In most small and medium-size cities, establishing a Capital Asset Accounting System (CAAS) is not a major undertaking. However, planning, direction and cooperation are needed to achieve satisfactory results.

The following steps are suggested to establish the initial capital asset record:

• Assign one responsible individual the task and authority for establishing capital asset records.
• Take an initial physical inventory to collect all essential information. Description, assigned department, location, model number, serial number, manufacturer, size, and capacity are a few of the suggested identifying characteristics of each asset.
• Establish a value for all capital assets. Use historical cost records if available, or estimate value. Documentation is important.
• Complete and file an individual property record card or computer file on each capital asset.
• Label or tag capital assets. Adhesive metal tags or labels are convenient for marking each asset.