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Public schools districts, private schools, and higher education institutions have a responsibility to manage their inventory and assets appropriately, because there are so many stakeholders involved. These educational institutions receive funding, tuition, and other endowments that make them especially accountable to those stakeholders.
More importantly, these institutions fall under the governance of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards or the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) standards, and complying with the standards is critical to their ongoing operations.
Because inventory management and asset management are so important to educational institutions, schools and the educators employed by them should be aware of the best practices associated with inventory and fixed assets. To help those schools and educators become more informed about inventory and asset management, we have rounded up our top picks for inventory and asset management resources. Our top inventory and asset management resources for schools and educators are made available by industry leaders and experts in the field, so that educational institutions can be assured they are getting the most accurate and up-to-date information.
We’ve also rounded up our top picks for inventory and asset management tools and software solutions, so that educational institutions can choose those that are best suited to their needs and begin streamlining and automating inventory and asset management on their campuses. Whether you are in charge of tracking textbooks or lab chemicals, or maintaining and servicing school vehicles and equipment, you’re sure to find some useful information, tips, and tools among the following inventory and asset management resources and tools.
1. 4 Tips on Becoming a Better Buyer for Your School Lunch Program
@GFSDelivers
Gordon Food Service has delivered the quality products school districts need in order to design successful food operations for more than 115 years. Their inventory management article, 4 Tips on Becoming a Better Buyer for Your School Lunch Program, is a resource for food service directors who are concerned with watching their bottom line and determining the best way to spend their entitlement monies.
Three key tips we like from 4 Tips on Becoming a Better Buyer for Your School Lunch Program:
Cost: FREE
2. How to Implement Best Practices for School Technology Asset Tracking
@inventoryninja
Jason Sentell, product marketing manager at Wasp Barcode Technologies, is an expert in inventory management best practices for small businesses. He offers guidance for school districts looking to implement best practices in technology asset tracking in this inventory and asset management article. As Sentell points out, schools are under fire because of tech equipment losses, so they must adopt best practices to help them avoid errors due to asset management.
Three key tips we like from How to Implement Best Practices for School Technology Asset Tracking:
Cost: FREE
3. 5 Real Solutions for Managing Tablets and iPads in Schools
@THE_Journal
T.H.E. Journal seeks to transform education through technology. They also seek to offer practical solutions for school districts looking to manage tablets and iPads with their inventory and asset management article, 5 Real Solutions for Managing Tablets and iPads in Schools. Specifically, writer David Raths shares tips from school district technology leaders who are responsible for tablet deployments.
Three key tips we like from 5 Real Solutions for Managing Tablets and iPads in Schools:
Cost: FREE
4. LA Schools’ Audit Finds Hundreds of Computers Stolen, Missing; Thousands Unaccounted For
@KPCC
When news broke that Las Angeles school computers were missing or unused, outrage ensued. The issue seemed to boil down to the school system’s poor inventory controls and inaccurate records. Learning from districts that have a lack of inventory management is important for other schools and educators, making this article a valuable resource.
Three key points we like from LA Schools’ Audit Finds Hundreds of Computers Stolen, Missing; Thousands Unaccounted For:
Cost: FREE
5. 5 Tips to Streamline Parts Inventory Management
@SchoolBusFleet
School bus maintenance is another important aspect of school inventory and asset management, as this article from School Bus Fleet Magazine points out. Having a streamlined process in place when school buses break down or need maintenance ensures tat the fleet keeps running throughout the school year.
Three key points we like from 5 Tips to Streamline Parts Inventory Management:
Cost: FREE
6. Book ’em
@ScholasticTeach
Tracking textbooks is a key element of inventory and asset management for schools and educators. In this inventory management article, district-wide administrator of the Destiny Textbook Manager from Follett Systems Wendy Zirkin explains how textbook tracking saves her time and money.
Three key points we like from Book ’em:
Cost: FREE
7. An Asset Management Plan Can Help Modernize Public School Facilities
@GenSol_EAM
GenesisSolutions offers maintenance and asset management services and work to help their clients identify and implement procedures for enhancing asset reliability and increasing capacity while reducing maintenance costs and extending asset lifecycle. Their asset management article, An Asset Management Plan Can Help Modernize Public School Facilities, explores the reasons that public school districts especially benefit from asset management programs.
Three key points we like from An Asset Management Plan Can Help Modernize Public School Facilities:
Cost: FREE
8. Tools for Schools: Asset Management in Academia
@SmartwareGroup
Smartware Group focuses on maintenance professionals and offers maintenance and safety solutions that are simple, yet powerful. They also offer Tools for Schools: Asset Management in Academia, an inventory and asset management article that describes the needs school districts face for asset management solutions, as they atop tablets, e-Readers, online learning platforms, and remote classrooms that require local energy storage, electric vehicle chargers, and other similar solutions.
Three key points we like from Tools for Schools: Asset Management in Academia:
Cost: FREE
9. GASB and FASB
@NACUBO
The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) represents business and finance professionals from more than 2,100 colleges and universities and promotes sound business and finance strategies. Because colleges and universities are responsible for meeting GASB and FASB accounting standards, as are other educational institutions, NACUBO shares an informative article that offers a “crash course on the standards and their significance for campuses.”
Three key facts we like from GASB and FASB:
Cost: FREE
10. Lab Cleanout Inventory
@EducationFL
Inventory management for schools and educators especially is important in terms of science classrooms and labs. The Florida Department of Education offers its Lab Cleanout Inventory, a guide on lab inventory management for schools. The resource guides school officials and educators through completing a chemical inventory, including deciding how to complete the process, procedures to follow, and more.
Three key ideas we like from Lab Cleanout Inventory:
Cost: FREE
11. Efficient Inventory Management through Ordering and Receiving
@PrimeroEdge
PrimeroEdge offers a solution for schools to provide nutritious meals, operate efficiently, and better serve their students, parents, and communities. Their inventory management resource is a guide for establishing an efficient inventory management system that includes ordering and receiving best practices. The guide encourages food service directors to look at all of the forms of financial assets that are involved in nutrition and food programs.
Three key points we like from Efficient Inventory Management through Ordering and Receiving:
Cost: FREE
12. Inventory Tracking Best Practices from Oxford University
@WaspBarcode
Wasp Barcode manufactures efficiency solutions for small businesses, and they understand inventory management. Their inventory management resource, Inventory Tracking Best Practices from Oxford University, is a case study on how Oxford University uses inventory management tracking technology to track and maintain nearly 30,000 phones.
Three key points we like from Inventory Tracking Best Practices from Oxford University:
Cost: FREE
13. Securing School Equipment
@UFT
@NYCSchools
Securing School Equipment is an inventory management white paper put out by the New York City Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to offer tips for ensuring desktop and laptop computers and other technology devices are kept safe and secure in New York City schools. The white paper contains tips for deliveries, inventory, storage and distribution, usage and collection, and guidance for handling missing or stolen items.
Three key tips we like from Securing School Equipment:
Cost: FREE
14. Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program
@MealsPlus
Meals Plus offers a suite of software for school cafeteria management in K-12 schools. Their inventory management white paper, Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program, explains that inventory management must be a priority for schools because as much as 40-46% of child nutrition program revenues are spent on food each year.
Three key topics we like from Managing the Money on the Pantry Shelves: Inventory Management for Your Child Nutrition Program:
Cost: FREE with email registration
15. Seven Questions Every District Should Ask About Asset & Inventory Management Solutions
@CrossTec
CrossTec Corporation offers software solutions for IT security, education technology, enterprise network, and help desks. They present Seven Questions Every District Should Ask About Asset & Inventory Management Solutions, an inventory management white paper, which highlights the need for automated asset management in schools.
Three key points we like from Seven Questions Every District Should Ask About Asset & Inventory Management Solutions:
Cost: FREE
16. The U.S. Food Waste Challenge – Team Up: Best Practices for Maximizing Your Food Resources
@USDANutrition
This inventory management video is presented by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service works to effectively and efficiently and hunger and improve nutrition in America. The video is a summary of a presentation made by Pamela Quisenberry of the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi and Dr. Jeannie Sneed of the Center for Excellence in Food Safety in Child Nutrition Programs at Kansas State University. The video examines how schools can reduce food waste with proper inventory management.
Three key points we like from The U.S. Food Waste Challenge – Team Up: Best Practices for Maximizing Your Food Resources:
Cost: FREE
17. GASB 34/35 101 (The Basics)
@UNC_System
The University of North Carolina holds an annual UNC Financial Systems Conference covering topics such as budgeting, capital projects, contracts, and more. Their 2013 conference featured a presentation on GASB 34 and 35 by Ron Sanders and Laura Williams of UNC Charlotte. The presentation includes information on how universities and educational institutions can prepare for and comply with the GASB standards, which include inventory and asset management reporting.
Three key facts we like from GASB 34/35 101 (The Basics):
Cost: FREE
18. Managing Textbook Inventory to Lower Costs and Support Student Success
@WebEx
Cisco WebEx is a source for remote work collaboration. Because school districts and educational institutions have buildings in various locations, it can be difficult to conduct inventory and asset management processes efficiently. WebEx’s inventory management webinar for schools and educators, Managing Textbook Inventory to Lower Costs and Support Student Success, addresses the challenges of textbook inventory management and demonstrates how schools can efficiently track textbook inventory to bring costs under control. This on-demand webinar is one hour in length.
Three key topics we like from Managing Textbook Inventory to Lower Costs and Support Student Success:
Cost: FREE with email registration
19. Six Asset Inventory Challenges Facing K-12 Education
@HayesSoftware
Hayes Software Systems offers inventory control solutions for K-12 administration, including textbook management, one-to-one device management, IT asset management, and more. That’s why they are a trustworthy resource when it comes to understanding asset and inventory management in K-12 schools. Their inventory and asset management webinar, Six Asset Inventory Challenges Facing K-12 Education, explains how school districts successfully overcome “six critical asset challenges that affect initiative effectiveness and staff satisfaction.”
Three key topics we like from Six Asset Inventory Challenges Facing K-12 Education:
Cost: FREE, with email registration
20. SchoolDude InventoryDirect
@Schooldude
SchoolDude has been “the #1 provider of software solutions for educational facilities and technology professionals since 1999.” Their inventory management software, SchoolDude InventoryDirect, is a cloud-based inventory management app that tracks all inventory transactions for schools. InventoryDirect helps schools streamline the process of requesting, ordering, and tracking school supplies and tools and then allocating supplies for upcoming work requests, to save schools time and money.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
21. IntelliTrack
@IntelliTrack
IntelliTrack Software helps schools manage inventory and assets, including anything that can be tagged or barcoded. In fact, educational institutions choose IntelliTrack for their inventory management needs because the software solution makes it possible to track textbooks, AV equipment, computers, and school supplies. This barcode tracking software tracks school resources for school districts, universities, and colleges.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
22. Impero Education Pro Inventory Management
@ImperoUS
Impero Software supplies the global EdTech sector with software for productive classrooms, supported networks, and safer students. Their inventory management software, Impero Education Pro, makes it possible for educational institutions to track software and hardware inventory easily and efficiently. This comprehensive network management software suite for schools provides automated inventory checks that save time and make the auditing process much more smooth.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
23. ASAP Systems’ Passport
@ASAP_Systems
ASAP Systems offers a comprehensive inventory and asset tracking system for schools that is enabled by barcode and smartphone technology. ASAP Systems’ Passport delivers automated inventory management and asset tracking to school districts, colleges, and universities. This inventory and asset management system can be configured to fit any school’s specific needs. Passport also has the capability of tracking faculty, staff, lab computer, printers, audio equipment, video equipment, workshop took, materials, and library books with wireless barcode scanners, configurable reporting, check out-in capability, and much more.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trail available; Contact for a quote
24. InstrumentLife Synchronized Asset Management
@InstrumentLife
InstrumentLife is a technology suite for schools that need to protect, manage, and track their valuable assets. InstrumentLife offers powerful tools, including the school inventory mobile app with GPS accountability and multi-site asset management, for managing, tracking, and monitoring school-owned assets everywhere they go. Track the school’s inventory, from music and band equipment, to athletic gear, to student laptops, to school furniture with InstrumentLife. InstrumentLife Synchronized Asset Management features iLiD chips and cards for tracking inventory and assets and the iLiD app for use with a smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
25. EducationStack Inventory Management System Software
@educationstack
An ecosystem to connect students, academics, and staff, EducationStack offers its inventory management system software for efficiently managing school or college inventory. Educational institution administrators can manage all of their school’s inventory with EducationStack Inventory Management System Software.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE
26. ChemTracker
ChemTracker software was developed by Stanford University to provide universities with a fast, powerful reporting and inventory management system for all of the chemicals on their campuses. The inventory management features of ChemTracker allow departments to track materials by container, location, department, or owner and ensures that laboratories and chemistry professors are able to safely track and manage their chemicals in order to meet regulations, be aware of the chemicals and their locations, know the hazards of the present chemicals, and tag chemicals in order to save money and prevent waste.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
27. WiseTrack
@WiseTrack
WiseTrack offers “best of class asset tracking software” for schools. Whether it is used to manage education facility, IT, or lab equipment, WiseTrack is an easy-to-use system for assigning assets to faculty and students with check-out/check-in features and the ability to inventory or move assets with web or mobile devices.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
28. MobileAsset.EDU
@WaspBarcode
Wasp Barcode offers MobileAsset.EDU, an exemplary asset tracking system with easy reporting for educational institutions. MobileAsset.EDU checks assets in and out and makes it simple for schools and educators to manage assets by funding source. Reduce capital expenditures, ensure federal grant compliance, increase accountability, and quickly conduct audits with Wasp Barcode’s MobileAsset.EDU.
Key Features:
Cost:
29. TS School Inventory Module
@ts_school
TS School offers basic and comprehensive school management and administration software that is extremely customizable, with 42 available modules. The inventory module is a professional-grade module that offers a complete inventory management solution.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial for 30 days
30. School Softwares
School Softwares offers Schools Inventory Management Software to handle various purchases, item issuance, and supply levels. This inventory management software solution offers multiple supplier support and tracks supplier payments in an account voucher. School Softwares’ Schools Inventory Management Software also allows for any level of grouping and item classification in categories and records item check-out and check-in.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
31. School Asset Manager
School Asset Manger is a complete asset management solution for education that utilizes the latest cloud and mobile technology. With asset tags, scanners, document and media storage, network management, and a help desk, School Asset Manager uses a mobile app-driven platform with cloud-hosted online reporting tools to help schools manage their assets while saving time and money.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available for 30 days
32. Redox Educational Institutes Management System
Redox Technologies offers Redox Educational Institutes Management System (EIMS), an integrated solution for any size or level of school, from nursery schools to colleges. Redox EIMS is available with a financial accounting and inventory management module package that includes asset management. Redox EIMS is based on JAVA technology and open database standards and protocols.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
33. PrimaSoft Handy Equipment/Tool Manager
@PrimaSoftPC
PrimaSoft is a simple database software that offers inventory management solutions for schools. Their Handy Equipment/Tool Manager for Windows is an equipment inventory software for schools, colleges, and universities that allows administrators and other users to easily manage inventories and track school assets of all kinds.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Handy Equipment/Tool Manager pricing begins at $345
34. Parago School Inventory Manager
@Parago_Software
Parago offers a powerful asset management system that enables educational institutions to automate the processes relating to managing PCs, software, and all fixed and mobile assets. Known for being user friendly, Parago School Inventory Manager offers total asset and inventory visibility and enables administrators and other users to control and manage school assets with a touch of a screen.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
35. MiChoice EZ-Task Inventory Control
MiChoice EZ-Task Inventory Control is a school food service management software tool from MiChoice Technology Systems, Inc. that includes an efficient back office inventory program. This inventory management tool for schools allows child nutrition directors and food service directors to easily track items and quantities, produce food service inventory reports, and effectively manage lunchroom inventory levels.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
36. Meals Plus Inventory Management System
@MealsPlus
Meals Plus offers a full suite of software for school cafeteria management. The Meals Plus inventory management solution for schools provides a centralized ordering and management system for schools to track commodities, purchased foods, supplies, and more.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
37. AssetTrakker
AssetTrakker by K12USA.com gives schools an easy-to-use, portable, fully-featured web-based asset management system that may be integrated with TroubleTrakkerPRO and WorkTrakkerPRO for added inventory and materials tracking features.
Key Features:
Cost:
38. iMagic Inventory – Education and Training Inventory Software
iMagic Inventory’s Education and Training Inventory Software is an inventory management solution for universities and colleges. This inventory management software solution helps these educational institutions gain control over educational resource spending and provides a district-wide view of all resources. Inventory and track items such as laptop carts, textbooks, students workbooks, and research materials with iMagic Inventory’s Education and Training Inventory Software and enjoy the benefits of managing fixed assets at a number of campuses and locations.
Key Features:
Cost:
39. IFNOSS Inventory/Stock Management System
@ifnoss
IFNOSS provides software for the education industry, and their Inventory/Stock Management System is an inventory management tool for maintaining all records of college inventory. The stock module gives college officials the ability to handle any type of transaction relating to purchase, storage, and issuance of stock items to departments.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
40. TIPWeb-IT
@HayesSoftware
Hayes Software offers inventory control solutions for K-12 administration that is designed specifically for K-12 schools. Their TIPWeb-IT solution is an easy-to-use school asset management tool for K-12 inventory control of mobile and fixed assets across rooms and assigned to staff and students. TIPWeb-IT is a leading solution for inventory control when integrated with barcode technology. Schools are able to track everything from Title I-funded classroom devices to learning devices for one-to-one initiatives with TIPWeb-IT.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
41. Foodco
@foodserve
Food Service Solutions, Inc., offers software solutions for the food service industry, including school cafeterias. They offer Foodco, a software solution that focuses on back office inventory, accounting, and production management to maximize school profits.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
42. eQuip! Enterprise Asset Management System
@eQuip_EISG
eQuip! is easy-to-use, flexible software for managing physical and IT assets. The eQuip! Enterprise Asset Management System is a software solution for educational institutions that hope to manage their assets more efficiently in order to meet their business needs. eQuip! Enterprise Asset Management System is especially helpful for schools that receive federal grants and are required to manage and report the equipment as capital assets or consumables to meet compliance regulations.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
43. Creatrix Campus Inventory Tracking
@creatrixcampus
Creatrix Campus Inventory Tracking is an automated inventory management tool that tracks inventory history with barcode scanners and mobile devices. A cloud-based inventory management tool, Creatrix Campus helps educational institutions streamline their inventory processes to make them more efficient. From custom reports to automated notifications and alerts, Creatrix Campus Inventory Tracking helps educational institutions save time and money.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
44. FAMIS
@AccruentLLC
Accruent LLC offers facilities management software, such as FAMIS, to help educational institutions manage their assets and inventory. FAMIS makes it possible for higher education institutions to automate the preventive, corrective, and predictive maintenance process for assets to ensure effective online facility management and a safe, clean campus.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
45. Innovative Solution Experts Educational Software Products – Inventory Management System
@ISolExperts
Innovative Solution Experts (ISolExperts) offers software solutions for businesses and organizations, such as educational institutions, that are reliable. Their education software solutions are web based and help teachers, administrators, and staff efficiently handle their duties. With a user-friendly interface and wide range of features, ISolExperts’ educational software products include several useful modules, from library management to inventory management.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
46. AudIT
@SGWORLD
With AudIT, school officials are able to track their assets on the internet or with AudIT Mobile on their smartphones or tablets. This assessment management system is designed specifically for schools and educational institutions and helps administrators by keeping all of their asset information together in a single software solution.
Key Features:
Cost: FREE trial available; Contact for a quote
47. Booktracks
@booksystems
Book Systems has been providing library automation software for 25 years. Their inventory management system, Booktracks, is for far more than library books; it tracks textbooks, eReaders, tablets, laptops, and other expensive assets. In fact, Booktracks is an inventory and asset manager that tracks textbooks and assets in order to save schools time and money.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
48. Textbook Tracker
@TextbookTracker
Schools lose hefty amounts of money due to textbook losses. Textbook Tracker is a textbook inventory management software solution that helps schools reduce textbook losses so they have better control over their bottom line.
Key Features:
Cost: Contact for a quote
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