Every useful IT decision, from budgeting for new laptops to removing a former employee’s access, starts with knowing what you have. An IT inventory is simply a written list of your devices, accounts, software and suppliers. You don’t need special software to make one. A shared spreadsheet and an afternoon will do.
Why bother?
Without an inventory, knowledge sits in people’s heads. When someone leaves or a laptop is stolen, you find out what you didn’t know at the worst possible time. An inventory also makes it obvious where money is leaking, such as licenses for people who left last year.
Step 1: List your devices
Create one row per device: desktops, laptops, tablets and phones used for work, plus printers, routers and any server. For each, record:
- Who uses it and where it lives
- Make, model and serial number
- Operating system and version
- Approximate purchase date
- Whether the disk is encrypted
The purchase date and operating system columns quickly show which machines are due for replacement.
Step 2: List your accounts
On a second tab, list every account that matters: email, file storage, accounting, banking portals, domain registrar, website hosting and social media. Note who has access and whether multi-factor sign-in is turned on. Don’t record passwords here. Keep those in a proper password manager.
Step 3: List your software and subscriptions
Record each paid application or service, how many licenses you have, who they’re assigned to and when each renews. Compare the license count with your actual headcount. Gaps in either direction are worth fixing.
Step 4: List your vendors
Note every supplier with a technical role: internet provider, phone system, copier lease, software publishers. Record the account number, support route and contract end date. Then, when the internet goes down, nobody has to dig through old emails to find out who to call.
Step 5: Decide who owns it
An inventory goes stale fast. Give one person responsibility for updating it, and tie updates to events you already handle:
- When someone joins or leaves (see our onboarding and offboarding checklist)
- When a device is bought, repaired or retired
- When a subscription renews or is canceled
A quick quarterly review catches anything missed.
What to do with it
Once the list exists, patterns jump out: machines too old for current updates, accounts without multi-factor sign-in, people with access they no longer need. Those become your priorities. The inventory is also the first thing any IT provider will ask for, and having it ready saves time and money.
Want this kept current for you? It’s the first step of our managed IT services. You may also find it useful to read what managed IT includes.