How to track overdue checkouts
An asset is overdue when it has an active checkout past its expected return date.
Requirements
- Available on: Orbit, Odyssey, Cosmos
- Roles: Owner, Admin, Manager, Employee. Viewers can see checkouts.
Where to look
Dashboard → Assets (Individual) — filter by checkout status to see what is out.
Dashboard → Upcoming — the consolidated forward view, including checkouts approaching their return date and those already overdue.
Dashboard → Notifications — the alerts as they are raised.
Dashboard → Reports → Checkouts — custody history and outstanding items.
Overdue can never be wrong
Overdue is derived at read time, not stored as a flag.
An asset is overdue if it has an active checkout whose expected return date has passed — computed when you look. There is no field that could be left stale, and no situation where something shows as returned because a status was not updated.
Alerts
UniAsset alerts on checkouts approaching their return date and again once overdue.
Alerts are deduplicated, so an item that stays overdue produces one notification rather than one per check. Read state is per person, so you clearing an alert does not hide it from colleagues.
Critical alerts are emailed immediately on Orbit and above; every plan gets the weekly digest.
Chasing returns
Start with the approaching-return alerts, not the overdue ones. A reminder the day before is more effective than a chase a week after.
Look at the purpose field. Items still out for a job that finished are the ones to chase; items out for an ongoing project may just need the return date extending.
Extend properly. If a loan is genuinely continuing, check the item in and out again with a new date. That leaves a record rather than silently ignoring an overdue item.
Escalate through the person, not the asset. Open the Person to see everything they hold. One conversation usually covers several items.
When something is genuinely lost
Leave it checked out — that is the honest record. Then, on Odyssey and above, dispose of it with the method "lost", which records the financial position and archives the asset. Below Odyssey, archive it.
Common mistakes
Checking items in to clear the list. The overdue list is only useful if it is true.
Setting comfortable return dates. A date nobody believes produces alerts nobody acts on.
Chasing asset by asset. Chase person by person.
Ignoring the approaching-return warning. That is the cheap intervention.
Troubleshooting
Nothing shows as overdue but I know items are out. Check the checkouts have expected return dates. Without one there is nothing to be past.
An item is overdue but has been returned. It was never checked in. Check it in now.
I'm not getting overdue emails. Immediate email needs Orbit or above; Nova gets the weekly digest. Check your notification preferences.
Checkout filters aren't available. Asset check-out needs Orbit or above.
The Checkouts report is locked. It needs Orbit or above.
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