---
title: "Assets"
description: "One register of every piece of hardware, from purchase to disposal, that links each unit to its endpoint by serial number."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/procurement/assets/"
product: "depot"
type: "how-to"
status: "draft"
ai_summary: "Asset register: assets from receipts, from endpoints, or by hand. States and allowed moves. Every 15 minutes an endpoint whose serial matches exactly one asset links automatically; ties and OEM placeholder serials never link. Manual links by hostname. On the MSP plan, delivered or deployed units move into the client's register with their history."
availability:
  plans: ["home-lab", "essentials", "enterprise", "msp"]
  permission: "assets:write"
  preview: false
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/procurement/assets.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Assets

The asset register records every piece of hardware your organization owns or
manages, from the day it is bought to the day it is disposed of. An asset
can be a laptop, a monitor, a switch, or a license. Each asset links itself to
the [endpoint](/endpoints/) with the same serial number, so the endpoint's
page shows the hardware record and the asset shows the live endpoint. This
page covers how assets arrive, their states, endpoint linking, and the
register on the MSP plan.

## Before you begin

- Reading the register needs `assets:read`. Adding, changing, moving, and
  linking assets needs `assets:write`.

## How assets arrive

| Origin | How |
| --- | --- |
| **Received into stock** | Each serialized unit received on a purchase order becomes an asset **In stock** at the receiving location, with its cost and purchase order. See [Receive deliveries](/procurement/receiving/). |
| **Reported by an endpoint** | An endpoint whose serial number matches no asset gets an asset of its own, linked to it. |
| **Added by hand** | Select **Add an asset** on **Assets** > **All assets**. |

An asset outlives its endpoint. Uninstalling the agent or retiring the
endpoint leaves the asset and its history in place.

### Add an asset by hand

1. Select **Assets** > **All assets**, then **Add an asset**.
2. Enter the **Name**, such as Reception laptop, and choose the **Category**.
3. Optionally, enter the **Asset tag**, which is unique across the register,
   the **Manufacturer**, **Model**, and **Serial number**.
4. Optionally, choose the **Site**, and enter **Purchased on**, **Purchase
   cost**, **Warranty starts**, and **Warranty ends**.
5. In **Starts as**, choose its state. An asset that starts **In stock**
   needs a **Stock location**.
6. Select **Add asset**.

## Asset states

| State | Meaning | Can move to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Purchased** | Bought, not yet in stock. A drop-shipped unit waits here. | In stock, Deployed, RMA |
| **In stock** | On a shelf at a stock location. | Deployed, RMA, Retired |
| **Deployed** | In use, at a site or with a person. | In repair, In stock, RMA, Retired |
| **In repair** | Being repaired. | Deployed, In stock, RMA, Retired |
| **RMA** | With the supplier under a return. | In stock, Retired |
| **Retired** | Out of use. | Disposed |
| **Disposed** | Gone for good. | None |
| **Lost** | Missing. Any state except **Disposed** can become **Lost**. | In stock |

On the asset's page, the actions under **Where it is** offer only the moves
its state allows, such as **Deploy**, **Send for repair**, **Back in
service**, **Return to stock**, **Send back under RMA**, **Retire**,
**Dispose**, **Mark lost**, and **Mark found**. **Return to stock** asks for
the **Stock location**, and **Dispose** asks **How it was disposed of**:
**Recycled**, **Sold**, **Donated**, **Destroyed**, **Returned to the
vendor**, or **Other**. Each move can carry a **Note**, which is kept on the
asset's **History**.

An asset with history cannot be deleted. Retire or dispose of it instead.

## How assets link to endpoints

Every 15 minutes, Outpost compares the serial numbers endpoints report with
the serial numbers on assets:

- When exactly one asset has the endpoint's serial, the two are linked. The
  asset shows the endpoint with **linked by serial number**.
- When two or more assets share the serial, nothing is linked. Outpost never
  guesses between them. Fix the duplicate serial, or link by hand.
- When no asset has the serial, the endpoint gets an asset of its own.
- Serial numbers that firmware fills in when the manufacturer left the field
  blank, such as `To be filled by O.E.M.`, `System Serial Number`, `Default
  string`, `0`, or a run of zeros, are treated as no serial at all and never
  linked.

Serial numbers are compared without regard to letter case or leading and
trailing spaces.

### Link or unlink by hand

Link by hand when an endpoint's serial is missing or wrong.

1. On the asset, select **Link an endpoint**.
2. In **Find an endpoint**, enter part of the hostname and select
   **Search**.
3. Choose the **Endpoint** and select **Link**.

The asset shows **linked by hand**. An endpoint is linked to at most one
asset, and an automatic link never replaces a link made by hand. To undo a
link, select **Unlink endpoint**.

The endpoint's own page has an **Asset** card with the asset's state,
warranty, and holder, and **Open assets**.

## The register on the MSP plan

On the MSP plan, each client has its own register in its own database, and
your practice has one for hardware it holds:

- Hardware in your stock, or checked out to your own team, is in your
  practice's register.
- Delivering a sales order moves the delivered units into the client's
  register as **Deployed**, with their history and the sales order on them.
- To hand over a unit without a sales order, open it and select **Deploy to
  a client**, then choose the **Client**. It moves into the client's
  register, keeps its history, and is marked deployed.

**Assets** at the practice level lists every client's assets and your own
together, with a **Client** column. Each client's workspace has an **Assets**
section with only that client's. When a client's database cannot be reached,
the list says **Some clients could not be reached** and shows the rest.

## Verify

- **Assets** > **All assets** lists the asset with its state and endpoint.
- The asset's **History** shows each change, who made it, and when.

## Next steps

- [Warranty and refresh](/procurement/warranty-and-refresh/)
- [Staff equipment](/procurement/staff-equipment/)
- [Returns to suppliers](/procurement/returns/)