Description

More commonly known than personal property inventories, the manufacturing and retail industries have been documenting and tracking their assets for a much longer period of time.

At one time, a shopkeeper could keep track of his merchandise in his head. Craftsmen knew what raw materials they needed, and how much they had used. The industrial revolution altered the business world, requiring more sophisticated and systemized inventory tracking.

Small retail store owners were often able to function with a best guess, believing that they could get along just fine with a general idea of what they had in stock. As stores became larger, and a wider variety of products were made available to their customers, the shop-keepers soon noticed the benefits realized by large corporations’ asset tracking and followed suit.

Personal property inventory is fairly new compared to retail and manufacturing, but the financial and emotional benefits are being realized. Though there is still plenty of need for educating policyholders of the importance of this documentation, great strides are being made.

People have learned, usually too late, that an itemized list is required to file an insurance claim to help assist with an equitable insurance settlement. Insurance agents recommend an inventory to their residential and commercial policyholders. There are a plethora of apps, software products, books, and paper forms encouraging homeowners and business owners alike to complete their home and company inventories. Yet even with all of this knowledge and recent technology, many businesses and homes still lack this important documentation.

As the general public continues to learn of the need to protect what they own, they are seeking professional service providers to complete the task for them. The reality of the value for manufacturing and retail companies to track their assets is now transferring over to the personal property inventory industry as well. Having a complete record of contents and the associated values, whether for a company or an individual, is a must for the many life events when this information is required.

Successful completion of this course earns the participate 3 CEUs.