Maquiladoras in Mexico and the US: One Record per Asset

A company with plants in Mexico and the United States owns each machine once, but it often records it twice: in the Mexican entity's IMMEX records and in the US parent's fixed asset register. When surplus comes out of those plants every quarter, one record for every asset, on both sides of the border, is what lets the plants, finance and corporate all see the same thing.

For the whole path from the plant floor to the final sale, see our page on maquiladora surplus.

Why maquiladoras in Mexico keep two sets of records

Most maquiladoras in Mexico belong to a foreign parent, many of them US companies. The machinery on the floor is usually imported under IMMEX as fixed assets, activo fijo, and tracked in the plant's inventory control system, commonly called Anexo 24. The same machine usually sits on the parent's fixed asset register as well, capitalized in dollars and depreciated there.

Each record answers a different question. Anexo 24 answers customs: which pedimento the machine came in on, and whether its temporary import is still open. The fixed asset register answers finance: what the machine cost, what it is worth on the books, and which site carries it. While a machine runs, the two rarely need to meet.

Where the records come apart

They meet when a machine leaves service. A retooled line, a retired product or a consolidation sends machines in several directions at once: to another plant, to a bonded warehouse, to a buyer, to scrap. Each move has a customs side and a finance side, and each side is often handled by a different team in a different country.

That is where gaps appear. A machine is returned abroad and its Anexo 24 entry is closed, but it stays on the US register for another year. A machine is written off the register but its temporary import is still open in Mexico. A machine moves to a sister plant, and neither record shows where it went. None of these is a mistake by anyone. They happen because no single record followed the machine.

One record for every asset

The answer is a single record that follows each asset wherever it goes, capitalized or expensed, from the day it is identified as surplus to its final purpose. That record carries:

• the asset tag, serial number, builder and model
• the site it came from and the pedimento it was imported on
• the decision made about it, and who approved it
• what happened next, and when

With it, the Mexican entity can close each Anexo 24 entry against a clear trail. The US parent can close each asset out of the register. And every team can see the same answer to the simplest question: where is it now?

Every asset ends in one of a few places. It was redeployed to another plant, sold, stored in a bonded warehouse while a decision is made, or recycled as metal. A record that shows which, for every asset, is a record finance can close.

Redeploy before you buy new

The most valuable thing one record does is show a company what it already owns. A CNC machine idle in one plant may be the capacity another plant is about to buy. A crane coming down in one building may be the span a new building needs.

Redeploying across the border is straightforward when the record is complete. A machine going from Mexico to the United States leaves on a retorno and is entered on arrival. A machine going from one IMMEX company to another can move on a virtual transfer. Our guide to IMMEX fixed assets covers each route. Machines that are not redeployed wait in a US bonded warehouse, where buyers inspect them in Texas instead of Mexico, while every decision is made on the record, not on the plant floor.

What makes redeployment work is a habit, not a tool: every plant sees new surplus at the same time, and has a set window to claim it before it is offered outside the company.

What each team needs to see

In a company with plants on both sides of the border, surplus touches almost everyone, and each team needs its own view of the same record.

Plant managers need to see what is leaving their floor and when.

Corporate needs every site on one screen instead of a stack of spreadsheets.

Finance needs each asset closed out of the register, with proceeds shown by job and by site.

Treasury needs to know what proceeds are coming and when.

Maintenance and purchasing need to see what is available inside the company before anything is bought new.

How AssetMan™ keeps one record

This is the work AssetMan™ was made for. AssetMan™ specializes in the steady stream of surplus from all of a client's sites. The other reason to have it is a large job across many sites and many assets, capitalized or expensed.

Every asset has one record, visible in the client portal whether it is redeployed, sold, stored, recycled or dismantled. Internal first is built in: each program has a tie date set at the program level, 90 days is typical, and new assets go out to your plants in one weekly email before anything moves to sale. We have built our own software for this work since 1990, and the portal is that system opened to our clients.

Getting every asset onto one record can sound like a large first step. We understand. That is why we offer AssetReady™: we agree on a definition up front, then qualify everything that meets it. AssetMan™ is reserved for qualifying jobs, and it starts with a conversation with a King Surplus rep.

Questions sellers ask

How do companies track fixed assets across plants in Mexico and the United States?

With one record for every asset that carries its tag, serial number, site, pedimento and every decision made about it, so both the IMMEX records in Mexico and the fixed asset register in the United States can be closed against the same trail.

What is Anexo 24?

Anexo 24 is the common name for the automated inventory control system an IMMEX company keeps for its temporary imports, including its fixed assets. Each asset's record stays open until the asset is returned abroad or imported definitively.

Can surplus from a plant in Mexico go to a plant in the United States?

Yes. The machine leaves Mexico on a retorno and is entered into the United States on arrival, or held in a bonded warehouse until the receiving plant is ready.

How are proceeds from surplus sales reported?

By job and by site, in the terms your accounting team already uses, so finance can close each asset out of the register.

What is the difference between capitalized and expensed assets?

A capitalized asset is recorded on the fixed asset register and depreciated over its life, like a machining center or a crane. An expensed item was charged off when it was bought, like most spare parts and small tools. Both can become surplus, and both belong on the same record when they do.

When you are ready

If you have one lot to sell, AssetRecovery™ makes one cash offer for all of it. If surplus keeps coming from plants in Mexico, the United States or both, AssetMan™ gives you one accountable partner for every site. Either way, it starts at assetman.kingsurplus.com with a call from a King Surplus rep, or at 830-995-5000.