An equipment and asset checklist for a Canadian business sale covers building an accurate inventory of what is owned, confirming which items are financed, leased or carry a registered lien, checking condition against maintenance records, and estimating what will realistically need replacing soon after closing.
Reviewed
A fixed asset register is only as useful as it is accurate, and it is common for one to list equipment long since sold or replaced, or to omit something bought more recently. This checklist covers how to build and verify that picture properly, as a deeper pass than the brief equipment check inside Deavo’s general buyer due diligence checklist.
Build an inventory that matches reality
Walk the premises with the current asset register in hand and confirm every listed item is actually present and in the condition describedA register that has not been physically reconciled in years commonly diverges from what is actually on site, and the gap only gets noticed when someone finally checks in person.
Confirm the age and expected remaining working life of each major piece of equipment, not just its book valueBook value reflects depreciation for accounting purposes, not how much useful life is actually left, and equipment fully depreciated on paper can still be either perfectly fine or close to failure — the register alone will not tell you which.
Request maintenance and service logs for major equipment and check them against how the seller has described its conditionEquipment described as "well maintained" with no documented service history is a claim, not evidence, and a buyer should weigh the two very differently.
Confirm what is actually owned free and clear
Confirm which assets are owned outright, which are leased, and which are financed, and get current payout figures for anything encumberedAn asset that looks like a clean owned item on the balance sheet can carry a lease obligation or a loan balance that reduces what is actually being acquired without any debt attached to it.
Run a PPSA search against the corporation to check for registered security interests against specific equipmentAn unregistered or undisclosed lien can surface after closing as a claim the new owner did not expect and did not price into the deal, and a search is a small cost against that risk.
Confirm whether any equipment is subject to a supplier placement or vendor-managed arrangement rather than being owned by the business at allSome equipment — a point-of-sale terminal, a beverage dispensing system — is often placed by a supplier under its own agreement, and that arrangement does not automatically transfer to a new owner on the same terms.
Plan for what needs replacing soon
Build a realistic near-term capital expenditure estimate for equipment that is at or past the end of its expected working lifeA business that looks profitable on paper can look considerably less attractive once a buyer accounts for equipment that will need replacing within the first year or two of ownership.
Ask about warranty coverage remaining on newer equipment and confirm whether it transfers to a new ownerA warranty tied to the original purchaser, rather than the equipment itself, can leave a new owner covering a repair cost the seller would have gotten for free.
Confirm insurance coverage on major equipment reflects its actual replacement cost, not an outdated figure carried forward from an earlier policyAn insurance limit set years ago and never revisited can leave a genuine gap between what a piece of equipment would cost to replace and what a policy would actually pay out.
Deavo is an advertising and listings platform, not a brokerage, law firm or valuation firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and rules differ by province. Confirm anything you rely on with a qualified professional before you act on it.