Total Cost of Ownership
This page explains how xAssets tracks the total cost of ownership (TCO) for fixed assets. TCO goes beyond the purchase price to include all costs incurred over the asset's lifetime — depreciation, maintenance, running costs, and disposal costs. Understanding TCO helps you make better decisions about asset replacement, supplier selection, and capital budgeting.
What Contributes to TCO
xAssets tracks financial data from all asset events, enabling you to calculate and report on TCO for each asset throughout its lifecycle. The following cost types contribute to the total:
| Cost Type | Example | How It Enters the System |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Acquisition cost | Automatically when the asset is created or received against a PO |
| Depreciation | Monthly value reduction | Automatically via period-end processing |
| Disposal write-down | Remaining book value written off | Automatically when the asset is disposed |
| Disposal cost | Cost of removing or decommissioning | Manually entered during disposal |
| Sale proceeds | Amount received on disposal | Manually entered during disposal |
| Refuelling | Fuel costs for vehicles | Manual entry or data import |
| Servicing (employee) | Internal labour for maintenance | Manual entry or data import |
| Servicing (supplier) | External maintenance contracts | Manual entry or data import |
| Components and materials | Replacement parts | Manual entry or data import |
| Legal expenses | Legal costs related to the asset | Manual entry |
| Write-ups and write-downs | Value adjustments | Manual transaction entry |
| Revaluations | Formal revaluation adjustments | Manual transaction entry |
| Insurance | Annual insurance premiums | Manual entry or data import |
Recording Running Costs
Running costs are recorded as transactions against individual assets. You can enter them in two ways:
- Manual entry — Open the asset, navigate to the Transactions tab, and add a transaction with the appropriate type (see Financial Transactions).
- Data import — Use xAssets data transformation services to import costs from external systems automatically.
Data Import Examples
Costs can be imported from external systems using xAssets data transformations. Common examples include:
- Fuel card suppliers — Most fuel card providers supply data feeds (CSV or XML) that can be imported directly, mapping each fuel transaction to the vehicle asset record.
- Help desk systems — Maintenance and support costs can be imported or calculated from your help desk system's ticket data, giving you a labour cost per asset.
- Maintenance contract systems — Scheduled maintenance costs from contract management systems.
For details on configuring data imports, refer to the Configuration Guide section on Integration and Data Operations with Transformations.
Viewing TCO Data
TCO data is available at several levels:
Individual Asset Level
Open an asset and view the Valuations screen (under Financials in the navigation panel). This shows the cumulative cost data for the asset, including original value, running costs, and disposal proceeds if applicable. See Financial Asset Information for navigation details.
Query Level
Create or use queries that include TCO-related fields to compare costs across assets. For example:
- A query showing total running costs by category helps identify which types of assets are most expensive to maintain.
- A query comparing purchase cost to total running costs helps identify assets where operating costs exceed the original investment.
Report Level
Produce TCO reports for management review. These can be grouped by category, location, department, or cost centre to show where costs are concentrated.
Using TCO for Decision Making
TCO analysis supports several key financial decisions:
- Replacement timing — When running costs approach or exceed the cost of a replacement asset, it may be time to replace. TCO data helps you quantify this.
- Supplier evaluation — Compare TCO across assets from different suppliers to identify which suppliers deliver lower lifetime costs.
- Budget planning — Historical TCO data helps you forecast future costs when budgeting for new asset purchases.
- Lease vs. buy analysis — Compare the TCO of owned assets against lease costs to determine the most cost-effective approach.
Tip: TCO analysis is most valuable when running costs are captured consistently. Establish a process for recording maintenance and operating costs — either through regular manual entry or automated data imports — to ensure your TCO figures are meaningful.
Related Articles
- Financial Transactions — Adding cost transactions to assets
- Valuations — Viewing financial summaries including TCO fields
- Budgets — Using TCO data to inform budget planning
- Disposal — How disposal costs and proceeds are recorded