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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Asset Analyst

💰 $ - $

FinanceAsset ManagementAccountingData Analytics

🎯 Role Definition

An Asset Analyst is responsible for the accurate tracking, accounting, reporting, and lifecycle management of an organization’s physical and capital assets. This role ensures fixed asset registers are complete and reconciled, depreciation and capitalization are recorded in accordance with GAAP/IFRS, and asset movement and disposals are controlled and documented. The Asset Analyst partners with Finance, Operations, IT and external auditors to implement asset controls, support audits, and deliver actionable analytics that drive capital efficiency and compliance.

Primary objectives:

  • Maintain an accurate, audit-ready fixed asset register and asset master data across ERP systems.
  • Ensure consistent and compliant treatment of capital expenditures, depreciation, transfers and disposals.
  • Deliver timely reconciliations, variance analysis, and management reports to support month-end close and capital planning decisions.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Accountant / Staff Accountant (with exposure to fixed assets)
  • Inventory Analyst / Asset Coordinator
  • Accounts Payable or Capital Projects Coordinator

Advancement To:

  • Senior Asset Analyst / Fixed Asset Accountant
  • Fixed Asset Manager / Asset Accounting Lead
  • Capital Accounting Manager / Accounting Manager
  • Finance Manager / Head of Asset Management

Lateral Moves:

  • Financial Analyst (Capital & Investment)
  • ERP Functional Analyst (Finance modules - SAP/Oracle)
  • Data Analyst (Finance Analytics / Power BI / SQL)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Maintain and reconcile the corporate fixed asset register across one or more ERP systems (SAP, Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft), ensuring asset master data (location, cost center, useful life, depreciation key) is accurate and audit-ready.
  • Perform monthly, quarterly and annual depreciation runs, validate results, and prepare depreciation journal entries for posting during month-end close.
  • Execute capital vs. expense analyses and apply capitalization policies consistently across business units in accordance with GAAP/IFRS and company capitalization thresholds.
  • Reconcile fixed asset sub-ledger balances to the general ledger, investigate reconciling items, and prepare supporting schedules and variance explanations for finance leadership.
  • Lead and coordinate fixed asset physical inventories and cycle counts, manage asset tagging programs (RFID/barcode), and address discrepancies between physical counts and the asset register.
  • Process and record asset additions, transfers, retirements and disposals, including preparing disposal calculations, gain/loss analysis, and tax basis adjustments where applicable.
  • Support capital project accounting by reviewing capital project spend, ensuring appropriate capitalization, tracking project-to-asset transfers, and maintaining project-to-asset linking in the ERP.
  • Prepare and present detailed asset analytics and dashboards (Excel, Power BI, Tableau) to provide insights on asset age profile, depreciation trends, utilization, impairment indicators and replacement needs.
  • Respond to internal and external audit requests related to fixed assets, provide documentation, perform root-cause analysis on audit findings, and implement corrective action plans.
  • Implement and maintain internal controls over asset processes, including authorizations for capital expenditures, asset movement approvals, and segregation of duties.
  • Develop and document standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies for fixed asset lifecycle management, ensuring consistency across regions and legal entities.
  • Coordinate with procurement, facilities and operations teams to validate asset receipts, installation dates, and capitalization timing.
  • Analyze lease versus buy scenarios and provide accounting support for leased assets, ensuring correct classification and treatment under ASC 842 / IFRS 16 where applicable.
  • Support tax and statutory reporting requirements by providing fixed asset schedules, depreciation methods, and book-to-tax adjustments.
  • Lead or support ERP asset module projects, including asset master data clean-up, migrations, upgrades and month-end process automation efforts.
  • Create and maintain reconciliations and supporting workpapers for audit trails, including cost roll-forwards, accumulated depreciation roll-forwards, and disposal schedules.
  • Investigate and resolve complex asset accounting issues, including reclassifications, corrections of prior period errors, and adjustments due to mergers, acquisitions or divestitures.
  • Conduct impairment assessments and write-down calculations as required, including coordination with finance leadership and external valuers when necessary.
  • Train and advise regional finance and operations personnel on asset accounting best practices, tagging procedures, and ERP asset transactions to reduce process errors.
  • Collaborate with IT and data teams to extract, transform and validate asset data using SQL, Excel Power Query, or scripting tools to support reconciliations and reporting.
  • Maintain accurate fixed asset documentation and archival processes for disposals, transfers, and capital approvals to support compliance and governance.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist with month-end and quarter-end close activities as they relate to fixed assets and capitalization.
  • Partner with treasury and accounts payable to ensure capital vendor invoices are matched to asset additions and projects.
  • Help drive continuous improvement initiatives to automate reconciliations, reporting and validation checks.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Fixed asset accounting: asset additions, transfers, retirements, disposals and impairment accounting (GAAP/IFRS).
  • ERP experience: strong hands-on experience in SAP FI-AA, Oracle Fixed Assets (FA), PeopleSoft Asset Management or similar.
  • Advanced Excel: pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, Power Query and macros for large-data reconciliations.
  • SQL: ability to extract, join and analyze asset and transactional data from databases for reconciliations and reporting.
  • Depreciation methodologies: straight-line, declining balance, component depreciation and useful life management.
  • Capital project accounting and project-to-asset capitalization processes.
  • Fixed asset reconciliations: sub-ledger to GL, accumulated depreciation roll-forwards, disposal reconciliations.
  • Audit readiness: preparing schedules, evidence packages and responding to auditor inquiries.
  • Reporting & data visualization: Power BI, Tableau or Excel dashboard development for asset analytics.
  • Asset tagging and inventory tools: RFID, barcode scanners, mobile inventory apps or CMMS integrations.
  • Knowledge of accounting standards: US GAAP (ASC) and/or IFRS treatment for fixed assets, leases and impairments.
  • Controls and SOX compliance experience in asset processes (where applicable).
  • Familiarity with tax depreciation rules and book-to-tax adjustments for fixed assets.
  • Scripting / automation basics: Python, VBA, or R for process improvements (preferred).
  • Strong data validation and reconciliation techniques to ensure accuracy of large data sets.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset with an ability to think critically about data integrity and root causes.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication to present results and liaise with cross-functional teams and auditors.
  • High attention to detail and accuracy when preparing financial schedules and journal entries.
  • Project management skills to drive asset data clean-ups, system implementations and tagging initiatives.
  • Stakeholder management: influence and coordinate with operations, procurement, IT and finance partners.
  • Time management and ability to work under month-end/quarter-end deadlines.
  • Adaptability and continuous improvement orientation to streamline asset processes and leverage automation.
  • Ethical mindset and commitment to compliance and internal controls.
  • Customer-service orientation when supporting internal business partners with asset queries.
  • Collaborative team player who can both lead initiatives and support tactical reconciliations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Engineering or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree plus professional certification (CPA, CMA, ACCA) or relevant technical certificate in ERP/asset management.
  • Additional coursework or certification in data analytics, SQL, or Power BI is an advantage.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics
  • Engineering (for technical asset-heavy roles)
  • Information Systems / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of progressive accounting or asset-focused experience.

Preferred:

  • 3–7 years of fixed asset accounting, asset lifecycle management or asset register administration.
  • Demonstrated experience with one or more ERP asset modules (SAP FI-AA, Oracle FA, PeopleSoft).
  • Proven track record supporting external audits and implementing controls for asset processes.
  • Hands-on experience with Excel at advanced level and working knowledge of SQL and BI tools for reporting.
  • Experience in capital projects accounting, asset tagging programs and cross-functional stakeholder coordination.
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