What is the ‘Our Stuff’ tab? 

‘Our Stuff’ is exactly what it sounds like! It’s a database of all your assets. Assets are items or facilities that Friends of your organization can book, rent, or borrow. 

The Our Stuff tab is where your Asset inventory is managed. It allows you to:

  1. Search and Browse the Asset inventory
  2. View Booking Activity for specific dates
  3. See information about Assets that are Currently Out
  4. Add new Assets to the system.

There are two main types of Asset the system tracks:

1. Equipment

  • Equipment items represent Assets that can be rented and removed from the premises. These Assets are booked on a day-by-day basis and the rental rate is per-day. 
  • The Bulk Asset is a subtype of equipment, which is represented in the system as a single Asset. Bulk Assets are generally low-cost items which are stored in bulk and do not require specific serial numbers (cables, sandbags, etc…). The system can calculate how many of a bulk item is currently available based on Booking information.

2. Facilities

  • Facility items represent Assets that are fixed and cannot be removed from the premises. These Assets can be facilities like editing suites or exhibition rooms. Facilities are booked on an hour-by-hour basis and the rental rate is per-hour.

How do I search for Assets?

The system maintains an optimized search index in order to make searching and browsing Assets as fast and efficient as possible. Assets are indexed and search by their name or barcode. 

1. Click the ‘Search’ subsection underneath the Our Stuff tab. 

2. Type in the Asset name, and/or select an Asset category from the dropdown menu.

Decommissioned assets are not included in searches by default. Check the ‘Include Decommissioned Assets in search?’ tickbox to include them. 

3. Click the Search button.

4. A list of Assets that fit the search criteria will generate on the right-hand side.

Each result item includes a summary of information about the Asset. It includes name, category, pricing, and whether or not the Asset is active or inactive. 

Clicking any of the Asset listings will link to that Asset’s Summary View.

What is the Activity view? What is it used for?

The Activity View shows the movement of Assets in your database. This view is useful for getting an instant snapshot of items that need to be prepared for pickup or drop off, and items that need to be returned. 

1. Click the ‘Activity’ subsection underneath the ‘Our Stuff’ tab. 

2. Click Equipment, Facility, or Library to see the movement of assets within each category.

3. You’ll see items in that category divided into IN, OUT, and OVERDUE.

Bookings that show up will include: 

  • The name of the Friend that made the booking 
  • The date the Ticket was created 
  • A link to ‘Show Individual Bookings’ (This shows a list of individual items in the booking)
  • I link to generate a Packing List 

Note: If you don’t mark an item as “Checked In” upon return it is considered overdue and can be seen at the bottom of the activity page.

What is the Checked Out view? What is it used for?

The Checked Out View lists all Assets that are currently checked out of inventory. There are two subviews: 

  • Checked out 
  • Ticket Builder 
  • Being Serviced 

Checked Out 

The ‘Checked Out’ subview shows Assets that are currently checked out by Friends. This subview shows: 

  • The name of the Asset 
  • Quantity of the Asset checked out 
  • The Booking Range 
  • The Friend who made the booking 

The Asset and Friend names can be clicked to view the Summary View of each. 

Note: The Booking Range reflects the dates the asset is booked for, and not when it was checked out or checked in. If a rental is not marked as “Out” it will automatically be marked as “In” on the scheduled day of return.

Ticket Builder 

Unsaved Tickets in the Ticket Builder appear in a list. Each item in the list includes: 

  • Who they’re for
  • The amount of time elapsed since they were created
  • A trash can (which will destroy the abandoned Ticket when clicked) 

Note: The Ticket can also be destroyed through the Ticket Builder in the Friend, or Program views. 

Being Serviced 

The Being Serviced view lists all Assets that currently have a status of Being Serviced. These are usually Assets that are temporarily out of commission for repairs. 

When an Asset is changed to ‘Being Serviced’, a Flag is automatically created and associated with the user that changed the status. 

The ‘Last Flagged By’ column displays the name of the last AMS user that changed the Asset’s status to Being Serviced. 

What is the Rental Requests View?

When “Friends” who have been given permission to book equipment create their own ticket, the ticket will first appear in the Rental Requests View for approval from a Staff Member, or Admin.

From here the ticket request can be approved, denied, or amended.

What is the Asset Summary View? How do I access it? 

The Asset Summary View provides detailed information about an Asset, a summary of its history, and all the available functions. 

This view is accessed by clicking the name of an Asset from any other view in AMS. 

If the Asset is currently checked out, a notice is displayed at the top of the view with the name of the Friend that has the Asset, and a link to manually Check In the Asset. 

All of the information entered about the Asset displays in the main part of the view. There are four main functions provided: 

  • Add/change photo
  • Edit this Asset 
  • Add a flag to this Asset
  • View Asset Report 

The Assert Report provides a summary of key financial information. The date range can be altered, and a spreadsheet can be generated by clicking ‘Generate CSV’.

Underneath the asset information, there is a calendar that shows current and past bookings. 

Click on ‘See History’ for a full list of the Asset’s history. The Asset History displays an entry for every Booking and Flag recorded on the Asset. 

How do I create new Assets?

There are two ways to create an asset. 

If you are already in the Search, Activity, or Checked Out subsections, click ‘Add New Asset’ in the top right-hand corner. 

OR, click on the ‘Add New’ subsection of the Our Stuff tab.

This will take you to the Asset creation page. 

1. Select whether the asset is Equipment or a Facility

2. Fill in Basic Asset Information

Asset Name: What the asset is. For example: film stock, a specific camera or light fixture, the name of a facility. 

Asset Status: The current status of the Asset. There are three radio buttons used to select the status of an Asset:

  1. Active – An asset that is currently available to rent. When Assets are created they are marked Active by default 
  2. Being Serviced – This indicates that asses have been removed from the asset pool for servicing  
  3. Decommissioned – The asset has been lost, stolen, or destroyed and needs to be removed from the system. 

Note: Decommissioned Assets cannot be permanently deleted to ensure database integrity. They are not included in Asset Searches unless the ‘Include Decommissioned Assets in search?’ tickbox is checked.

Photo of Asset: Photo of the actual asset. 

Category: The specific type of Asset. Categories are customizable through the System Settings under the Rentals section.

Location: The location the Equipment or Facility is accessed from. 

Unique/Quickbooks Name: An identifier between AMS and QuickBooks, if your organization links accounting to QuickBooks Online. It is usually automatically generated by the system.

External URL resources: You can optionally provide one link to any URL that will complement the asset. For example: it could be a link to the webpage of the supplier/brand/item, it could be a user guide, or a relevant link to your organization’s website! 

Purchase Date: Can be left blank, but is helpful in determining warranty eligibility if the date has not been noted elsewhere.

Description: This field provides a further description of what the Asset is, what it’s used for, and any other important information. 

Included Accessories: A list of all accessories that the Asset comes with such as cases, lenses, and battery packs that need to be tracked (to ensure they are returned). 

Each item should be listed on its own separate line. This information is used elsewhere in the system, such as on Packing Lists. This should be checked whenever an Asset is checked out and returned to ensure the Asset has everything it should. 

Warranty Information: An explanation of warranty or servicing information relevant to the Asset. This might include where it was purchased, whether and when the warranty expires, whether the Asset is covered under some other type of warranty, etc.

This field could also be updated with servicing information whenever it is repaired.

Serial Number: This can be either the serial number on the back of the item or the serialized number your organization has assigned to the item. 

Taxes: These tickboxes specify whether GST, HST, or PST need to be calculated. 

Pricing: Both Member (preferred) and Non Member (non-preferred) prices must be supplied for every Asset in the system, even if the values are 0. These are used for automatically generated Rental Invoices and reporting. Prices are per-hour for Facilities and per-day for Equipment.

Accounting Code: Used to indicate the appropriate Accounting Code for the Asset. This code is included in reports and on Invoices in order to allow the accounting department to properly code information entered into the accounting system.

Purchase Amount: Value of the item when it was originally purchased.

Insurance Value: The current value of the item (for insurance purposes).

Status Change Notes: When the asset goes for maintenance or gets decommissioned, you can leave notes on this field.

Barcode: Barcodes can be specified as an additional inventory control mechanism for Equipment. The option is not available for Facilities. 

Assets can be found by manually putting the cursor focus into the search box, scanning the barcode and then clicking search.

Third-Party Rental Agreement: In situations where the asset belongs to a person or organization other than your own, this field shows % of profits kept by the third party (as per any agreement you’ve made with that third party). 

Accreditation Restrictions: Accreditations restrict Friends from booking unless they meet specified requirements to ensure the Friend is trained and/or capable of using the Asset. For flexibility, the system will not physically prevent a Booking that a Friend is not accredited for, but a warning will be visible to make it known that the user lacks accreditation. 

The Accreditation system works in two parts: 

  1. Accreditation must be assigned to the Asset. This can be done by either assigning an existing Accreditation (if an appropriate one already exists) or by creating a new one for the specific Asset, or type of Asset. 
  2. Friends must be granted Accreditation. Note that ‘Beginner’ Accreditations are granted automatically to all Friends, and can be manually removed if desired. 

To assign an accreditation to an Asset, 

  1. Check the ‘This Asset requires Accreditation?’ tickbox. This will reveal a drop-down list and a link to create a new Accreditation.
  2. If an appropriate accreditation already exists, select it and save the Asset. 
  3. If an appropriate Accreditation does not yet exist, click ‘Create New’
  4. Give the new Accreditation a name, and select an Accreditation Level.
  5. The new Accreditation will be added to the system and will be automatically selected in the drop-down list.

It’s helpful to have a set of broad Accreditations for niche skills. For example: Create ‘Film Camera’ and ‘Video Camera’ Accreditations, and then create more specific Accreditations like ’16mm Film Camera’ or ‘Bolex’ even, as, and if, the need arises.

Bulk Assets: Bulk Assets are used to represent lower cost, Equipment multiples such as extension cords or sandbags. A Bulk Item is tracked internally as a single Asset. But, it has an additional quantity attribute that specifies how many of the item there are in total. 

An Asset should only be considered a Bulk Asset if the individual items are indistinguishable from one another. For example, you might have ’25ft Extension Cord’ or ’10ft Extension Cord’ as bulk items instead of a general ‘Extension Cord’ bulk item, because there would be no way of knowing which sizes are booked. 

It would be a mistake to create a Bulk Asset for an Asset of significant value since that would harm the ability to record and track important information about each item separately (such as service history or flags). 

To create a Bulk Asset: 

  1. Check the ‘This is a Bulk Asset?’ tickbox. 
  2. Enter the accurate number of items that should be available for booking. The system automatically manages Asset availability based on this number. 

The number of Bulk Items in the inventory can be changed at any point in the future by editing the Asset and changing the value. 

Once an Asset is created as a Bulk Asset it can not be changed into a normal Asset. Likewise, a normal Asset can not be changed into a Bulk Asset. 

Note: It is not currently possible for Programs to make Reservations for Bulk Assets.

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