Tool tracking software vs a sign-out sheet: how to know who has your tools
Tool tracking software or a sign-out sheet? Copy a sign-out sheet template and key log, compare what tracking apps cost, and pick what fits your crew.
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Customers, rentals, bookings and payments, all linked.
Tool tracking software records each tool, who has it, when it went out and when it’s due back. Most products tag every tool with a barcode or QR label you scan. For a small crew, a sign-out sheet with one line per tool, a due date and a weekly check of what’s still out does the same job.
This guide is for contractors, shops, rental yards, property managers and schools that lend tools, equipment or keys to their own people. It gives you a sign-out sheet template and a key log to copy, the rules that make a sheet work, and five ways to run checkouts with what each costs. Renting to customers is a different job, covered in our guide to trailer rental software.
How we researched this: we checked each vendor’s own website in October 2026 for the features and prices below. Prices change often, so check before you buy.
How do you keep track of tools your crew borrows?
There are five common ways. Which one fits depends on how many tools you lend, how many people borrow them, and whether someone hands them out at a counter or crews take them from a truck.
| Option | Who it suits, cost and catch |
|---|---|
| Paper sign-out sheet or clipboard | One tool room or shop with someone at the door. Costs a clipboard and a pen. Catch: nobody on a job can see it, and lines get skipped. |
| Shared spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) | An office that hands tools out and types each return. Nothing extra if you already use either. Catch: late returns only show with a formula. |
| Checkout form that feeds a sheet | Crews who sign tools out from their phones. Google Forms comes with a free Google account. Catch: checkouts and returns arrive as separate rows to match. |
| Tool tracking software | Hundreds of tools across several job sites. Free plans for small crews; paid plans from $20 a month, and tool-focused ones near $100 a month or $550 a year. Catch: most expect a label or tag on every tool, and you work the way the software does. |
| An app you build with GoodTaco | Lending that doesn’t fit a package, or tools, keys and vans on one list. Free to start; Pro $49 a month includes 10 users. Catch: no barcode or QR scanning, so people pick tools from a list. |
Most small teams start on paper or a spreadsheet, and that works as long as the rules below are kept.
What should a tool sign-out sheet include?
Every line on a sign-out sheet, on paper or in a spreadsheet, is one checkout record. Each one needs:
- Who took it, by full name, not initials.
- What went out: the tool and its ID. Two identical drills need two IDs, or you can’t tell which one is missing.
- Where it’s going: the job or site, so you know where to look.
- When it went out and when it’s due back. A due date turns “Marcus has it” into “Marcus is a day late.”
- Condition going out and coming back. “OK” is enough most days. Note a cracked guard, a dull blade or a missing battery.
- When it came back and who returned it. The person who brings a tool back isn’t always the one who took it.
Here’s a sign-out sheet template to copy into a spreadsheet, one column per line, filled in with one checkout. To use it on paper, print this page and rule a sheet with the same columns.
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| A: Checkout no. | CO-2204 |
| B: Tool and ID | Generator GN-2 |
| C: Taken by | Ana Ruiz |
| D: Job or site | Oak Ave addition |
| E: Out | 10/27/2026 |
| F: Due back | 10/28/2026 |
| G: Condition out | Runs, cord OK |
| H: Back in | 10/28/2026 |
| I: Condition in | Pull cord frayed |
| J: Returned by | Sam Ortiz |
| K: Late? | The formula below |
A blank “Back in” cell means the tool is still out, so filtering column H for blanks gives you the list of what’s out. Number each checkout, as in CO-2204, when more than one person keeps the sheet.
To flag late tools, type dates as real dates (10/26/2026, not “Oct 26”). Put this in K2 and fill it down:
=IF(AND(B2<>"",H2="",F2<TODAY()),"Late","")It marks a line late once its due date has passed and nothing is in “Back in”. It works in Excel and Google Sheets. At the Friday check, this tells you how many are late:
=COUNTIF(K2:K500,"Late")If your sign-out sheet already lives in Excel or a CSV file, upload it on our spreadsheet to app page, with no account needed. GoodTaco turns it into a checkout app that works in a phone’s browser. Starting fresh? The rental database template already tracks what’s out, when it’s due back and what’s late. Its sample is an event rental business, so you rename items to tools and customers to crew members.
How do you keep a key log?
Keys need a log of their own, because a lost key can mean changing locks. Property managers lending keys to vendors, and shops and schools lending room or vehicle keys, keep two lists:
- A key list: one line per key, with its tag number, what it opens and how many copies exist.
- A key log: one line every time a key goes out.
Here’s a key log template, one column per line, filled in with one handout:
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Key tag | K-07 |
| Opens | Building B, boiler room |
| Given to | Jordan Lee |
| Company or reason | Boiler service, annual check |
| ID checked | Yes |
| Out | Oct 28, 8:05 am |
| Due back | Oct 28, 5 pm |
| Back | Oct 28, 3:40 pm |
| Received by | Kim |
A few rules keep a key log honest:
- Tag keys with a code, never an address or unit number. The key list says what each code opens, so a lost key doesn’t lead anyone to the door.
- Keys come back the same day unless someone approves longer, and the log says who approved it.
- Log the machine when keys are shared. Where several machines run on the same key, the line should name the machine that went out.
- Count the keys against the key list every week. If a key has been missing for more than a day, decide whether to rekey.
What rules make a tool sign-out sheet work?
A sign-out sheet fails the same way everywhere: someone takes a tool in a hurry and means to write it down later. These rules close the gaps:
- One line per item. If a drill kit’s batteries and charger can come back separately, give each its own line. Or make the kit one numbered item that has to come back complete.
- Number every tool. Engrave or paint the ID on the tool and write the same ID on the sheet.
- Every line gets a due date. End of day, end of job or a date. A line with no due date is how a tool goes missing for a month.
- Note the condition both ways. A word or two at checkout and at return, so a damaged tool is caught the day it comes back.
- Keep one sheet. One clipboard at the tool room door, or one shared spreadsheet. With two lists, neither one is right.
- Log every handoff. If a tool goes from one crew to another without coming back to the shop, close the line and start a new one in the new person’s name. Otherwise the sheet names the wrong person.
- Make one person responsible. A foreman or shop lead checks that nothing leaves without a line.
- Check what’s still out every week. On Friday afternoon, list every line with no return date and call each person. A late tool is usually on another job, and a lost one is easier to find while people still remember where they used it.
When a tool comes back damaged, tag it out of service, fix it and record the repair in your equipment maintenance log, so you can see which tools keep breaking. Sign-out sheets are for things that come back. Blades, screws and fittings that get used up belong in your stock count instead; see our guide to inventory management for small business.
How do you make an equipment checkout form?
A Google Form makes a simple equipment checkout form: people sign tools out from their phones without touching the sheet. Google Forms comes with a free Google account (Google Forms), and it can save every answer to a linked Google Sheet (Google). Ask six questions:
- Your name (dropdown of your crew)
- Taking it out or bringing it back? (multiple choice)
- Tool and ID (dropdown, such as “RH-2 rotary hammer”)
- Job or site (dropdown)
- Due back (date)
- Condition (short answer: “OK” or what’s wrong)
A form has three catches:
- Checkouts and returns arrive as separate rows. Someone has to match each return to its checkout before the sheet shows what’s still out.
- A photo question makes everyone sign in. A form with a file upload question makes everyone who fills it in sign in to a Google account (Google). To collect photos of damage without sign-in, leave the question out and ask for photos by text or email.
- A form can’t stop anything. It won’t warn that a tool is already out, and it won’t tell you one is late.
How does tool tracking software work?
Tool tracking software is a shared list of every tool, built to make checking tools in and out quick and finding them easy. Most products work in some of these ways:
- Labels and scanning. Each tool gets a barcode or QR label. Scanning it with a phone checks it out to a person or a job, which is quicker than writing a line and harder to skip.
- Bluetooth tags. Some products sell small Bluetooth tags, or work with tools that have Bluetooth built in. A tag reports where a phone running the app last saw the tool, which helps you find it in a yard or the wrong truck. It isn’t live GPS.
- RFID tags. Some systems support radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags, which a reader picks up without anyone scanning a label. EZOfficeInventory, for one, lists RFID support on its Advanced plan (EZOfficeInventory pricing). They need readers as well as tags, so they mostly suit big tool rooms and yards.
- Transfers between jobs. A tool can move from one site to another without going back to the shop first.
- Due dates and alerts. Depending on the product: when each tool is due back, overdue alerts, service reminders, and reports by person or job.
These features earn their cost when you have hundreds of tools spread over several sites. They also take setup: most expect a label or tag on every tool (some read serial numbers instead), and the crew has to check tools out in the app every time. No system stops theft on its own. What it gives you is the name of the last person who had the tool.
How much does tool tracking software cost?
Vendors price in different ways: per user, per asset, by the year, or by quote. Here’s what each vendor’s site showed in October 2026:
| Tool | Starts at (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| AssetTiger | $20 a month for 500 assets, or $220 a year; 30-day free trial |
| ShareMyToolbox | Free for 100 tools and 3 employees; Business $100 a month plus $10 per employee, in blocks of 5 |
| Tooltribe | $100 a month with 10 users |
| GoCodes | $550 a year for 200 assets and 3 users |
| Milwaukee ONE-KEY | App free to use |
| ToolWatch | No prices listed; book a demo |
- ShareMyToolbox includes barcode and QR scanning on every plan, the free one too, and its $10 seats cover employees or extra admins (ShareMyToolbox pricing). It suits contractors lending tools to employees, and the free plan lets a small crew try it.
- Tooltribe’s Starter covers check-in/check-out for unlimited tools, read from a QR code, a serial number or a photo, with no sensors to buy (Tooltribe pricing). It suits a crew of about 10 that doesn’t want to buy and charge tags.
- GoCodes records GPS coordinates with every scan, and its $1,100-a-year Premium plan adds 500 QR tags (GoCodes pricing, GoCodes). It suits equipment spread over many job sites, where the last place a tool was scanned matters.
- AssetTiger is built for any kind of asset, includes unlimited users on paid plans, and assigns assets to people, departments or locations with due dates and overdue alerts (AssetTiger pricing). It suits a school or office that lends more than tools.
- Milwaukee ONE-KEY tools have Bluetooth built in, and its tracking tags cover other brands’ tools (Milwaukee ONE-KEY). It suits crews already buying Milwaukee tools.
- ToolWatch, an AlignOps product, has Essentials, Pro and Enterprise tiers for tool tracking and equipment management (AlignOps pricing). It suits larger contractors who’d rather start with a guided demo.
To compare them, work out a year’s cost for your users and tools, plus labels or tags.
Which tool checkout system fits your team?
- Stay on paper if one person runs a tool room and everyone borrows at the counter.
- Use a shared spreadsheet if the office hands tools out and someone types every return the same day.
- Add a form if crews take tools from trucks and the office only needs a record.
- Choose tool tracking software if you have hundreds of tools across several sites, want to scan labels at the door, or need Bluetooth tags to find tools. Try two on a free trial with your own tools and a week of real checkouts.
- Build your own app if you lend more than tools, such as keys, vans and laptops, and want them on one list. It also fits when your rules don’t fit a package: a manager’s sign-off before expensive equipment goes out, say, or a job on every checkout.
Track tool checkouts with GoodTaco
At the Friday check you want one list: what’s out, who has it, and what’s late, like the tile saw two days overdue on the Elm St job. A checkout app puts that list on a phone, and GoodTaco builds one in minutes from your sign-out sheet or a template. People open it in a PC or phone browser, pick a tool from a list and mark it out or back. GoodTaco apps don’t scan barcodes or QR codes. You change the app by chatting, and every version is saved for one-click rollback.
Start from the sheet you already keep:
- Upload your spreadsheet. Your sign-out sheet, as an .xlsx or CSV file, comes in with its tools and checkouts as records. Columns of repeated choices, such as job sites, become dropdowns.
- Connect your Google Sheet. With the Google Sheets app builder, the app reads and writes the sheet your office already keeps.
Or start from the rental database template. It already has what lending needs: items with how many you own, bookings with out and back dates, and an overview of what’s out now, what comes back this week and what’s late. Checking a booking in asks how many of each item are missing or damaged, and can take them out of stock until they’re repaired. Each booking keeps a history of when it went out and came back. Its records are private: crew members sign in to your GoodTaco workspace to see them and mark tools out and back.
Add each tool as its own item, such as GN-2 or TS-1, with a quantity of 1, so you always know which drill is missing. Keep a count only for things nobody tells apart, like extension cords. The template’s sample is a party rental business, so three requests fit it to a crew that doesn’t pay to borrow:
Rename rental items to tools, customers to crew members, and events to jobs.
Remove prices, payments and invoices.
Add who took each tool, its condition going out, and who brought it back.
GoodTaco is free to start. Paid plans start at $9 a month, and Pro at $49 a month includes 10 users; bigger teams talk to us about Enterprise.
Know who has every tool before Friday’s check. Start free, no credit card needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is tool tracking software?
Tool tracking software keeps a list of every tool and piece of equipment, who has it, where it went and when it's due back. Most products put a barcode or QR label on each tool so people check it out by scanning it with a phone. Some add Bluetooth tags that show where a tool was last seen, and some record a GPS location with each scan.
How do I keep track of tools my employees borrow?
Give every tool its own ID, and write one line for each tool that leaves: who took it, for which job, when it went out, when it's due back, its condition going out and coming back, and who returned it. Keep the sheet in one place, and every Friday list the lines with no return date and call each person.
What should be on an equipment sign-out sheet?
A checkout number, the tool and its ID, who took it, the job or site, the date out, the date due back, the condition going out, the date back, the condition coming back, and who returned it. One line per tool, so a missing battery or blade shows up on its own line.
What is a key log?
A key log records every time a key leaves: the key's tag number, what it opens, who took it and for what, whether their ID was checked, when it went out, when it's due back, when it came back and who received it. Keep it next to a key list that names every key and how many copies exist, and tag keys with a code rather than an address.
Can I track tool checkouts in Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. Put one checkout on each row with the columns from a sign-out sheet, filter for rows with no return date to see what's still out, and add a formula that marks a row late when the due date has passed and the tool isn't back. It works while one person keeps it up to date; it gets harder once crews sign tools out from their phones.
How much does tool tracking software cost?
In October 2026, ShareMyToolbox's Business plan was $100 a month for the first admin user plus $10 for each employee, sold in blocks of 5, and it has a free plan for up to 100 tools and 3 employees. Tooltribe started at $100 a month with 10 users, GoCodes started at $550 a year for 200 assets, and AssetTiger started at $20 a month for 500 assets. Milwaukee's ONE-KEY app is free to use, and ToolWatch lists no prices.
Do you need barcodes or Bluetooth tags to track tools?
No. A small crew can track tools with an ID painted or engraved on each one and a sign-out sheet. Barcode and QR labels make checking out faster and harder to skip once you have hundreds of tools, and Bluetooth tags help find a tool that's sitting in the wrong truck or yard.
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