Professional services
Every laptop accounted for, in a business built on billable hours
Law, accounting and consulting firms issue expensive, confidential equipment to people who move between clients and offices. Track who holds what, prove it, and get it back at the end.
Professional services firms carry a high ratio of expensive devices to people, and those devices hold client-confidential data. Stackroom records who holds each item against a signature, produces the list at departure, and gives you a verified count when a client or insurer asks.
The problem
Sound familiar?
- Nobody can say which laptop a departing associate still has.
- Client-confidential data sits on devices with no documented custodian.
- Equipment accumulates quietly — two docks and three chargers per desk.
- Finance asks for a fixed asset count and it takes a week to produce.
How Stackroom helps
Everything you need, in one place
Custody with a signature
Every device issued to a named person who signs on the device, with a PDF agreement they receive.
Clean offboarding
Everything a leaver holds, as a generated checklist, closing into a signed clearance certificate.
Confidentiality you can evidence
A documented custodian for every device that touches client data, with the full chain retained.
Audit-ready counts
Scoped cycle counts that close with a sign-off and export as a document finance can file.
How it runs
What this looks like day to day
- 1Issue
Equipment goes out against a name
New joiners are issued their laptop, docks, monitor and phone in one action, signed for on the spot, with the agreement emailed to them.
- 2Track
Moves are recorded, not remembered
Desk moves, office changes and hot-desking are scans rather than emails, so the register reflects where equipment actually is.
- 3Service
Warranty and cover stay visible
Expiry dates warn ahead of time, so repairs are claimed rather than paid for out of the practice's own budget.
- 4Recover
Departures are a checklist
The leaver's record lists every item they hold. Recovery is worked through rather than reconstructed during their notice period.
In detail
The questions that come up next
Why confidentiality raises the stakes on custody
A missing laptop in most businesses is a replacement cost. In a firm holding client matter data it is potentially a reportable incident, and the first question asked is who had it and what controls existed. A signed custody chain answers that; a name in a spreadsheet cell does not, and the difference becomes very expensive at exactly the wrong moment.
The accessory drift nobody budgets for
Partners and associates accumulate equipment across desk moves, home working and office refurbishments. Two docks, three chargers, a spare monitor and a headset per person is not unusual, and almost none of it is recorded. It rarely triggers a project because no single item is expensive — but priced across a hundred people it routinely exceeds the laptop estate.
Producing the fixed asset count without losing a week
Firms preparing accounts need a verified count rather than an export of what somebody believes they own. Scoped cycle counts run per floor or per office in an afternoon, close with a signature, and produce something finance can file directly.
Hot desks and shared meeting equipment
Not everything has a holder. Meeting room AV, spare monitors and the equipment in shared spaces live in a location rather than with a person, counted periodically. Mixing the two models without deciding which applies to what is the usual reason a register goes stale in an office.
FAQ
Questions, answered
How do we track equipment for people who work across client sites?
Custody follows the person rather than the desk, so a consultant working at a client for six months still shows as the holder. Where they physically are matters less than who is accountable, and the record does not need updating every time they move.
Can we prove who held a device during a data incident?
Yes. The custody chain retains every holder in sequence with dates and signatures, so you can show who held a specific device on a specific day rather than reporting who holds it now.
Does this cover equipment issued to home workers?
Yes. Equipment sent to a home address is recorded against that person with an acknowledgement on receipt, which also catches courier shortfalls while they are still disputable.
How long does an office count take?
A floor of around 200 items is well under an hour of scanning. Reconciling afterwards takes longer on the first count and shrinks on each one, because there is less accumulated drift to explain.
Ready to know where every asset is?
Start free — tag your first 100 assets and run a real checkout in your first session. No credit card required.