Resource Library - Assets

Recording, reporting and safeguarding your assets, from small items like computers to large infrastructure like water systems and roads, can be a daunting task. SAO’s best practices, checklists and guides can help you develop your capital asset policies and procedures, design your asset tracking system, safeguard your small and attractive assets, and improve your take-home vehicle program.

Guide: Segregation of duties

Segregation of duties, or separating conflicting duty assignments, can help you protect your government’s assets. This guide can help local governments understand how to separate job duties when it’s feasible. It covers all types of financial processes from cash receipting to payroll and banking. The guide also includes additional control options for small governments or small operations within larger governments.

Last updated: September 2019

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Checklist: Segregation of duties

This customizable checklist can help governments analyze their internal controls and identify risky areas in need of possible improvement.

Last updated: May 2023

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Best Practices: Capital asset identification

These best practices and other suggestions can help local governments improve their methods for identifying and tracking capital assets in a financial reporting system. These best practices are intended for governments that report using generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Last updated: February 2024

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Checklist: Capital assets

Local governments can use this checklist to help ensure accurate and complete capital asset reporting at year-end, or to improve policies, processes and internal controls. It’s for GAAP entities only.

Last updated: January 2022

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Best Practices: Internal controls over small and attractive assets

Internal controls over small and attractive assets reduce the possibility of misappropriation and can help you detect it. Governments can use this guide to identify best practices for designing and implementing these internal controls.

Last updated: June 2018

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Best Practices: Take-home vehicles

This guide can help local governments identify and implement best practices for take-home vehicle programs and policies.

Last updated: November 2019

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