AV and Stage Equipment Inventory

Who this is for

The venue's sound, lighting and staging kit, listed by the case it lives in. Asset number, serial, quantity, condition and value on every line, so the get-out count and the insurance figure come from the same sheet.

Technical managers and crew at theatres, churches, schools and small venues, and AV hire companies who need to know what they own before they know what is out.

What this helps you track

• Every microphone, lantern, desk, speaker and stage part the venue owns
• The flight case, rack or store each item belongs in, so a get-out can be checked
• Asset numbers and serial numbers for warranty, repair and insurance
• The condition of each item, including anything currently faulty
• The value of the inventory at the figures you enter

How to use it

1. Fill the header with the venue or company, the store being counted, who is counting and the date.
2. Work case by case rather than shelf by shelf. Writing the case number on every line turns this sheet into the check list used at the end of an event.
3. Give each item with a serial number its own line; group cables, clamps and consumables by type with a quantity.
4. Record the condition, and use the faulty option for anything that is in the case but should not go out until it is repaired.
5. Enter a value per item on the basis you use for insurance, and note that basis at the foot. The line values, totals and summary are calculated for you.
6. Re-count after every large event, and keep the sheet with the venue's technical file.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How is this different from an event equipment checkout sheet?

A checkout sheet follows kit out to a job and back again for one event. This is the standing list of everything owned, with values — the thing a checkout sheet is drawn from.

Why list by case rather than by type?

Because that is how the kit moves. A case that should hold eight microphones and holds seven is a problem you can see at the get-out, which is when you can still do something about it.

Should cables really be counted?

By type and length, on one line each, with a quantity. Nobody serialises a cable, but the number held is worth knowing before a show rather than during one.

What about hired-in equipment?

Keep it off this sheet — it is not yours to value. Note it in the notes area, or keep a hire check sheet for kit that comes in and goes out again.