Distributed by Design
Assets sit across offices, stores, data centres and warehouses, rarely in one place at one time.
Food and Beverage, Hospitality
Fixed Asset Audit Across a
PAN-India Coffee Retail Network
How MYND ran a three-phase fixed asset audit across offices, stores, data centres and warehouses, reconciling the register against physical assets, correcting depreciation, and closing the control gaps that let the asset base drift.
Engagement Snapshot
3
Audit Phases
2-3%
Assets Missing or Untagged
10,000+
Employees
₹1,200-1,400 Cr
Annual Revenue
PAN-India
Joint Venture, B2C
Multi-Site Asset Base
Industry Context
Every New Store Adds Assets Faster Than the Register Can Track Them
TATA Starbucks Pvt. Ltd. is a joint venture operating the Starbucks coffee and beverage business across India. Rapid growth over the past decade expanded its product lines and store footprint PAN India.
That growth left a large and complex fixed asset portfolio spanning furniture and fixtures, office equipment, software tools, servers, office buildings, data centres, machinery and leased equipment. Each new store adds tangible assets at speed, in a location the finance team does not physically see, and the register only stays accurate if verification keeps pace with the fit-out.
When it does not, the gap compounds quietly. Assets get retired without being derecognised, tags fall off, depreciation runs on schedules set for a smaller and simpler estate, and the book value slowly stops describing what the business actually owns.
Portfolio Characteristics
Mixed Asset Classes
Fit-out, machinery, IT hardware, software and leased equipment, each with different treatment.
High Churn at Store Level
Refits, relocations and closures move or retire assets faster than records are updated.
Direct Financial Effect
An unreconciled register overstates the asset base and misstates depreciation expense.
The Challenge
A Portfolio That Had Grown Complex, Misstated and Weakly Controlled
Rapid PAN-India expansion outpaced the processes holding the fixed asset register together. The problem was not one bad record; it was four connected weaknesses, each making the next harder to detect.
01
Asset Discrepancies
Reconciling physical assets against the register grew increasingly difficult as the estate spread.
- Assets held across offices, stores, data centres and warehouses
- No single reconciliation covering the full footprint
- Physical position and recorded position drifting apart
02
Incomplete Records
New acquisitions were not consistently recorded, and part of the registered base could not be located.
- Newly acquired assets not properly recorded
- Roughly 2 to 3% of registered assets missing, untagged or unused
- The recorded asset base overstated as a result
03
Depreciation Mismanagement
Depreciation ran on methods and schedules that no longer matched the portfolio.
- Outdated depreciation methods and schedules applied
- Fully depreciated and obsolete assets still carried
- Book value inflated against economic reality
04
Weak Internal Controls
The controls that should have caught the above were not standardised across the business.
- Approval, tracking and disposal processes not standardised
- Duties poorly segregated across acquisition and disposal
- Assets tracked manually in spreadsheets
Assets in Scope
Eight Asset Classes, Verified Against One Register
The audit covered the full fixed asset portfolio rather than a sample category, so that discrepancies in one class could be read against treatment in another.
Furniture and Fixtures
Store fit-out and office furnishing across the PAN-India footprint.
Office Equipment
General equipment held at head office and regional locations.
Software Tools
Capitalised software, assessed for useful life and continued use.
Servers
Server hardware, checked for tag, serial number, make, model and location.
Office Buildings
Owned premises carried within the fixed asset register.
Data Centres
Data centre assets verified on site alongside IT infrastructure.
Machinery
Operating machinery assessed for condition, obsolescence and impairment.
Leased Equipment
Leased items reviewed for correct recognition and treatment.
Our Solution
A Three-Phase Fixed Asset Audit
MYND ran the audit in three phases covering verification, accounting review and control evaluation. Each phase tested the one before it, so a physical finding became an accounting correction, and an accounting correction pointed back to the control that had allowed it.
Phase 1
Physical Verification
Verification across offices, stores, data centres and warehouses, reconciling the register and checking tags, serial numbers, make, model and location.
Phase 1
Condition Assessment
Assessment of key assets to identify items that were obsolete, damaged or underutilised and required write-off or impairment adjustment.
Phase 2
Accounting Review
Review of depreciation methods by asset category, verifying useful lives and straight-line versus accelerated application, with impairment testing.
Phase 3
Internal Control Evaluation
Evaluation of acquisition and disposal approvals, capex authorisation and segregation of duties, with a recommendation for an integrated asset system.
Impact and Outcomes
A Register That Now Matches the Estate
The audit closed the gap between what the books recorded and what the business held, then fixed the processes that had opened it.
2-3%
Of Registered Assets Found Missing, Untagged or Unused
Identified through physical verification, and corrected so the recorded asset base reflects what is actually held.
Accurate Asset Register
The asset register was successfully reconciled against physical assets.
Correct Depreciation and Impairments
Schedules were updated for a more accurate reflection of asset values and depreciation expenses.
Improved Controls
Internal controls around asset acquisitions and disposals were strengthened.
Better Reporting
The asset management process was upgraded, improving reporting and safeguarding physical assets.
Recommendations Delivered
Integrated Asset System
Standardised Approval Workflow
Segregation of Duties
Capex Authorisation Controls
Write-Off and Impairment Adjustment
Tagging Discipline
Why This Matters
A Fixed Asset Register Is a Financial Statement, Not an Inventory List
Fixed assets sit on the balance sheet and drive depreciation expense in the profit and loss. When the register drifts, the drift is not administrative. It changes reported asset values, reported profit, and what an auditor can rely on.
Overstated Assets Are a Reporting Risk
Carrying assets that are missing, unused or fully depreciated inflates the base and misstates the position.
Depreciation Follows the Register
If useful lives and methods are set against an outdated portfolio, the expense recognised each period is wrong by construction.
Spreadsheets Do Not Scale
Manual tracking works at one site. Across offices, stores, data centres and warehouses it stops being a control.
Verification Has to Be Physical
Tags, serial numbers and locations can only be confirmed on site. A desk review cannot find an asset that is not there.
What Made This Possible
Multi-Site Verification Capability
Fixed Asset Accounting Expertise
Impairment Testing Experience
Internal Controls Advisory
Asset System Design