The client
The client is a hospital in Australia with an extensive inventory of medical equipment.
Its finance team plans equipment budgets from the value and remaining life of what the hospital owns. That plan depended on manual depreciation tracking, and it had to meet Australian healthcare financial reporting requirements.
The challenge
The hospital could not see clearly what its equipment was worth or how much life it had left. Budgets were planned on incomplete data, and new equipment was bought when existing equipment could have served.
- Depreciation of medical equipment was tracked inefficiently, which weakened budget planning.
- Without visibility into existing assets, the hospital spent too much on new equipment.
- Asset records were kept by hand and were prone to error.
- Keeping in line with Australian healthcare financial regulations took effort and was hard to show.
What they set up in Asset Infinity
The hospital put its medical equipment in Asset Infinity’s asset register and ran depreciation, budgets and reporting from the same records.
Depreciation runs for every asset
Depreciation is calculated for each item of medical equipment in regular runs, using the methods the finance team set, so book values stay current without spreadsheets. (Finance)
One register of medical equipment
Each item has its location, status, purchase details and history, so anyone planning a purchase can first see what the hospital already owns. (Assets)
Budgets built on asset data
Budgets and capital plans are prepared from current book values and asset age, so replacement spending goes to equipment that is really at end of life. (Finance)
Reports for financial reporting
Reports are set up to match the hospital’s financial reporting requirements and can be scheduled, so the finance team no longer assembles them by hand. (Insight)
How it works day to day
Here is how equipment, depreciation and budgets now run from one set of records.
- Asset coordinator: registers new equipment. Each new item of medical equipment is added to the register with its cost, purchase date, location and documents.
- System: runs depreciation. Depreciation is calculated for every asset each period, so the book value of each item is always up to date.
- Department head: checks before asking to buy. Before requesting new equipment, the department checks the register for similar items that are idle or held elsewhere in the hospital.
- Finance team: plans the budget. Budgets and capital plans are drawn up from book values, asset age and remaining life, so replacements are planned for equipment near the end of its life.
- Asset coordinator: keeps status current. When equipment moves or is retired, its record is updated. A retired item is recorded as a disposal and leaves the books.
- Finance team: produces reports. Depreciation and asset reports that match the hospital’s financial reporting requirements are run or scheduled from the same records.
- Management: reviews spending. Dashboards show equipment value, age and spending against budget, which inform the next round of purchase decisions.
Before and after
| Before | With Asset Infinity | |
|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | Tracked manually and inefficiently | Calculated in regular runs for every asset |
| Budget planning | Based on incomplete depreciation data | Based on current book values and remaining life |
| Equipment purchases | Bought without seeing existing assets | Register checked first, 15% fewer unnecessary purchases |
| Asset records | Manual and error-prone | One register with status and history |
| Financial reporting | Hard to align with Australian requirements | Reports tailored to those requirements |
| Effort | Significant time on manual asset management | Much less time spent |
How it rolled out
- Equipment records loaded. Medical equipment was recorded in the asset register with its purchase dates, costs and current status.
- Depreciation set up. Depreciation for medical equipment was configured in line with the accounting standards the hospital follows.
- Reports and budgets aligned. Reports were tailored to the hospital’s financial reporting needs, and budget forecasts were linked to live asset data.
The results
- 25% increase in budget efficiency
- 15% fewer unnecessary equipment purchases
- Asset management practices in line with Australian healthcare financial regulations.
- Much less time and effort spent on manual asset management.
- Budget decisions based on accurate depreciation data instead of estimates.
Why it worked
Finance and operations share one record
The value, age and status of each item come from the same register, so budgets and purchase decisions agree with each other.
Depreciation without spreadsheets
Depreciation runs every period from the register, so book values are current when the budget is planned.
Visibility before spending
Seeing existing equipment before buying more is what cut unnecessary purchases.
Looking ahead
By tracking depreciation and the state of its medical equipment in one register, the hospital raised budget efficiency by 25% and cut unnecessary purchases by 15%, while keeping its asset records in line with Australian healthcare financial regulations.
The same register can carry each item’s maintenance history and disposal, so decisions to repair, replace or retire equipment rest on its full life.