Capital Equipment Administration: Federal Reporting and Compliance

Capital Equipment Asset Management Procedures

The following are property management standards for capital equipment assets acquired with University or sponsored funds.

1. Capital equipment asset records at the University of Minnesota (UM) will include the following:
1. A description of the item
2. The manufacturer's serial number, model number and capital equipment asset tag number
3. Funding source of equipment, including an award number
4. "Owner" with whom title is vested, usually UM or a Federal agency
5. Item acquisition date and its cost
6. Information for determining the calculation of Federal participation in cost of item
7. Location and condition of equipment and date the information was last reported
8. Maintenance procedures will be implemented to keep the equipment in good condition
9. The ultimate disposition data, including the date of disposal
2. Equipment owned by the federal government is identified to indicate Federal ownership in the award document.
3. Per federal requirements, a physical inventory of all capital equipment assets will be taken and results reconciled with equipment records at least once every two years.
1. Any differences between physical inspection and accounting records will be pursued to determine the cause of the difference
2. Accounting Services will verify the existence and current utilization of the capital equipment asset.

Federal Reporting Procedures for Capital Equipment Assets

Annual Inventory Reports

Annually, Accounting Services will prepare and submit Annual Inventory reports, as required, for contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. These reports will be submitted after September 30 and before October 31, to report federal property acquisitions to the various agencies that provide University researchers with funding.

Final Inventory Reports

1. When required, when a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or an agency subcontract with the University ends, a final inventory report will be prepared and sent to the sponsoring agency. Final inventory report requests are generated by an agency letter received in Sponsored Projects Administration from the corresponding agency and routed through Accounting Services.
2. The final inventory report should be prepared using the Sponsored Form or on University letterhead and should include a listing of capital equipment as obtained on the EFS report, if there is any. It should also include a cover letter requesting title to the equipment on the newly-closed account, and stating that this is a final report.

Property System Surveys

When required, a Property Control System Survey will be conducted if requested by a Federal agency.  This would include a review of the University's property system as it impacts government-owned property and the expenditure of Federal funds.  The survey may also include a physical inspection of a sample of government-owned equipment to verify University inventory identification barcode numbers, government ownership tags, and locations of equipment and/or interviews with Principal Investigators who use the assets.

Marking Government-Owned Equipment

1. Each item of government-titled property should have a UM inventory identification barcode sticker to identify it as part of the University's property system.
2. Each item of government-titled property should have a "Property of the U.S. Government" sticker affixed to it to identify it as government-owned.
3. Ownership of equipment can be obtained from each contract or grant NOGA - from SPA.