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Proper
Stewardship of Equipment
UR's Property Management System is another point of audit
focus. The proper identification and use of equipment
is critical to the University's management of both the
direct and indirect costs of research. The integrity of
this system depends on individuals throughout the campus
paying proper attention to the acquisition, use, tracking,
physical inventory and disposition of equipment.
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Capital
equipment is defined as equipment with an acquisition
cost of $1,000 or more per unit and a useful life of more
than one year.
Fabricated equipment,
where the aggregate cost of the components is $1,000 or
more and where the fabricated asset has a useful life
of more than one year, is also defined as capital. Capital
assets must be accounted for in UR's property management
system. Equipment (especially computers) should not be
purchased on personal credit cards. Rather, all equipment
should be purchased through established University Purchasing
processes (Procurement Card or 312 requisition), to ensure
proper accounting and identification in our property system.
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Be
sure to check the terms
and conditions of your particular award for
information related to:
- allowability
of equipment charges
- equipment
title
- joint
funding or
- fabrication
of equipment
Any
of these conditions require careful attention at the time
that the award is established and throughout the life
of the project.
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Awards
may also require advance notification or prior approvals
of equipment acquisitions. In these cases, the written
approval of the sponsor's Grant or Contract Officer must
be obtained before acquiring the equipment. This
is particularly important during the last 90 days of the
award period (see examples of Late-in-Period
costs)
If you intend to use a piece of equipment to support multiple
projects, or to support both sponsored and unsponsored
activity, there should be an appropriate, documented
allocation of the cost.
If a piece of "special purpose", i.e., scientific,
equipment is purchased especially to carry out a particular
project, A-21 allows that the expense may be charged fully
to the project, even if it is subsequently used for other
purposes.
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In
addition, if you plan to purchase "general-purpose"
equipment for your project, you will normally need prior
sponsor approval. You will also need to include a particularly
clear justification in your proposal, and consider carefully
the appropriate allocation of the cost of such equipment.
As with administrative costs, the direct charging of "general-purpose"
or non-technical equipment is subject to significant audit
scrutiny by both UR and external reviewers. (This includes
the acquisition of desktop computers.) Such acquisitions
are often unallowable, unless the equipment can be justified
as being used exclusively for the actual conduct of the
project or is utilized as special purpose equipment (e.g.,
a computer that is necessary to perform and document scientific
studies).
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key to effective property management is the early involvement
of your departmental administrator. In particular, it's
important to keep your administrator informed about the
condition and the location of equipment, particularly
when equipment is moved to an off-campus site. The federal
government requires that the UR conduct a physical inventory
of equipment (to be reconciled with our property records)
at least once every two years. It is critical that departments
respond in a timely manner to this inventory, and an up-to-date
knowledge of the location of equipment is vital. |
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