Workflow: Asset Lifecycle

Modules involved: Assets (Groups · Locations · Allocation · Actions · Depreciation) · Staff · Clients (portal)
Used by: IT/Admin · HR · Finance · Management
Typical duration: Continuous — from acquisition to disposal/write-off

Overview

The Assets module manages the company's physical asset inventory (laptops, phones, equipment, furniture, etc.) throughout the full lifecycle: acquisition, allocation to employees, damage reporting, warranty repairs, losses, and disposal/write-off. Depreciation is calculated in real time at view — there is no scheduled job.

No approval workflow. All actions (allocation, revocation, loss, disposal) are executed immediately on POST — no pending states or manager approval.

No link to the Fleet module or to the Expenses/Purchase Orders module. The acquisition cost is stored directly on the asset record (unit_price); it does not automatically generate an expense or a purchase invoice.

Asset status is not an explicit field — it is derived from counters (total_allocation, total_lost, total_damages, etc.). The tabs in the interface filter based on these counters.

Flow diagram

[SETUP — admin, one time]
  │
  ├── Asset Groups (categories: IT, Furniture, Vehicles, etc.)
  ├── Unit Types (units of measure: piece, set, kg)
  └── Asset Locations (physical locations — admin only)
  │
  ↓
[1. ACQUISITION / ASSET CREATION]
  │
  ├── Assets → New Asset
  ├── Fields: assets_code, assets_name, amount (quantity), unit_price, date_buy
  │     warranty_period (months), depreciation (months), asset_group, asset_location
  ├── Supplier: supplier_name, supplier_address, supplier_phone
  ├── Attachments (invoices, certificates, photos)
  └── inventory_history: acction='add_new', begin=0, end=amount
  │
  ↓
[2. ADDITIONAL STOCK (optional, if additional units are purchased)]
  │
  ├── acction_2: type='additional'
  ├── amount += units added
  └── inventory_history: acction='additional'
  │
  ↓
[3. ALLOCATION TO EMPLOYEE]
  │
  ├── acction_1: type='allocation', acction_to=staffid
  ├── Fields: amount (quantity), acction_location (handover location), acction_reason
  ├── total_allocation += amount
  ├── Available stock = amount - total_allocation
  └── inventory_history: acction='allocation'
  │
  ↓
[4. IN USE — asset allocated]
  │
  ├── Tab "In Use": total_allocation > 0
  ├── Staff sees their own assets (if permissions allow)
  └── Client can see their own assets in portal (if visible_to_client=1 + belongs_to)
  │
  ↓
[5. EVENTS OVER TIME (any, in any order)]
  │
  ├── [A] BROKEN: type='broken' → total_damages += amount (quantity does NOT decrease)
  │
  ├── [B] WARRANTY/REPAIR (from damage):
  │     type='warranty' → total_warranty += amount, total_damages -= amount
  │     cost = repair cost
  │     Max = total_damages - total_warranty (net unrepaired units)
  │
  ├── [C] LOST: type='lost' → amount -= amount, total_lost += amount
  │     (permanent removal from inventory)
  │
  └── [D] REVOKE (return from employee):
        type='revoke', acction_to=staffid
        total_allocation -= amount
        System checks net allocation per staff before revocation
  │
  ↓
[6. DISPOSAL / WRITE-OFF (end-of-life)]
  │
  ├── type='liquidation'
  ├── amount -= disposed quantity, total_liquidation += quantity
  ├── cost = recovery/sale value at disposal
  └── inventory_history: acction='liquidation'
  │
  ↓
[DEPRECIATION REPORT]
  │
  ├── Assets → Reports → Depreciation
  ├── PHP real-time calculation (no depreciation table):
  │     months_elapsed = (today - date_buy) / 31 days
  │     monthly_depreciation = (unit_price × amount) / depreciation_months
  │     accumulated_depreciation = months_elapsed × monthly_depreciation
  │     residual_value = (unit_price × amount) - accumulated_depreciation
  └── Filterable by asset group or individual asset

[ASSET DISPOSED ✓ · INVENTORY UPDATED ✓]

Step by step

1. Initial configuration

1a. Asset Groups

Where: /admin/assets → Settings → Asset Group → Add Group

Asset categories (e.g.: "IT Equipment", "Furniture", "Vehicles"). At least one group is required.

1b. Unit Types

Where: /admin/assets → Settings → Unit Types

Units of measure for quantity (e.g.: "Piece", "Set", "Kg"). Custom units can be added with unit_code, unit_name, unit_symbol.

1c. Asset Locations

Where: /admin/assets → Settings → Asset Locations (admin only — is_admin())

Physical locations of assets (e.g.: "Bucharest Office", "Warehouse", "Cluj Headquarters"). Accessible exclusively to admins.

2. Create an asset

Where: /admin/assets → New Asset

Required fields:

Financial fields:

Supplier fields: supplier_name, supplier_address, supplier_phone — stored inline, without a link to the Purchase/Vendors module.

Client portal:

• visible_to_client = 1 — asset appears in the client portal
• belongs_to — client IDs that can see the asset (CSV)
• Contact must have the asset permission (permission_id = 7)

3. Asset actions (tabs in interface)

3a. Allocation

Where: asset record → Allocation button

Available stock after allocation = amount - total_allocation.

3b. Revoke

Where: asset record → Revoke button

System checks AJAX for the net allocated quantity for the selected staffid. You cannot revoke more than the employee has allocated.

3c. Broken

Where: asset record → Broken button

Marks units as damaged. Total quantity does NOT decrease — damaged units remain in inventory until repaired or disposed.

total_damages += amount → asset appears in the "Broken" tab.

3d. Warranty/Repair

Where: asset record → Warranty button

Converts damaged units → repaired.

total_warranty += amount, total_damages -= amount.

3e. Lost

Where: asset record → Lost button

Permanent removal from inventory. amount -= amount, total_lost += amount.

3f. Disposal / Write-off (Liquidation)

Where: asset record → Liquidation button

amount -= amount, total_liquidation += amount.

3g. Add stock (Additional)

Where: asset record → Additional button

Increases inventory with new units (e.g.: additional purchase of the same type). amount += amount, cost = unit_price × added_amount.

4. Filter tabs (derived from counters)

5. Depreciation report

Where: /admin/assets/depreciation

Filterable by group and by individual asset. Real-time calculation:

months_elapsed        = (today - date_buy) / (60×60×24×31)
monthly_depreciation  = (unit_price × amount) / depreciation
total_depreciation    = months_elapsed × monthly_depreciation
residual_value        = (unit_price × amount) - total_depreciation

No automatic accounting entries are generated — the report is informational.

Required permissions

Gotchas

Module references

• Fleet Management — vehicles (separate module, no link to Assets)
• Expenses — expenses (not generated automatically from Assets)
• HR — Staff — employees to whom assets are allocated