Asset Management & Surplus Property Section (ASM)
POLICY 1
Effective Date: 08/01/2003
Last Modified Date: 09/12/2003
State Requirement
The State of North Carolina requires all State agencies to maintain Asset Management systems. The State Auditor's office is responsible for reviewing the implementation and maintenance of such systems by the State agencies.
Facilities & Administrative Rate
Educational institutions acquiring indirect cost funds for sponsored research projects, such as the University, are required to substantiate the Facilities & Administrative (F&A) rate to Federal agencies. An important factor in the F&A rate computation is that portion which is applicable to the depreciation and use of State-owned equipment. Accordingly, an auditable inventory of controlled equipment must be maintained for such calculations.
Inventory Record by Decal Number
Controllable equipment, any item appearing on the inventory list (see ASM Policy 2: Definition of Controlled Equipment), is identified with a numbered UNC–Chapel Hill decal/bar code (along with a small pressure-sensitive tag in the case of items that are Federally owned). It is the responsibility of the department to tag new equipment and to report required information on a coding sheet supplied by Asset Management (see "Record of Equipment Acquistions" below, and ASM Procedure 7, Tagging New Equipment). The inventory records on controllable equipment identified by University decal number contain the following information:
- Disbursement Services data (FRS account number, check number, date and amount)
- Full description including model, serial number, and manufacturer
- Controlling department
- Location
- Commodity classification number
- Cost
- Fiscal year acquired
- Purchasing data (purchase order number, requisition number, vendor)
Other Decals
The Computer Repair Center tags items for maintenance purposes only, not for inventory. If equipment does not have a blue/silver bar-coded property tag, it has not been tagged by Asset Management.
Record of Equipment Acquisitions
The Asset Management Department updates the inventory of controllable equipment using month-end information from FRS. This information includes all purchases made by and through the University using the 5111–5519 object code range, regardless of the type of fund used to make the purchase.
Copies of the vendor invoices that are attached to the purchase orders, requisitions, AJ-1's, and other such forms are utilized as source documents in the controlling of equipment acquisitions. Therefore, it is mandatory that only the equipment object codes be used for purchasing equipment.
University departments are required to locate the invoiced equipment items; affix the UNC–Chapel Hill bar code to the equipment in a highly visible location, preferably next to the manufacturer's name on the equipment; and provide Asset Management with the necessary descriptive information, including make, model, serial number, room, and building number, for controlling purposes. Departmental requisition files should be maintained as a reference in determining the user and location of the purchased equipment. Information pertaining to the use of the equipment item will be helpful in assigning the required commodity classification number.
Equipment Accessories
Additions to existing equipment must cost $5,000 or more (per item) in order to become part of the original equipment. If an addition to an equipment item is purchased, the original decal number of the equipment should be referenced on the purchase requisition.
The following are examples of additions (if over $5,000):
- additional sorter to a copier
- additional lens to a microscope
- additional memory to a computer
Replacement Parts
An equipment item purchased as a replacement part for a component of an already controlled movable equipment unit will not be decaled and will not change the cost or acquisition date of the controlled equipment. (Departmental requisition should indicate replacement purchase.)NOTE: Replacement parts and repairs are not purchased using the 5111–5519 object code range.
Decal-Assigned Equipment
Equipment items that cannot be decaled because of shape, size, or special use will be assigned a decal number. This decal bar code will be affixed to a form E/S-101, ASM Appendix 2: Equipment Addition Coding Sheet, and a copy will be forwarded to the department for their files to be used as a reference for their annual inventory. In most cases, the description of the equipment item will include the notation "Decal Assigned."
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