Ryon Pulsipher, manager of Columbia’s property accounting division, has had difficulty responding to the following departmental requests for information about fixed assets.

1. The controller has requested individual fixed assets schedules to support the general ledger balance. Although Ryon has furnished the information, it is late. The way the records are organized makes it difficult to obtain information easily.

2. The maintenance manager wants to verify the existence of a punch press that he thinks was repaired twice. He has asked Ryon to confirm the asset number and the location of the press.

3. The insurance department wants data on the cost and book values of assets to include in its review of current insurance coverage.

4. The tax department has requested data to determine whether Columbia should switch depreciation methods for tax purposes.

5. The internal auditors have spent significant time in the property accounting division to confirm the annual depreciation expense.

Ryon’s property account records, kept in an Excel spreadsheet, show the asset acquisition date, its account number, the dollar amount capitalized, and its estimated useful life for depreciation purposes. After many frustrations, Ryon realizes his records are inadequate and that he cannot supply data easily when requested. He discusses his problems with the controller, Gig Griffith.

RYON: Gig, something has to give. My people are working overtime and can’t keep up. You worked in property accounting before you became controller. You know I can’t tell the tax, insurance, and maintenance people everything they need to know from my records. Internal auditing is living in my area, and that slows down the work. Te requests of these people are reasonable, and we should be able to answer their questions and provide the needed data. I think we need an automated property accounting system. I want to talk with the AIS people to see if they can help me.

GIG: I think that’s a great idea. Just be sure you are personally involved in the design of any system so you get all the info you need. Keep me posted on the project’s progress.

Required

a. Identify and justify four major objectives Columbia’s automated property accounting system should possess to respond to departmental requests for information.

b. Identify the data that should be included in the database for each asset.