Assets is your company's equipment register: one record per laptop, phone, monitor or desk. Each asset belongs to a category and is either held by someone or free. You add assets, assign them to employees, and mark them as returned when they come back.
To load a register you already keep in a spreadsheet, see Assets import and Import asset assignments.
Before you begin
Asset management must be switched on. Go to Settings → Features and turn on Asset management in the HR group. When it's off, the Assets menu item, its settings pages and its permission are all hidden.
Check your categories. Every asset needs a category. New accounts come with a starter set, so you'll usually just adjust it. If the list has been emptied, the Category field on the asset form has nothing to choose from.
Part 1: Set up asset categories
Go to Settings → HR → Asset categories.
Click Add, enter a Name and choose an Icon. The icon appears next to the asset throughout PeopleForce.
Click Save.
Category names must be unique. If you delete a category, it disappears from the category list, but assets that already use it keep it.
Part 2: Set up asset fields
The Asset fields page decides which fields HR sees and fills in when adding an asset. Every active field appears on the Add asset form, in the same order as on this page, so set it up to match the information your company actually tracks.
Go to Settings → HR → Asset fields.
Adjust the built-in fields, marked System: switch off the ones you don't need, so they don't appear on the form, or make a field Required, so an asset can't be saved without it. ID, Name and Category are always on and always required.
To track something extra, for example a supplier, purchase order or condition, click Add, enter a name, choose the field type and click Save. The field type can't be changed after it's created.
Drag fields to change their order on the form.
Learn more in Custom fields for assets.
Part 3: Add an asset
Go to Assets → Company and click New asset. If the register is empty, click Create your first asset.
Fill in the Add asset form. In ID, enter your own reference, for example
LAP-0101or an inventory number. PeopleForce doesn't generate IDs, and each ID must be unique. The Serial number must be unique too.Click Save. The asset opens in focus mode.
If the asset won't save and a field is highlighted in red, a required field is empty. Required fields are checked whenever you save a new or edited asset. Assets that already exist are not checked retroactively.
💡 Tip: To register several identical items quickly, open an asset and click Copy, or select Make a copy in the row's ⋯ menu on the list. The form opens pre-filled, so you only change the ID and serial number.
Part 4: View an asset
Click any asset in the list to open it in focus mode, a full-screen view with everything about the asset in one place. Close it to return to the list.
Focus mode shows:
At the top: the asset's name, category icon, category and serial number, with a status badge: Assigned, Not assigned or Archived.
On the left: Details (all asset fields), plus the Description and Image, if added.
On the right: the asset's assignments:
Current assignee: who holds the asset now. If nobody does, you'll see No assignee for now.
Next assignee: appears if there's a future assignment.
View previous assignees: opens the full assignment history.
Each assignment has its own edit and delete controls.
Actions
The action bar at the top has:
Edit, Copy and Archive or Restore, available with Edit access.
Download QR code, available to anyone who can open the asset. The QR code is saved as a file you can print as a sticker for the item itself.
Part 5: Assign and return an asset
Assign an asset
Open the asset and click Assign, or select Assign in the row's ⋯ menu. You can also assign from the employee's profile: More → Assets → Assign.
Choose the employee (or the asset, if you started from the profile) and the Issued on date. The date defaults to today.
Click Save.
Return an asset
Open the asset or the row's ⋯ menu and click Mark as returned. The assignment closes with today's date.
💡 Tip: To hand an asset to someone else, mark it as returned first, then assign it to the new employee.
Good to know
You can assign in advance. If the Issued on date is in the future, the employee appears as Next assignee and the asset stays free until then. The handover happens overnight on that date, shortly after 01:00 UTC. The same overnight process frees assets whose return date has passed.
An asset can't be assigned to two people at once. If assignment dates overlap, the assignment won't save. Close the earlier one first.
Part 6: Find and manage assets
On Assets → Company, you can:
Switch views: use the Active and Archived segments to switch between current and retired assets. Each shows its own count.
Search: the search box finds assets by ID, Name, Serial number or Description. Custom fields aren't searchable, but you can filter by them.
Filter: click Add filter and choose from:
Assignment status (Assigned or Not assigned), for example to find free laptops.
Lifecycle status of the assignee, for example Terminated.
Category, Department, Division and Location.
Assigned to, to see one person's equipment.
Sort: by ID, Name, Category or Assigned to, and by Serial number while that field is switched on.
Export: click Export to and choose Excel or CSV. The file is prepared in the background. Anyone who can see the list can export it, including roles with View access.
In the list, a free asset shows To be assigned in the Assigned to column.
Archive and delete
Archive an asset you no longer use, for example a sold or broken laptop. Archiving keeps the record and its assignment history.
Restore brings an archived asset back.
Delete is available only for archived assets and also removes the assignment history. Archive instead if you want to keep the record.
Part 7: What employees see
By default, employees can see their own assets, because the built-in People about themselves role has View access to assets.
In the Assets menu
Employees see Assets in their menu, showing only the assets they currently hold:
The list shows the Name (with the ID beneath it), the Serial number (if that field is switched on) and the Category.
There are no filters.
Returned and archived assets don't appear.
When they open an asset
They see only themselves as the current assignee, not the asset's assignment history.
They can download the QR code, but can't edit, assign or return anything.
Once an asset is returned, they can no longer open it.
On their profile
The Assets tab under More shows Assigned assets and, once there are any, Returned assets, with issue and return dates.
Asset names there are clickable only for people who can see the company register.
⚠️ Be careful when changing the People about themselves role. If you set its assets permission to Edit, every employee gets Assign, Mark as returned, Edit and Delete on their own profile's Assets tab, and can assign themselves any free asset in the company.
Good to know
Terminating an employee doesn't return their assets. Their assets stay assigned to them. To find these assets, filter the Company list by Lifecycle status → Terminated, then use Mark as returned on each one. Adding equipment return to your offboarding checklist helps make sure nothing is missed.
An assignment still shows "To be assigned"? Check the Issued on date. A future date takes effect overnight on that day, shortly after 01:00 UTC.
Employees aren't notified when an asset is assigned to them or marked as returned. Let them know yourself if needed.