Iso TS 55010-2019
Iso TS 55010-2019
Iso TS 55010-2019
SPECIFICATION 55010
First edition
2019-09
Reference number
ISO/TS 55010:2019(E)
© ISO 2019
ISO/TS 55010:2019(E)
Contents Page
Foreword......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... iv
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v
1 Scope.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
2 Normative references....................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
3 Terms and definitions...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
4 Why alignment between financial and non-financial functions is important....................................... 4
4.1 General............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
4.2 Benefits of alignment.......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
5 Enablers for alignment................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
5.1 General............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
5.2 Processes, leadership and governance................................................................................................................................ 6
5.2.1 Processes................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
5.2.2 Leadership.............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
5.2.3 Governance............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
5.3 Policy, strategy, data and information.................................................................................................................................. 7
5.3.1 Asset management policy support.................................................................................................................... 7
5.3.2 Strategic asset management plan support................................................................................................. 7
5.3.3 Data and information.................................................................................................................................................... 8
5.4 Non-financial functions in asset management............................................................................................................. 8
5.5 Terminology for financial and non-financial alignment....................................................................................... 8
6 How to achieve system alignment....................................................................................................................................................... 8
6.1 General............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
6.2 Information systems........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
6.3 Data management................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
7 How to achieve asset-register-related alignment............................................................................................................10
7.1 General......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
7.2 Financial asset registers............................................................................................................................................................... 10
7.3 Non-financial asset registers.................................................................................................................................................... 10
7.4 Asset register alignment............................................................................................................................................................... 11
8 Financial planning for asset management..............................................................................................................................12
8.1 General......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
8.2 Capital investment planning..................................................................................................................................................... 12
8.3 Long-term financial planning................................................................................................................................................... 13
8.4 Budgeting................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
9 Performance management......................................................................................................................................................................14
9.1 General......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
9.2 Performance measurement....................................................................................................................................................... 14
9.3 Performance reporting.................................................................................................................................................................. 15
9.4 Financial reporting in asset management..................................................................................................................... 16
Annex A (informative) Guidance on capital investment planning.......................................................................................17
Annex B (informative) Guidance on long-term financial planning.....................................................................................18
Annex C (informative) External financial reporting standards and principles.....................................................22
Annex D (informative) Financial accounting functions for financial reporting....................................................24
Annex E (informative) Non-financial functions in asset management............................................................................30
Annex F (informative) Implementation example..................................................................................................................................35
Annex G (informative) Cost input to pricing for product or service..................................................................................38
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
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electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
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expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso
.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 251 Asset management.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
Introduction
The ISO 55000, ISO 55001 and ISO 55002 asset management standards have raised awareness of the
importance of improving alignment between an organization’s financial and non-financial functions,
and this document provides guidance on how to achieve this. ISO 55001:2014, 7.5 d), states that “the
organization shall determine the requirements for alignment of financial and non-financial terminology
relevant to asset management throughout the organization”.
As used in this document, financial functions refer to processes and activities such as managerial costing
and accounting, budgeting, financing and valuation related to the assets. Non-financial functions are
the complementary processes and activities, for providing a product or service from the assets.
The definition of “asset” in ISO 55000 differs from that of the generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP) or the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The term “asset” as primarily
used in this document is defined in ISO 55000 and organizations need to be aware of this to avoid any
misunderstanding. For the authoritative GAAP or IFRS definitions of asset, refer to the appropriate
accounting standards, internal policies and experts.
In many organizations, the financial and non-financial functions of asset management are inadequately
aligned. Often the financial accounting functions are predominantly focused on retrospective reporting
of accounting/regulatory financial activities. However, there is a growing awareness in organizations
of the need to focus on providing a managerial costing approach in order to support decision-making
for the future. At the same time, the non-financial functions are recognizing the need to improve their
understanding of the financial implications of their activities. These are examples of initial moves
towards better alignment of the financial and non-financial functions with the aim of better decision-
making and value realization.
Lack of alignment between financial and non-financial functions can be attributed to silos in an
organization, including reporting structures, functional/operational business processes, and related
technical data. The United States Government's “Government Accountability Office interviews with
asset management experts”[23] advises that “… silos are necessary to allow for the required level of
specialization, but if these silos do not communicate, inefficiencies and errors in asset management
result” and that “when asset management implementation fails, it is often because asset management
staff and senior management are not in alignment”.
Alignment needs to work both “vertically” and “horizontally”. Vertical alignment means that financial
and non-financial asset-related directives by top management are informed by accurate upward
information flows, effectively implemented across the appropriate levels of the organization. Horizontal
alignment means that financial and non-financial information that flows between departments
(conducting functions such as operations, engineering, plant maintenance, financial accounting,
financial management and risk management) uses the same terminology and refers to the assets
identified in the same way.
The aim of this document is to encourage organizations to support alignment between these asset
management functions and to provide guidance on how such alignment can be achieved. It also
promotes the benefits that can be achieved for an organization and its stakeholders by having alignment
of these asset management functions better understood, implemented and improved. This enables an
organization’s functional areas to share information and collaborate to achieve its objectives.
This document can assist users in applying the concepts of ISO 55000 and the requirements of
ISO 55001. It provides additional advice and guidance over and above the explanations outlined in
ISO 55002 on the benefits to be realized for an organization through alignment.
This document can be applied to all types of assets and by all types and sizes of organizations.
It is intended for use by personnel, at all levels in an organization, who are involved in asset management,
including:
— top management and decision-makers, to derive the benefits that are achievable by better alignment
between financial and non-financial functions;
1 Scope
This document gives guidelines for the alignment between financial and non-financial asset management
functions, in order to improve internal control as part of an organization’s management system.
Alignment of these functions will enable the realization of value derived from the implementation of
asset management detailed within ISO 55000, ISO 55001 and ISO 55002, particularly ISO 55002:2018,
Annex F.
The guidance in this document is consistent with the requirements of ISO 55001 for an asset
management system but does not add new requirements to ISO 55001 or provide interpretations of the
requirements of ISO 55001.
For an example of an organization aligning its asset management functions, see Annex F.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 55000, Asset management — Overview, principles and terminology
3.2
management accounting
accounting to assist management in the formulation and implementation of an organization’s strategy
Note 1 to entry: Management accounting usually requires partnering across different functions in an organization
for management decision-making, devising planning and performance management systems, and providing
expertise in financial reporting and control.
3.3
managerial costing
costing used internally by an organization to ensure that information for decisions reflects the
characteristics of the organization’s resources and operations
Note 1 to entry: For further information on managerial costing, see Reference [19].
3.4
financial function
work, or portions of work, that pertain to financial management
Note 1 to entry: Examples include financial reporting, budgeting, financing, valuation (3.12), financial planning
and analysis, management accounting (3.2) and tax accounting.
3.5
non-financial function
work, or portions of work, that combine with the organization's financial functions (3.4) in delivering its
services or products
Note 1 to entry: Examples include asset planning, acquisition, marketing, operations and maintenance.
3.6
internal control
process(es) used by an organization's managers to help it achieve its objectives
Note 1 to entry: Internal control helps an organization run its operations efficiently and effectively, report
reliable information about its operations and comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Note 2 to entry: Internal control applies to all activities, irrespective of whether they are financial or non-
financial.
Note 3 to entry: Internal control supports sound decision-making, taking into account risks to the achievement of
objectives and reducing them to acceptable levels through cost-effective controls.
Note 4 to entry: This definition of internal control is derived from the definition provided by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)[9], which also provides further useful information
on this topic.
3.7
asset register
record of asset data and information considered worthy of separate identification and accountability
Note 1 to entry: Financial, or accounting asset registers are those databases or systems, which are used to
describe and manage the organization’s financial accounts and management accounting (3.2).
Note 2 to entry: Non-financial asset registers (technical or operational) are databases or systems, in which
relevant technical or operational data and information of an asset are kept.
3.8
capital expenditure
CapEx
expenditure on acquisitions of, or improvements to, assets
Note 1 to entry: Based upon accounting standards and organization policy, CapEx usually relates to relatively
large (material) expenditure, which has benefits that are expected to last for more than 12 months.
3.9
operational expenditure
OpEx
recurrent expenditures required to provide a service or product
3.10
total expenditure
TotEx
sum of capital expenditure (3.8) and operational expenditure (3.9) over a period
3.11
alignment
deliberate arrangement, relationship and mutual understanding of common concerns within a
particular activity or among activities
3.12
valuation
process of determining the current value of an asset
Note 1 to entry: Valuation methods and bases are numerous and varied and may be expressed quantitatively and
in monetary terms.
Note 2 to entry: Application may be made to a single asset, a group of assets, or an entire enterprise, as determined
by various bases and methods.
3.13
book value
carrying value
monetary expression at which an asset or group of assets are carried on a balance sheet
3.14
residual value
estimated financial amount that an organization would expect to obtain from disposal of an asset,
after deducting the estimated costs of disposal, if the asset were already of the age and in the condition
expected at the end of its useful life (3.15)
3.15
useful life
period over which an asset or class of assets are expected to be available for use by an organization
Note 1 to entry: Useful life will be determined by factors such as the economic, technological, physical and
functional performance of the assets or asset system, which demands an understanding between financial
functions (3.4) and non-financial functions (3.5) depending on the context (e.g. tax, cost recovery, maintenance
planning, long-term planning).
Note 2 to entry: The applicable period is dependent on the nature of the asset or asset system and can be elapsed
time, operating hours, number of cycles, number of units of production, etc.
3.16
depreciation
systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its useful life (3.15)
Note 1 to entry: While “depreciation” can be used for both tangible and intangible assets, “amortization” is
normally used for intangible assets only.
3.17
fair value
price that would be received to sell an asset, or paid to transfer a liability (3.18), in an orderly transaction
between market participants at the measurement date
3.18
liability
present obligation of the organization arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to
result in an out-flow of resources from the organization
4.1 General
Top management often struggles with many asset-management-related questions because of a lack of
alignment due to barriers within the organization, e.g. language/terminology differences, information/
data standard quality differences, and poor coordination between the organization’s financial and non-
financial functions in asset management. Some examples of questions include the following.
— How can I be sure I am getting best value for my stakeholders from my assets?
— How do my assets contribute to the delivery of the organization’s strategy and objectives? Which
assets are critical for it?
— What are the risks (and opportunities) to the organizational objectives arising from its assets?
— What level of investment do I need to make in assets over both the short and longer term (TotEx) to
deliver my organizational objectives and how do I prioritize this investment?
— What is the cost of delivering products or services to meet customer satisfaction and how can I use
this to inform my pricing?
— How do I determine the cost impacts of environmental and social changes, and the resilience of my
assets to these changes?
— How can I know the total cost of ownership (TCO) of my assets?
— Are we making decisions that provide short-term cost savings but, due to lack of adequate asset
management involvement, are leading to higher long-term costs?
— How can I get the necessary funding commitment to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of
my assets to be able to continue meeting the objectives of the organization?
— How can I obtain enough information on the asset base for reporting purposes, enable correct and
timely decisions, and understand the nature and use of seemingly conflicting information from
different sources?
— Are my stakeholders confident about the asset verification/valuation/existence/necessity/
impairment tests?
— Do I have the financial information to make evidence-based asset management decisions?
— What assets are not delivering the value expected and what assets are costing more than anticipated?
— What liabilities, and hence cost, are the assets exposing us too?
— Do my financial statements really reflect the state of my asset portfolio including leased assets?
— For my outsourced services, how are the associated costs tracked and managed through an
appropriate internal control?
— How can I obtain/maintain competitive advantage through my assets used?
As illustrated in the above questions, all parts of the organization need to work together, to share
and utilize information, to provide the transparency, insight and necessary answers, and to support
asset management reporting and decision-making. This document provides a general solution to these
questions in the form of better alignment across the organization, enabling a realization of the benefits
detailed in 4.2. It does not seek to explicitly answer these questions individually but instead guides
users to adopt the concepts contained within this document to find their own answers to these and
other pertinent questions.
Asset management deals with the challenge of maximizing value derived from the assets. A significant
explanation of the value proposition can be found in ISO 55002:2018, Annex A.
The concept of value in asset management is broader than the more constrained specific definition
of value in accounting terms, where the various accounting standards deal with value as part of the
valuation of assets process. The value in asset management can be expressed in both monetary and
non-monetary terms and an aligned understanding of financial and non-financial value is needed to
determine decision-making criteria.
Financial planning, decision-making and reporting are crucial to asset management and, conversely,
asset management has major impacts on financial aspects. Accordingly, close coordination of financial
and accounting functions with the non-financial asset management functions is essential to meeting
organizational objectives.
o) Improved teamwork, collaboration, clarity, transparency and availability of information and up-
skilling for financial and non-financial staff.
p) Better understanding of what services can be provided, based on available funding, enabling
meaningful trade-off analyses when reviewing service and funding gaps.
q) More reliable knowledge of cost inputs for pricing, considering all life cycle costs originating from
financial and non-financial functions (see Annex G).
Improved alignment between financial and non-financial functions helps to improve the quality of
information used to support an organization’s decision-making and value maximization. Such improved
alignment also encourages both financial and non-financial practitioners to speak the same language.
5.1 General
This clause focuses on how business processes, leadership and governance are key enablers for the
alignment of financial and non-financial asset management activities. It provides examples of the data,
information, knowledge and capabilities required to support alignment among different levels of the
organization.
5.2.1 Processes
Defined processes can be significant enablers for the alignment of financial and non-financial asset
management functions. Processes should be properly supported by documented information and
opportunities identified to link tasks across different levels, functions and processes. For example, the
process used by an asset manager to bring a new asset online (non-financial) should contain a task
to capture total installed cost and send/link this to the accounting function where it can be used as
the cost basis of the asset (financial). This example of a co-developed process would enable timely and
accurate data and information for asset cost, installation date and expected useful life to be captured
in both the financial and non-financial asset registers. The processes developed within an organization
should use common terminology across the financial and non-financial functions and focus on the end-
to-end need rather than being governed solely by function.
5.2.2 Leadership
To achieve alignment between the financial and non-financial asset management functions within the
organization, top management should demonstrate leadership and commitment by:
a) promoting and encouraging collaboration and clarity, transparency and availability of information
for financial and non-financial staff;
b) ensuring alignment between the objectives of the various financial and non-financial functions in
conformity with the defined overall organizational objectives;
c) facilitating training for people involved at intersecting processes, between financial and non-
financial asset management disciplines, to promote communication and common understanding of
the terminology being applied;
d) ensuring the availability of adequate resources capable of promoting and implementing cross-
functional collaborative teams with a focus on continual improvement;
e) ensuring both financial and non-financial functions have adequate influence in decision-making
processes;
f) ensuring consistency of the various policies in their intent, language and communication;
5.2.3 Governance
Governance should provide a framework to align financial and non-financial asset management
functions. This is demonstrated by a governance process and policies designed to establish alignment
relationships between stakeholders that can address any conflicting interests regarding how assets are
managed.
Figure 1 suggests key elements of a framework that can be adopted to achieve alignment.
It is important that the governance framework addresses the alignment of financial and non-financial
functions in relation to risk management (particularly financial risk) within the context of the common
overall risk management framework. ISO 55002:2018, Annex E, provides further detail on risk
management. Another useful reference on risk management is the COSO framework[9].
Top management, through the asset management policy, should acknowledge and endorse the role
of alignment between the financial and non-financial functions. Top management should provide
commitment to the provision of the information, knowledge and capabilities required to achieve,
maintain and continually improve alignment. Such information should be available for use within
the organization’s non-financial decision-making functions, e.g. replacement, renewal, maintenance,
training, inspection. This will ensure decisions are informed and balance the financial needs as well as
the organization’s wider performance requirements.
Department/division managers, through the strategic asset management plan (SAMP), should
specifically address the high-level requirements needed to capture, store and share the information,
knowledge and capabilities required to support alignment between financial and non-financial asset
management activities. ISO 55002:2018, Annex C, provides significant guidance on the format and
content of a SAMP.
Accurate, reliable and current data and the resulting information are key elements of asset
management. When data are processed, interpreted, organized, structured or presented so as to make
them meaningful or useful, they are called information. Data and information management is of utmost
importance to facilitate and ensure the collection, accuracy, availability, integrity and completeness of
data and information. Data management should cover data generated within the organization as well as
data coming from outsourced or contracted functions.
After determining its reporting, planning and analysis requirements, an organization should determine
the data needed to facilitate the reporting and planning functions and the best source of such data.
Both financial and non-financial areas are likely sources of the required data. Emerging and evolving
business and technology innovations for data and information will continue to provide emerging means
to support alignment.
The organization should ensure that both financial and non-financial functional areas strive to
collaborate on data collection and ensure the access of data for the right people.
6.1 General
Organizations often have to deal with several different asset information management systems,
designed for specific purposes by different functions, very often as a result of piecemeal and ad hoc
development and investment. Organizations benefit from asset information management systems that
are designed and developed with a common purpose; however, this is often not the case. To address this
common alignment issue, data within the different systems should comply with the data standards of
the organization, to avoid duplication, misuse and misunderstanding.
Staff in the different functions should have basic knowledge as to where data in the systems is used
and why it can contain critical information for other functions. This means that staff should be trained
regularly in common terminology and understanding.
and fundamental classifications of assets are useful in supporting these alignment requirements. It is of
vital importance that organizations:
a) clearly define, develop and communicate their processes for the capture and creation of data, for
managing and dissemination of data, and for data maintenance and updates;
b) ensure these processes are understood and deployed by the end users;
c) establish and enforce performance measures that monitor how current, complete and accurate the
data are;
d) make arrangements to maintain current, complete and accurate data when implementing changes
to existing systems and tools, or when introducing new ones.
The registration of data should ensure that each data element has the same meaning for all data users.
Here, there is a need for training staff on the meaning of common terminology that should be used
across different functional areas. The data registration, based on asset transactions, should trigger
the necessary transactions in the relevant database(s). For example, registration of an investment in
a physical asset should appear in both the non-financial asset register and have a counterpart in the
financial accounting database.
7.1 General
Traditionally, an organization’s different departments carry data and information on assets to suit their
own purpose. That data and information is generally recorded in departmental asset registers, with
each department doing so independently. Therefore, an asset's financial and non-financial data and
information may be recorded in different registers that need to be linked, so the organization can have
a comprehensive view of all the relevant information necessary for decision-making. For that reason,
a key to the alignment of an organization’s financial and non-financial functions lies in managing and
aligning the different asset registers.
Asset registers are the tools that organizations use to assemble and manage pertinent information
(e.g. physical, operational, financial) about their assets/asset systems (tangible and intangible).
Organizations can utilize a number of different asset registers to support the breadth of their operations.
Asset registers are essential for good asset management and can range from simple (e.g. spreadsheet
ledgers) to more complex software applications/databases [e.g. an enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system, computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), geographic information system (GIS),
financial/accounting information system (FIS), associated visualization tools].
systems link to the non-financial asset registers. More complex non-financial asset registers use asset
hierarchical modelling to define asset components, their physical locations and their role in specific
processes. Non-financial asset registers should be continuously maintained throughout all phases of
the asset life cycle (i.e. new assets added, assets improved, assets moved, assets divested) to reflect a
complete and current asset inventory.
8.1 General
Financial planning for asset management is an integral part of the overarching asset management
process. Asset management planning aims to achieve both financial and non-financial objectives while
balancing performance, cost and risk over the total life cycle of the asset systems. It starts with the
objectives (including financial objectives) the organization wants to achieve for its stakeholders and
incorporates the desired performance, risks and costs over the total life of the asset systems. It concerns
not only the operational phase of the asset systems, but also the design, acquisition or construction,
operation, maintenance, renewal and decommissioning phases.
From a financial perspective, it concerns both capital investments (CapEx) and annual recurrent costs
(OpEx). The sum of the two over various periods is referred to as TotEx. In some jurisdictions, the
concept of TotEx (now or in future) is of increasing significance in investment planning (it is not used in
accounting reports). It balances short-term spend against longer-term spend. This has led to innovative
solutions that reduce lifetime costs and encourages sustainability.
Long-term planning includes capacity planning, asset life cycle planning, capital investment planning
and long-term financial planning.
Short-term planning includes budgets and operational planning.
costs. Future operational costs arising from new capital investments should always be taken into
account as part of the total life cycle costs of the assets. These costs need to be reflected in long-term
financial plans.
There will always be a degree of trade-off between operation/maintenance costs and capital
investments. The financial and non-financial staff need to assess what savings could be made in the
maintenance budget if capital investments are brought forward to allow an earlier renewal of assets.
Conversely, increasing maintenance activity can allow the deferral of capital investment for the renewal
of assets. The optimal time for capital investment intervention is the point at which the overall life cycle
costs of the assets can be minimized. Due consideration of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
by finance staff should be undertaken to address the appropriate levels of debt/equity funding.
The evaluation and prioritization of capital projects is inevitably necessary in organizations because
the size and volume of projects typically exceeds the available resources. Proactive capital investment
planning involving alignment is key to prioritizing and ensuring that the required financing is in place
at the right time for implementing the prioritized projects.
The capital investment plans need to be developed with full cooperation between financial and non-
financial functional areas of the organization. The output of this capital investment process is a major
input into long-term financial planning (see 8.3) and budgeting (see 8.4). An organization should view
its financial and non-financial planning processes as interrelated and iterative.
For more detail on the capital investment planning process and its objectives, see Annex A.
8.4 Budgeting
The budgeting process is more efficient when informed by a long-term financial plan that has been
developed collaboratively with financial and non-financial staff input. Asset management should
be a key driver as part of the corporate objectives for budget development and spending decisions.
Financial criteria should form part of the decision-making criteria about how to achieve corporate asset
management objectives.
Asset management is implemented from a mid- and long-term perspective and budgeting should also be
approached in the same way. When financial and non-financial areas understand the asset conditions
and objectives required, they can collaboratively prepare the asset management plan and associated
costs using zero-based budgeting or activity-based budgeting, and agree on the budget necessary for
the next year. Whichever method is used, it is paramount that the financial and non-financial staff
collaborate to reach an agreed budget.
Inadequate budget provisions can lead to higher life cycle costs in the long run, inequitable charging
and financial shocks in future years. The annual budget should recognize the consumption of asset
service potential (depreciation or amortization) and appropriately fund it. It is also important that the
budget correctly categorizes expenditure for CapEx versus OpEx and provides for any donated assets
received in the prior period, as these can have impacts on additional operations and maintenance costs,
depreciation, etc. When aligning financial and non-financial functions, it is important to set criteria
such as a capitalization threshold for categorizing OpEx and CapEx.
Given there is often a limited budget for expenses, there can be discussions on whether to increase
CapEx for asset replacements, thus reducing OpEx. Alternatively, to save on CapEx, it could be decided
to keep existing assets running, even if due to age and condition they could require increased OpEx. The
decision to go one way or the other can also have an impact on the profit and loss statement through
depreciation (especially to the degree that existing assets are fully depreciated) as well as on taxes.
Again, good collaboration between financial and non-financial staff is paramount to determine the
appropriate proportions between CapEx and OpEx.
9 Performance management
9.1 General
To manage performance, it is necessary to make financial and non-financial evaluations to enable
better decision-making by the organization. These evaluations need sufficient and reliable information.
This activity is a requirement of ISO 55001:2014, 4.2, which states: “the organization shall determine
… the stakeholder requirements for recording financial and non-financial information relevant to asset
management, and for reporting on it both internally and externally”.
Performance management is an essential element in asset management to achieve the organizational
objectives. It concerns:
a) measurements (What are the objectives and targets? What is to be measured? When and how?);
b) evaluation (Are the plans executed as intended? Are the intended objectives achieved?);
c) improvements/adjustments of plans to achieve the objectives.
A balance has to be sought when addressing performance, cost and risk. Therefore, these three elements
should be measured in relation to each other.
Sound financial management includes both financial accounting (historical) and management
accounting (predictive). Performance management is essential to provide aligned financial and non-
financial asset-related information for both purposes. Therefore, it should be monitored regularly for
the value it adds to managerial decisions, and not only for auditing purposes.
and also from the discussion about it within the team or at other managerial levels. Based on these
discussions, improvement actions can be initiated.
Other layers of evaluation can be sought through internal and external audits.
Performance measurement involves both financial and non-financial measures. A significant part of
financial performance measurement can involve auditing.
Financial audits should typically address a wide range of issues primarily pertaining to the accounting
standards, but also pertaining to asset management practices. The auditor, in forming an opinion as
to the accuracy and completeness of the financial reports, should analyse and assess information that
is drawn from both financial and non-financial functional areas. Typically, advice is required from a
wide cross-section of the organization’s functional areas, including top management, on issues such as
whether:
a) the level of corporate governance exercised by the organization over assets is appropriate,
particularly in areas of acquisition, existence, proper use and disposals;
b) the valuation and depreciation or amortization methodologies are in accordance with the relevant
accounting standards;
c) the depreciation or amortization methodology is logical and provides a reasonable measure of the
level of remaining service potential and the pattern of consumption of the service potential;
d) all critical assumptions are supported with sufficient and appropriate evidence;
e) the asset register is complete and accurate to an appropriate level required for its users and
stakeholders can have the required level of confidence in its data integrity, quality and currency;
f) the accessibility of information is adequate;
g) valuations have been kept up to date;
h) the organization is monitoring the health and condition of its assets and their remaining useful life
and clearly understands the relationship between the asset condition and its current value.
To manage performance, it is necessary to make rigorous evaluations to enable better decision-making
by the organization. These evaluations need sufficient and reliable data that addresses both financial
and non-financial measures. This activity is a requirement of ISO 55001:2014, 4.2.
Quantifiable key performance indicators should have a direct relationship to the organization's long- and
short-term objectives as stated in the SAMP. They should include both leading and lagging indicators.
Every area of the organization can have specific indicators that should be monitored. In defining these
indicators, various perspectives can be considered, including financial, customers/stakeholders, the
organization’s capabilities and internal processes. There is a need for the financial and non-financial
functional areas to work together in defining dynamic indicators linked to the organization's context.
Once alignment in shared asset granularity has been achieved, there is a possibility that the performance
indicators in different locations can be found to refer to different levels of granularity. Performance
management should ensure that the indicators in different locations produce coherent information.
For example, the finance department can set up financial indicators for each individual asset, such as
valuation or depreciation. At the same time, the maintenance department can set up OpEx indicators
for each individual asset and productivity indicators for entire production lines (asset systems). In such
cases, the individual indicators will need to be combined, communicated and accessed in a way that
provides coherent information for decision-making.
It is important for good performance management to regularly monitor and assess the performance
indicators and underlying data. Knowledge gained from this monitoring and assessment will provide
confidence in performance and will support continual improvement.
Annex A
(informative)
The objective of capital investment plans should be to utilize information from the asset management
planning process to:
a) ensure the timely renewal and replacement of assets where they can deteriorate over time;
b) ensure due consideration of the need for new assets to meet future demand and customer needs;
c) provide a level of certainty for stakeholders regarding the location and timing of capital
investments;
d) identify the most economical means of financing capital improvements; due consideration of the
weighted average cost of capital should be undertaken to address the appropriate level of debt/
equity ratio in the funding mix;
e) provide an opportunity for stakeholder input into the budget and financing process;
f) mitigate the risk of unanticipated, poorly planned or unnecessary CapEx;
g) reduce financial shocks, such as sharp increases in tax rates, user fees and debt levels, to cover
unexpected capital improvements;
h) ensure that patterns of growth and development are consistent with the SAMP;
i) balance desired capital improvements with the stakeholders’ risk appetite, financial resources and
capabilities;
j) provide cash flow planning and optimization.
Various agencies have produced frameworks for carrying out prioritization of capital programmes, all
of which follow similar general steps.
An example of such a framework is given by Reference [8].
Annex B
(informative)
B.1 General
Long-term financial planning should use forecasts to provide insight into future financial capacity so
that strategies can be developed to achieve long-term sustainability, taking account of the organization's
objectives and financial challenges.
Financial forecasting requires a process of projecting revenues and expenditures over a long-term period,
using assumptions about economic conditions, future spending scenarios and other salient variables. It
typically extends to a five- to ten-year horizon (or longer) depending on the organization’s needs.
Successful long-term financial planning is predicated on organizations having a robust and current
SAMP and asset management plans for the assets involved in providing their core products or services.
Organizations rely on these asset management plans to inform on OpEx and CapEx required over
asset life cycles. The long-term financial planning process should be driven from asset management
plans, which provide expenditure projections that should be fed into the financial planning process.
There would typically be a number of iterations to arrive at a final position where all stakeholders are
generally satisfied that the particular specified level of service can be afforded. It should be noted that
there can be a need for an adjustment by varying service levels to achieve financial constraints. The
final position is then funded over the planning period of the long-term financial plan.
The long-term financial planning process should note whether monetary amounts are expressed in
real (i.e. today’s prices) or nominal (adjusted each year by the expected inflation rate) values. In the
latter case, financial staff will be best able to advise on applicable discount rates for net present value.
Organizations should annually review long-term financial planning activities and update the plan as
needed in order to provide direction to the budget process, although not every element of the long-term
plan will need to be revised.
Tables B.1 and B.2 give further details on the typical steps involved in the long-term financial planning
process.
As an example, the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia and the Australian Centre of
Excellence for Local Government have produced a practice note on how to develop a long-term financial
plan, including templates and spreadsheets, which is freely available (see Reference [22]). Alternately,
Table B.1 shows a typical flow chart for the long-term financial planning process.
for developing and recognizing their explicit purpose and scope, as well as for detailing them in
documented information.
f) Analysis phase: The analysis phase is designed to produce information that supports planning and
strategy development. The analysis phase includes the projections and financial analysis commonly
associated with long-term financial planning. The analysis phase involves information gathering,
trend projection and analysis as follows.
1) Information gathering: This is where the organization’s context should be analysed in order to
gain a better understanding of the forces that affect financial stability. Improved understanding
of contextual factors should lead to better forecasting and strategizing.
2) Trend projection: After the organization’s context has been analysed, the planners can project
various elements of long-term revenue, expenditure and debt trends.
3) Analysis: The forecasts can then be used to identify potential challenges to financial stability
(e.g. imbalances). These could be financial deficits (e.g. expenditures outpacing revenues),
environmental challenges (e.g. unfavourable trends in the environment), or policy weaknesses
(e.g. weaknesses in the financial policy structure). Scenario analysis can be used to present
optimistic, base and pessimistic cases. Risk analysis is usually undertaken as part of this phase.
Annex C
(informative)
7) not in service;
8) held for sale or disposal.
b) Accrual basis for accounting: This requires that transactions be recorded based upon events, e.g.
delivery, construction in progress (CIP) [sometimes referred to as work in progress (WIP)], assets
reaching completion and substantially ready for intended use, rather than at the time that cash
or cash equivalents change hands. The accrual accounting and the matching principle requires an
organization to recognize the relationship between its OpEx and CapEx (related to physical assets)
and the delivery of the required value to the organization during the period of incurrence, again,
regardless of when cash payments are made.
c) IFRS valuation rules: The rules provide options on the methods for how assets are registered in
financial reporting, for example:
1) “fair value” refers to the method in which the actual value of the asset is recorded and not
the historical cost of the asset (being the cost at moment of acquisition); use of fair value is
recommended for organizations managing assets, particularly long-lived assets, as it can
provide more meaningful information on which to base decisions about asset replacement,
depreciation, etc.;
2) use of capitalization threshold: some accounting standards allow the organization to capitalize
only the cost of assets above a certain threshold; this threshold is then part of the valuation
rule of the organization and should be applied consistently.
d) Appropriate implementation of accounting standards: This implies that the organization adheres
to the principles of the following assertions regarding the registration of its transactions:
completeness, existence, accuracy, valuation, obligations and rights and presentation (CEAVOP), for
example:
1) “completeness” of the fixed asset register (FAR) means that asset units or groups of assets
purchased or built are effectively registered in the FAR (note that “fixed assets” generally refer
to property, plant and equipment); i.e. technical or operational decisions to buy or purchase (or
dispose of) an asset have been communicated to the financial department, enabling them to
register the new assets in the FAR at the required componentization level (or write-off in the
case of disposal);
2) “existence” of the FAR means that the asset units or groups in the financial FAR are actually
present in the organization, i.e. they “exist” in the organization;
3) “accuracy” means that the transactions (purchase, sales, depreciation) are accurately
calculated and registered in the FAR;
4) “valuation” means that investments, maintenance and disposals are properly valued according
to the applicable accounting standards and valuation guidance; this can require another basis
of valuation (e.g. replacement cost also in FAR when accounting standards require the use of
market value for reporting purposes);
5) “obligation and rights” mean that the ownership or the control of the assets are properly
disclosed;
6) “presentation” means that the financial information and explanations are correctly described
and presented according to the applicable accounting standards.
Based on a (financial) fixed asset register in accordance with these parameters, an organization should
have a better view on its asset base and therefore can use the data and information in its registers for
making decisions regarding its asset management. A comprehensive asset register can also allow the
organization to fulfil the needs and expectations of its stakeholders and/or shareholders by presenting
a fair view of its asset base in its financial reporting.
Annex D
(informative)
D.1 General
Subclauses D.2 to D.8 expand briefly on how an organization should fulfil its accounting functions in
terms of asset management to the extent required for conforming to the accounting standards of each
country’s financial reporting needs. The following information is intended to raise awareness among
both financial and non-financial staff of some of the basic accounting provisions for asset management.
Such awareness is important to foster better communication between staff to assist them in performing
their duties. The following main topics are addressed:
— financial asset registers;
— valuation/revaluation;
— valuation techniques;
— depreciation;
— impairment;
— useful life/remaining useful life;
— residual value.
Non-financial information should be considered by the organization on the above topics, to fulfil its
accounting function in a proper manner. As well as the financial reporting functions, which typically
address past events, many organizations are increasingly looking to their financial accounting functions
to provide managers with essential financial information as part of the asset management functions,
to better inform decision-making for planning ahead. In this document, the financial functions refer
to life cycle processes and activities such as managerial costing and accounting, budgeting, financing,
valuation, taxation and accounting for financial reporting relating to the assets. Non-financial functions
can be deemed to be everything else pertaining to managing the life cycle of the assets.
d) depreciation percentage: calculated as per the depreciation methodology; alternatively, this can
be taken to be read as the “percentage of each unit of time (month, year, etc.) or production unit of
useful life”;
e) accumulated depreciation: the accumulated amount of depreciation since the acquisition date;
f) accumulated impairment: the accumulated amount of impairment since the acquisition date;
g) book value: the difference between the acquisition cost and the sum of the accumulated
depreciation, diminutions and other accounting charges as recorded.
For complex assets, such as infrastructure, accounting standards require a recognition of the component
parts of some property, plant and equipment that have useful lives different from that of the main asset.
Accounting considerations for identifying components are primarily related to the materiality of the
impact on the recorded depreciation expense.
See 6.1 for more on the relationship between the financial asset register and other asset registers.
D.3 Valuation/revaluation
Asset values are used by many parts of the organization for a variety of differing purposes, including
for financial reporting, insurance purposes, taxation and asset management. These asset values should
be held in the asset registers and, accordingly, there is a need for financial and non-financial functional
areas to work together for the common benefit of an aligned set of asset registers.
Valuation is the process of estimating the value of anything, including an organization's assets and
liabilities. In the financial community, value is defined identically by both major international accounting
standards: the IFRS and US GAAP. IFRS 13[15] defines “fair value” as the price that would be received to
sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the
measurement date (an exit price). Where a market price doesn’t exist, IFRS 13 applies the depreciated
replacement cost.
One of these various uses of “value” is as in “book value”, namely the amount at which physical assets are
registered in the financial asset register. At the time of acquisition, the cost is registered as “acquisition
cost” or “cost of origin.” This cost is subsequently depreciated either by time or production, and the cost
of acquisition net of depreciation is usually called “book value.” While normally book value would vary
between its highest level at the date of acquisition, and gradually decrease to zero or residual value
at the end of accounting useful life, there can be instances during the asset’s lifetime in which book
value will need to be revalued, upwards or downwards. At those times, a valuation can be needed to
reflect the impact of a new situation in the organization’s financial statements. Examples of such new
situations are:
a) an old production line can be used after some modifications for producing a new product;
b) the sale of an asset;
c) the longer useful life of an asset;
d) fair value accounting;
e) economic environment and market conditions have worsened and impairment (additional
depreciation) is called for;
f) functional and technological changes have occurred to the assets and they are no longer able to
perform at the expected level;
g) technological advances in the marketplace have occurred and the asset(s) are no longer
financially viable;
h) there are associated costs, additional financing requirements or residual investment (e.g. spares).
While various accounting standards can allow values to be recorded in different ways, such as at
historical cost, it is widely recognized that for meaningful asset management decision-making, fair
value should be used. Unless decisions on issues such as replacing of assets, investing in renewals,
depreciation or disposal are based on current market values or their equivalent, it is unlikely that
the real costs in current monetary terms will be understood. Financial and non-financial functional
areas should understand the requirements, put in place the necessary processes and work together
to generate the necessary information required for decision-making on the above issues as well as on
associated matters, such as pricing of services.
For valuing assets for asset management purposes, it will also be necessary for the financial and non-
financial functional areas to collaborate on the way in which the assets are to be componentized in the
asset registers to desirably reflect the way in which they are managed for varying useful life of each
component. This can have a bearing on issues like depreciation, replacement or renewal treatments.
When measuring fair value, an entity should use the assumptions that market participants would use
when pricing the asset or the liability under current market conditions, including assumptions about
expectations and risk. However, not all assets operate in an active trading market. Examples include
long-life infrastructure type assets. IFRS 13[15] requires that “valuation techniques used to measure
fair value shall maximize the use of relevant observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable
inputs”.
Unobservable inputs should be used to measure fair value to the extent that relevant observable inputs
are not available, thereby allowing for situations in which there is little, if any, market activity for the
asset or liability at the measurement date. However, the fair value measurement objective remains the
same, i.e. an exit price at the measurement date from the perspective of a market participant that holds
the asset or owes the liability.
D.5 Depreciation
In general, depreciation refers to the loss in value of an asset during the economic useful life of an asset
while allocating a yearly cost of the use of the asset to each year. The depreciation charge for each
period is recognized in a profit and loss statement. The remaining value of the asset at the end of its
economic useful life needs to be equal to zero or to the remaining asset value (residual value, see D.8) as
estimated by the organization from time to time.
In countries that have not introduced depreciation into infrastructure assets in their accounting
standards, their value is not thought to be depreciated due to appropriate maintenance and
rehabilitation, maintaining the service delivery capability. The value is stable since the units of
production will not be changed from those at the planning stage.
IFRS and US GAAP (or other GAAPs) require that the depreciation method used reflect the pattern
in which the asset's future economic benefits are expected to be consumed by the organization. The
organization should select the method that most closely reflects the expected pattern of consumption
of the future economic benefits embodied in the asset and based on what is allowed from local
jurisdictions. That method should be applied consistently from period to period unless there is a change
in the expected pattern of consumption of those future economic benefits. Close collaboration between
financial and non-financial staff should be encouraged to arrive at an agreed pattern of consumption
and the depreciation method.
There are several depreciation methods, depending on the accounting standards to be used or
depending on the type of reporting. The following list gives some examples of depreciation methods.
a) Linear depreciation method or straight-line depreciation or amortization (for intangible assets): If
time-based, yearly depreciation is equal to the acquisition cost less any residual value, divided by
the useful life of an asset. Again, this applies when assuming the asset is not revalued. This method
results in a constant charge over the useful life if the asset's residual value does not change, the
useful life does not change or the asset is not revalued.
b) Diminishing balance method: This method results in a decreasing charge over the useful life.
c) Units of production method: This method results in a charge based on the expected use or output.
d) Useful life residual value depreciation: This method can be used for assets with a very long useful
life because:
1) assets are valued at a specific value (market value, replacement value, historical purchase value);
2) depreciation (which can be linear or not) to a certain residual value can be determined as a
percentage of acquisition cost; once an asset is disposed of, its remaining balance will be taken
as that asset’s final depreciation.
In cases where the chosen depreciation method does not result in a fair representation of the remaining
book value of the asset, the organization should register an impairment (additional depreciation) in
order to bring the net book value of the asset to the estimated fair value (see D.3 and D.4).
D.6 Impairment
Impairment is the decline in the future economic benefits service potential due to extrinsic or intrinsic
conditions on an asset over and above the consumption reported through depreciation. An asset is said
to be impaired when its carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount.
Impairment is an accounting treatment that should be applied at the moment an event occurs that has
an immediate negative impact on the fair value of all the assets that belong to one and the same cash
generating unit. A change in the expected demand for a product resulting in a shorter useful life of the
asset is an example of an event giving cause for the registration of an impairment.
EXAMPLE A shopping centre is strategically located next to a large specialized factory that employs
thousands of employees. The factory work moves to a new facility a long distance away, with the consequence
that the shopping centre’s customer traffic diminishes by 75 % and most of its tenants vacate. This causes the
shopping centre to receive a diminishing cash flow, revenues and profits, and consequently to lose significant
market value.
This event is registered in terms of accounting by decreasing the current net book value of the asset to
the current fair value. It should be noted that some accounting standards, such as IFRS, allow reversal
of impairment losses recorded in prior years. It is important to understand how the asset condition and
its current value are related and what are these effects on the value.
It is recommended that decisions on impairment for infrastructure assets should be made in a long-
term view. Infrastructure assets have long lives compared with facilities and equipment, and their value
should not be evaluated by a certain event occurring in a short time period. Also, it should be pointed
out that impairment for infrastructure assets can cause the organization to reduce any charged tolls or
fees, as well as to influence its creditworthiness and make financing more difficult, which in turn can
cause further deterioration of the infrastructure.
As can be seen from the above example, determining whether an asset is impaired needs to involve the
non-financial staff who manage the asset on a day-to-day basis. It should also be noted that if there is an
indication that an asset is impaired, it could instead mean that the remaining useful life, depreciation
method or residual value should be reviewed and adjusted, and no impairment loss recognized.
Accordingly, judgement should be used to determine whether it is more appropriate to record an
impairment loss or make other adjustments, with decisions being documented, including advice from
the relevant functional staff.
Sometimes during impairment reviews it can be found that an asset no longer exists. If this occurs, it
is not an impairment but a deferred recognition of a disposal, and an investigation should take place to
identify and correct the process failure.
b) technological: foreseeable changes that can make the asset or the production strategy obsolete;
c) functional: the expected evolution of market demand for the product or service that the asset
participates in;
d) economic: anticipation of the period in which the asset can be economically exploited.
Depending on the size and nature of the organization, the amount of analysis and weight given to each
of these estimations can be made:
— informally, based on the judgement of appropriately qualified and experienced personnel, or
professionally, using available formal methodologies;
— based on recommendations from operational and technical staff in the non-financial areas, as this
information is used to determine a residual value at disposition.
The remaining useful life can be estimated from the condition of an asset, when reliable condition
deterioration profiles are available. Remaining useful life can increase when an asset's total useful
life is extended by rehabilitation work. When not available, the organization can use local knowledge
and experience of the operation and service performance of similar assets. Hence, the need to engage
both financial and non-financial functional staff to arrive at a consensus on remaining useful life. It is
worthwhile for an organization to establish guidelines and thresholds around where alignment and
cooperation needs to be.
Annex E
(informative)
E.1 General
Non-financial functions in asset management include work on a range of activities over the life cycle
of the assets. As an example of these activities, this annex focuses particularly on the various life cycle
phases typically applicable for an infrastructure asset system:
— concept phase or defining requirements (see E.2);
— planning and design (see E.3);
— asset creation (construction/acquisition) (see E.4);
— operation and maintenance (see E.5);
— asset monitoring (see E.6);
— rehabilitation and refurbishment (see E.7);
— disposal (see E.8).
Figure E.1 depicts a framework to describe the various phases over the life cycle of infrastructure
assets. There are many possible depictions of such a framework and each organization will likely have
a variation on this. For the purpose of this annex, this framework is used to present the way in which
the financial and non-financial functions should align as the non-financial functions are performed. The
objective is for the financial and non-financial functional areas to collaborate on ways of carrying out
asset life cycle activities most cost effectively.
E.5.2 Operation
The organization's operational functions should run the assets to produce the product and/or service
to be delivered at the required level of service and acceptable level of risk. It is fundamental that they
operate the assets in a way that minimizes the life cycle cost. In doing so they should:
a) comply with technical specifications requirements;
b) monitor the achievement of performance objectives;
c) staff the operation with the appropriate technical skills;
d) work collaboratively with the maintenance functions.
The financial and non-financial functional areas need to collaborate to monitor the appropriate balance
between the cost of maintaining the assets and investing capital for asset renewal. The aim is to
minimize the TotEx over the whole of life of the assets.
E.5.3 Maintenance
Maintenance is concerned with carrying out activities aimed at keeping the assets in service and
meeting their functional and performance objectives. Failure to carry out appropriate maintenance
activities can:
a) reduce performance;
b) lower reliability;
changing over time, are normally used to support operational planning, maintenance scheduling,
improving reliability, predicting rehabilitation and refurbishment (R&R) timing, and deciding on R&R
actions.
This can allow the organization to optimally use the assets and inform decision-makers about the
appropriate balance between CapEx and OpEx over the asset life cycle. For example, through condition
monitoring, the organization can be advised on the most appropriate timing for intervention options,
such as an asset refurbishment or replacement, or rehabilitation to extend the life of the asset, or in
addressing deferred maintenance that can result in extending life of the asset and hence reduced TotEx.
E.8 Disposal
The disposal phase is typically the last stage of an asset's life cycle and it commences at the time when
the asset no longer fulfils the organization’s needs. For example, the asset reaches the end of its useful
life, which can be manifested in low or unstable reliability, a high running cost or low product/service
quality being delivered or obsolescence. A change or disruptions in the organization's context can also
trigger the disposal stage. For example, changes in the financial situation or in public perception, or a
lower demand for products/services.
Depending on the nature of the asset, there are different approaches to disposal, such as abandon in
place, and scrapping or selling if the asset is of value for another organization. It is of importance to
include the projected disposal costs in the whole life cycle cost analysis as some assets are likely to
incur large costs for scrapping and site remediation. For example, a disused pipeline that is abandoned
in place and accordingly will have ongoing residual liabilities, such as a risk of collapse, that need to be
managed by the organization.
Annex F
(informative)
Implementation example
F.1 General
The example in this annex describes an organization that is attempting to transform its asset
management practices by improving the alignment of its financial and non-financial functions, in
accordance with the recommendations of this document. It is recognized that desired outcomes are
achieved based upon multiple factors, including the commitment of managers, technical and leadership
competence, willingness to change, committed resources, sense of urgency, etc. Different situations will
require different approaches and priorities.
F.4 Key points from the organization's policy for asset management
F.4.1 Approach to alignment
Internal activities and functions are required to be aligned to the extent that they optimize value as
defined by leadership (tangible and perceived intangibles). This involves adopting the principles,
concepts and definitions in ISO 55000, adopting, supporting and providing leadership on the enterprise
implementation of ISO 55001, and using the guidance of ISO 55002 and this document in order to
achieve organizational objectives.
F.4.3 Focus
Asset management, as defined in ISO 55000:2014, 3.3.1, is the “coordinated activity of an organization
to realize value from assets”; in essence, optimization of the managing of items and things. Such items
and things can either be tangible (e.g. property, plant, equipment) or intangible. Intangible items and
things can either be on-book (e.g. high-value software, goodwill, patents) or off-book (e.g. systems,
plans, product lines, research and development, risks and opportunities). Achievement should be
measured by long-term shareholder value, reputation, equity (as reported on the balance sheet) and
income statement elements.
Annex G
(informative)
Determining the price or charge to be levied for a product or service is a complex exercise requiring
input from a variety of functional areas, typically including marketing, finance, customer services,
operations, etc. In some cases, prices are overseen by a regulatory framework. As part of the process
of determining cost inputs to the pricing exercise, the financial and non-financial functions of asset
management need to collaborate for an organization to establish a clear understanding of:
a) the use of forecasting models and/or scenario modelling in developing business cases;
b) future cost models for input into pricing setting/submissions in a regulated pricing environment;
c) future cost projections to understand the ability of the organization to deliver products or services
in a competitive market (including via different supply chain pathways or threads);
d) future cost projections for setting rates and charges for a product or service in a public works type
scenario.
The non-financial inputs derived from, for example, technical needs analysis, performance assessment,
demand analysis, future needs requirements (internal and customer), maintenance planning, renewal
planning and new works/growth plans all have associated expenditures that need to be considered for
cost recovery through pricing or rates and charges.
In order to build up the financial elements of the operational and capital plans and cost-benefit analyses,
financial systems need to allow the organization to extract costs of their current and future activities
(such as through unit rates or activity-based costing models).
The organization can then develop its financial plans and budgets by addressing these costs. This
provides information for the organization itself and its stakeholders to understand and defend its
revenue needs and price settings.
In a regulated or policy driven pricing environment, the combined financial (costs and prices) and non-
financial (service performance) information and risks are combined to engage customers, rate payers
or other stakeholders in an engagement strategy (usually required by the regulator) and to inform
the regulator or policy body decision-maker. Determining the price for a product or service in such
a market will typically involve a high level of transparency linking financial and non-financial data
that demonstrates how best value outcomes can be provided for customers. For example, a utility
organization that provides clean water can be required by a regulatory body to provide evidence of
the wholesomeness of the water (e.g. its measures to prevent bacteriological contamination) as well as
information on its internal costings and controls that determine its pricing charges for consumers.
NOTE A useful example of such combined regulatory requirements is provided by Reference [10].
In a public service pricing environment, the difference between price and cost (net income) plays an
important role in the organization’s sustainability and therefore should be part of the engagement
strategy with stakeholders and customers.
Bibliography
[20] IPWEA. Australian Infrastructure Financial Management Manual (AIFMM). Institute of Public
Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), Sydney, 2015
[21] IPWEA. International Infrastructure Management Manual (IIMM). Institute of Public Works
Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), Sydney, 2015
[22] IPWEA and ACELG. Practice Note 6: Long-term Financial Planning. Institute of
Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) and the Australian Centre of
Excellence for Local Government, Sydney, 2012. Available from: https://www.ipwea
.org/publications/ipweabookshop/practicenotes/pn6
[23] US GAO. Federal Real Property Asset Management: Agencies Could Benefit from Additional
Information on Leading Practices. Report to Congressional Requesters. GAO 19‑57.
United States Government Accountability Office, 2018. Available from: https://www.gao
.gov/assets/700/695240.pdf
ICS 03.100.01
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