The authority selects RAM's Asset4000 solution to centralise the fixed asset register and ensure compliance with IFRS

27 APRIL 2009: Bolsover District Council, an authority which provides a variety of services to the residents of Bolsover in Derbyshire, including refuse collection, housing and leisure facilities, has selected Real Asset Management's (RAM) Asset4000 to improve the management of its fixed assets. The purchase, valued at £9,500, includes installation, configuration, training and data conversion. Asset4000 will assist the Council extensively with compliance to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which comes into effect for public sector organisations in 2010, by providing a centralised asset register which can ensure the detailed level of component accounting required, streamlining business processes and enabling significant time and cost savings.

Asset4000 accurately splits fixed asset information down to the very fine detail required for component accounting, a feature which is currently used by a number of local and central government organisations, housing associations and NHS Trusts and one which was vital for Bolsover District Council. Councillor Alan Hodkin, Cabinet Member for Corporate Efficiency at the Council confirmed "To split spreadsheets down further than what they already are is really complicated. We can no longer just state a council house as a building - we may have to document the roof and the kitchen and so on. If we had carried on using the spreadsheets, there would just be far too many, whereas with the new system we can track all of our assets easily so we always know where they are."

Bolsover District Council's fixed assets include council properties - bungalows, flats and houses - operational buildings - offices and contact centres - as well as car parks, leisure centres and vehicles. The District Council's previous asset management system consisted of hundreds of separate worksheets, which could no longer accommodate the new requirements of IFRS. The purchase of Asset4000 from RAM has provided a centralised and fully automated means of accurately storing and managing all fixed asset data, eliminating the risk of errors, increasing staff resource and efficiencies and reducing running costs. The Asset4000 module is fully configurable, combining flexibility and ease with fine detail and precision.

RAM's Asset4000 is specifically designed to assist with IFRS and SORP compliance and has supported many Government organisations and local authorities as well as NHS Trusts to become fully compliant. RAM's excellent reputation among public sector organisations was a key factor in the Council's decision to purchase the software. Alan Hodkin comments, "RAM's software had been recommended to us by our peers in the local Government market so we knew it would provide us with what we needed - a system that would allow us to monitor, manage and track all our fixed assets incredibly accurately at detailed component level with minimal manual input. This in turn ensures that we comply with IFRS and SORP."

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Real Asset Management is a leading provider of fixed asset management and logistics software & services. Over the last 25 years its products have been implemented by more than 3,000 organisations in over 70 countries.

RAM, one of the leading suppliers to the UK public sector, has been successfully implemented in over 100 Housing Associations and Local Authorities, 150 Central Government sites, 200 NHS Trusts, 90 Educational Establishments, 250 MoD sites and 1,000 Commercial companies worldwide.

The company has developed a powerful array of software modules around a central data repository that enables organisations of any size to manage every aspect of the asset lifecycle. Its Series4000 solution offers fixed asset accounting, capital project control, lessee asset accounting, asset budgeting, help desk management, inventory control, asset tracking, maintenance management and capital allowance calculations.

For further information, please contact:

Karen Conneely Olivea Nixon/Krista Cundy

Real Asset Management The itpr Partnership

Tel 01689 892100 Tel: +44 (0)1932 578800

Email: olivean@itpr.co.uk

Further information (external website)