The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is urging thousands of UK businesses to audit and review their software assets. 

The organisation's fifth annual Software Audit Return is asking businesses to collate and verify all licensed software and to upload this information to the BSA. If everything checks out, the company will receive a certificate of recognition.

With more employees able to access the internet at work, and the rapid growth in mobile working, it is becoming increasingly hard to track the software being downloaded and used within organisations, the BSA argues.

By auditing and reviewing software assets, companies can identify rogue software that may have been downloaded by staff as well as stamp out piracy

"The current rate of piracy in the UK is 27 per cent and this has a number of implications for UK companies," said Ram Dhaliwal, UK member committee chairman of the BSA.

"Software is one of the most valuable business assets a company has so it is critical that it is managed effectively.

"Software asset management can help businesses identify what software they have installed by conducting a thorough audit which ensures that licence agreements are not being breached.

"This also helps businesses to identify where and when they need to make additional software investments."

Companies having problems can visit the BSA's software asset management help site. The deadline for completing the audit is 31 July 2007.