposals, acquisitions or depreciation that could have taken place during the year.

Where this is the case, the non-current assets register will need to be updated with the relevant information. Where it is not the case of the non-current assets register needing to be updated, it could then be a discrepancy resulting from a lack of controls in the organisation which could have led to theft or undisclosed damage. Any such discrepancies must be investigated and resolved or reported to the management for appropriate actions to be taken.