Audit Campaigns
An audit is the exercise that turns your register from a list somebody typed into a list somebody can rely on. You decide what will be counted, people go and count it, you settle whatever the count disagrees with, and then somebody signs that the result stands.
ams/audits). Counting happens on
the phone-friendly scan page — see Counting & Verifying.
There is also a one-asset Record audit action on any asset's own page, unchanged from
before; it now counts towards an open campaign automatically if one covers that asset.
Why a campaign, and not just a checkbox
Between one handover and the next, months pass with nothing forcing anyone to look at the physical item. A campaign closes that gap for a whole group of equipment at once, and — the part that makes it evidence rather than housekeeping — it records what was expected before anyone went looking. Every line stores the holder, the location, the caretaker and the serial as the register claimed them at the moment the scope was frozen, so the comparison is against a fixed position and not against a register that shifted while the count was under way.
The five states
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | You are still deciding what will be counted. Nothing has been fixed yet, and the scope can still change. |
| Counting | The scope has been frozen into a fixed list of items and people can record what they find. |
| In review | Everything has been counted. Somebody is going through the findings before signing. |
| Certified | Signed. The certificate can be printed and filed. |
| Closed | Finished and put away. Nothing more will change. |
Choosing what gets counted
A campaign can cover everything, or narrow to one establishment, location, department, project, caretaker, category or model — or a list of assets you pick by hand. Pick the narrowest scope that answers your question: a count nobody finishes evidences nothing.
Evidence rules
Each campaign carries its own rules about what counts as adequate evidence. They are set when the campaign is created and apply to every item in it.
| Rule | Effect |
|---|---|
| The person holding an asset may not audit it | On by default. An audit somebody performs on their own equipment evidences nothing. Turn it off only for a self-inventory exercise, and know that is what you are doing. |
| Require a photo when something is wrong | A finding without a picture is one person's word. On by default. |
| Require a photo for every item | Stricter, and slower. Reserve it for high-value equipment. |
| Check serial numbers | Asks the counter to read back the serial. This is how a swapped unit is caught. |
| Check accessories | Asks whether the charger, case and dongle are still with it. |
| Correct an asset's location when it is found elsewhere | On means the register is corrected as the count proceeds. Off means a moved asset is only reported as moved, and somebody decides later. |
What a count can conclude
You can state a result outright, or let the system work it out from the condition, location and serial that were recorded. Three of them are material — they are the ones that make a count untrue, and they block certification until they are settled.
| Result | Meaning | Blocks certification? |
|---|---|---|
| Verified | Found, where it should be, with whom it should be, in the condition recorded. | No |
| Missing | Not where it was expected. Note this is not the same as lost. | Yes |
| Damaged | Found, but in worse condition than the register claims. | Yes |
| Serial mismatch | Found, but it is not the same physical unit. | Yes |
| Moved | Found, in a different place. A correction, not a finding. | No |
| Wrong caretaker | Found, with somebody other than the recorded holder. | No |
Settling the findings
The Discrepancies tab lists everything still waiting on a decision, with a suggested action beside each. The suggestion is a hint and never automatic: what a finding means is a judgement, and an audit exists precisely so a person makes it. Four things can be done:
| Action | When |
|---|---|
| Raise a fault report | The equipment is damaged or cannot be found. Creates a proper issue, which can go on to the Helpdesk queue like any other — see Issues & Helpdesk Tickets. |
| Correct the location | It was simply somewhere else and the register was out of date. |
| Resolve | The finding has an explanation: found elsewhere, already written off, or the record was wrong rather than the asset. |
| Accept as an exception | The finding stands, and somebody with the authority is signing that the campaign may certify anyway. Needs a reason, and it is the entry a reviewer will go looking for. |
Certifying
The Certification tab shows exactly what stands between the campaign and a certificate, in words. Two things must be true: every item counted, and no material finding left open. Once signed, the certificate is a printable document naming the counts, the value behind each result, the condition the estate was found in, and who signed — the thing that gets filed.
Audits that open themselves
Companies that count on a cycle can set an audit policy — a scope, how often, and who leads it. Each morning the system opens a draft campaign for any schedule that has come due. Draft, not counting: a person still decides when the count actually starts. Each schedule and period opens exactly one campaign no matter how many times the job runs.
Separately, a daily reminder goes to the lead and the assigned auditors when a campaign is nearly due or has passed its date — at most once a day per campaign. See Automation & Reminders.
Who can do what
Four separate permissions, because an audit only means something when the same person does not do all four jobs.
| Permission | Allows |
|---|---|
| Manage Campaigns | Create, edit, freeze, assign, submit for review, reopen, close and cancel. |
| Perform Audits | Counting. The lowest bar of the four — an auditor walking a floor needs this and nothing else. |
| Resolve Discrepancies | Deciding what a finding means, including accepting an exception. |
| Certify Audits | Signing the result. |
The older Assets: Audit permission is unchanged: it lets somebody see audit information and record a one-asset count from that asset's own page.