Custody & accountability
Know who has it, since when — and prove they accepted it
Assign gear to people, capture a signature on handover and return, and keep an unbroken chain of custody. Accountability without the paperwork.
Chain of custody means every item has a named holder, a start date, and a record that they accepted it. Stackroom captures a signature on the device at handover and return, generates a PDF agreement, and keeps every holder in sequence — so accountability is evidence rather than recollection.
The pain
Sound familiar?
- You can't say who's currently holding a given asset.
- There's no record that someone accepted — or returned — equipment.
- Disputes over damage have no paper trail.
- Clearing a leaver of their assigned gear is a manual scramble.
How Stackroom helps
Everything you need, in one place
Assign & return
Assign to a person with a held-by date. Reassign or return in a tap, with the current holder always visible.
Signatures + PDFs
Capture handover, return and clearance signatures on-device and generate a PDF agreement automatically.
Chain of custody
A complete custody history per asset — who, when, and for how long — ready for audits or disputes.
Checkout approvals
Optional request-and-approve workflow with notifications, so high-value gear needs a sign-off.
How it runs
What this looks like day to day
- 1Assign
Hand it over against a name
Issuing an asset records who took it, when, and from where. The person becomes the accountable holder rather than the item simply being marked 'out'.
- 2Sign
Capture agreement on the spot
A signature on the device turns the handover into a record. Where the item is high value, the signature can be paired with a photo of its condition at the time.
- 3Hold
Everyone can see who has what
The holder is visible on the asset, and each person has a page listing everything currently in their name, which is what makes recovery straightforward later.
- 4Return
Close the loop
Returning checks the asset back in, records condition, and ends that custody period. The history keeps every previous holder rather than overwriting.
- Signed
- Handover & return records
- Instant
- Clearance certificates
In detail
The questions that come up next
Why does a signature matter?
Because it changes the conversation. Without one, a disputed handover is one person's memory against another's. With a timestamped signature, the record simply exists and the dispute does not happen. Most of the value is preventative rather than forensic.
What happens when someone leaves?
Their page lists everything still in their name, so offboarding becomes a checklist rather than an investigation. This is where most teams see the return, since equipment that leaves with a departing employee is rarely recovered once they are gone.
Can we require approval for expensive items?
Yes. High-value categories can require sign-off before issue, so a laptop or a lens does not leave on a verbal say-so, while low-value consumables stay quick to hand out.
Does this create friction for the team?
Issuing is a scan and a signature, measured in seconds. The friction people object to is usually the paperwork that custody systems replace, not the custody itself.
Why a signature changes behaviour and a field does not
A name in a database is an administrative fact. A signature is a moment where someone consciously accepted responsibility for something valuable, and people behave differently about things they have signed for. That is the whole mechanism — the paperwork is secondary to the fifteen seconds in which the handover became real to the person receiving it.
What a chain of custody is actually for
Three conversations, all of which go badly without one. An insurance claim, where the insurer wants to know who held the item and whether reasonable control existed. An HR discussion about unreturned equipment, where a current-holder field that has been overwritten a dozen times is not evidence. And an audit, where 'we think Dan has it' is not an answer. The chain exists for the day something goes wrong, which is exactly the day nobody can reconstruct it from memory.
Direct transfers between people
Equipment rarely returns to a store between users — it goes from one team to another in a car park at seven in the morning. Modelling that as a check-in followed by a check-out means the register is wrong for however long the paperwork lags. Stackroom records a direct transfer as one action, so the chain stays intact even when the item never passes through a central store.
Offboarding without a search party
Everything a person holds is listed on their record, so recovering equipment from a leaver is a checklist rather than an investigation. The clearance can be signed and exported as a PDF, which is usually what HR actually needs — a document, not a database query.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Is a signature captured on a phone legally binding?
It records who agreed to what and when, which is the practical question in almost every internal dispute. For contractual obligations beyond internal accountability, take your own legal advice, since requirements vary by jurisdiction.
Can one person hold many assets at once?
Yes. A technician can hold a full set of equipment, and their page shows everything in their name. Items can be returned individually or in bulk when a job finishes.
What if equipment is passed directly between two people?
Record it as a handover so custody moves in one step, rather than requiring a return to the store first. The history shows the chain, including transfers that never passed through a store room.
Do we have to sign for every single item?
No. Signature capture can be reserved for the categories where it matters, so consumables stay frictionless while high-value gear is properly accounted for.
Can we see who held an asset a year ago?
Yes. Custody history is kept for the life of the asset, so you can answer who had it, when, and what condition it came back in, long after the event.
Is a signature captured on a phone legally meaningful?
It is a record that a named, authenticated user accepted a specific item at a specific time, stored with the asset and exportable as a PDF. Whether that meets a particular legal or insurance requirement depends on your jurisdiction and policy, and we would rather you checked than took our word for it.
Can we require approval before equipment is issued?
Yes, per category. High-value items can require a request that goes to whoever holds the approval permission, with a notification; approving creates the custody record. Lower-value categories can be issued directly with no approval step.
What happens if someone refuses to sign?
The handover can be recorded without a signature — the alternative is that it is not recorded at all, which is worse. The asset history shows the handover was unsigned, which is itself useful information.
Can one person hold many items?
Yes, and their record lists all of them with the date each was issued. That list is what makes offboarding, an audit, or a conversation about a missing item straightforward.
Ready to know where every asset is?
Start free — tag your first 100 assets and run a real checkout in your first session. No credit card required.