Asset Masters (Templates)
Between the asset type (the class) and the capital assets (the units) sits a quiet organizer: the Asset Master — the register page for one product, in one entity, of one type. Meridian's four lobby monitors are four Capital Assets; their Asset Master "Office Equipment" is the one place their combined cost, accumulated depreciation and net book value roll up.
Access you'll need. The Accounting Admin v2 or Accounting Controller v2 permission set can edit a master's descriptive fields; the Accounts Payable v2, Accounts Receivable v2, and Read Only v2 sets can view them. The rollup figures are system-maintained for every role.
You don't create these — the system does
When assets are created (from a PO receipt or a PI capitalization), REDA Financials finds the Asset Master matching the entity + product + asset type — or creates it on the spot, named after the product. Buy more of the same thing next year and the new units join the same register page automatically. The result is a register that organizes itself:
- Entity → whose balance sheet.
- Product → what the thing is (Dell Latitude 7440, Office Equipment…).
- Asset Type → how it depreciates.
The record, field by field
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Asset Master Name | The product's name, stamped automatically at creation. |
| Entity | Whose balance sheet — one master never spans companies. Its currency is forced to the entity's functional currency, so the rollups always read in the books' own money. |
| Product / Asset Type | The other two-thirds of the identity: what the thing is, and how its class depreciates. |
| Description | Free text for the register's benefit. |
| Status | Active / Inactive. Per its help text this is system-managed — Active while at least one non-disposed child exists. Treat the rollups, not the flag, as the operational truth. |
Reading a master
| Rollup | Meaning | Meridian's Office Equipment master |
|---|---|---|
| Total Quantity | Units on the register (individual assets count 1 each; bulk lots their quantity) | 4 |
| Total Acquisition Cost | What this product cost, across every acquisition | 4 × $5,000 = $20,000.00 |
| Total Accumulated Depreciation | How much has been expensed so far | $83.33 — only Office Equipment - 1 is active and one month in |
| Net Book Value | The register line's current worth — the number that ties to your balance sheet by product | $19,916.67 |
The master's related list of Capital Assets is the drill-down: each unit with its own status, NBV and history. Auditors love this page — "show me everything you own of X" is one click.
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Creating Asset Masters by hand "to prepare" | The creation paths find-or-create by entity + product + type — a hand-made master with a mismatched key just sits empty beside the real one | Let receipts and capitalizations create masters; they file themselves |
| Expecting the master to stamp settings onto assets | It never does — depreciation defaults come from the Asset Type at activation | Configure behavior on the type; read results on the master |
| Editing a master's Entity / Product / Asset Type | Those three fields are its identity — changing them breaks the register's organization without moving any child assets | Fix the underlying product or type, and let new acquisitions file where they belong |
| Reconciling the balance sheet against the Status flag | The flag is housekeeping; money is in the rollups | Tie Total Acquisition Cost, Total Accumulated Depreciation and NBV to the GL — by entity, per master |
Where to go next
- Understanding Fixed Assets — the three-tier model.
- Creating Assets from POs — where masters spring into being.
- Asset Types & Categories — the settings layer.
Frequently asked questions
No — the entity is part of the master's identity, because each entity keeps its own balance sheet in its own currency. The same product bought by two entities produces two masters.
A master is the sum of its children: it's meaningful while at least one child asset is not disposed. Treat the rollups as the live truth; the status is a register housekeeping flag.
Masters are named for their product automatically, and their identity (entity+product+type) shouldn't be edited by hand — fix the underlying product or type instead and let the register reflect it.
It's an exact three-way match: same entity, same product, same asset type → the units join the existing master. Change any one of the three — a different product record for the same kind of thing, say — and a new master appears. Consistent product records keep the register consolidated.
Master (and asset) amounts are always in the entity's functional currency — the currency its books are kept in. A PO in a foreign currency converts at the PO's exchange rate on the way in, so the register and the balance sheet always speak the same money.
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