Property Acquisition

EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1, 1996
Property Control 351-1830

Capital equipment may be acquired through purchase, donation, trade-in or construction. Regardless of the way the equipment is acquired, if it meets the definition of capital equipment, it must be added to the property records and tagged with a University of Northern Colorado property tag.  These tags are silver in color, with the wording Property of Univ. of No. Colo at the top, a barcode in the center, and the equipment number below.  These tags are to be placed on the front of the equipment in a conspicuous  place, so that they can be easily scanned during the annual inventory process.

Title to the property rests with the University, not the department, regardless of whether the equipment may have been donated or purchased from department budget allocations or from special appropriations or allocations. Departments are assigned property for custody using the department attribute,  and are responsible for such property. Departments are responsible for completing transfer forms when equipment is moved or otherwise disposed of , in order to transfer that responsibility.

A department is designated as the "Responsible Department" when property is acquired by the department through purchase, gift or transfer.  The Responsible Department is carried on the property and inventory records  of the University, and will be relieved of responsibility only if the property  is transferred to another department, declared surplus, traded in on a new acquisition, or reported as lost or stolen to the University Police Department. In these cases, the responsible department must fill out the appropriate form and forward it to Property Control so that the adjustments can be made.

All items will be carried on the accounting records at cost or purchase  price. This will include shipping, installation and training costs. Where the actual purchase price cannot be established, as in the case of a gift,  fair market value may be used. Purchase of items with trade ins will be recorded on the property records at the actual cash paid plus the allowance for the old piece of equipment which was traded in. Lease/Purchase equipment will be recorded at the total applicable rental paid plus any remaining  purchase price or residual.

Reconditioned items will be recorded at the total purchase price plus  all reconditioning costs. Reconditioning of already owned items normally will be charged to expense, and the initial property records will remain  unchanged, unless the amount is in excess of $1,000 and will prolong the  life of the asset more than another year. These will be considered improvements, and a separate property record should be kept on these betterment's.

Property Control will initiate the equipment tags in one of several  ways. Each day they will review the pink copy of all purchase orders obtained from Purchasing. All purchase orders with object codes 9XXX are reviewed to see if they meet the capital equipment requirements. All purchase orders  over $1,000 are reviewed for the same criteria. When a purchase order meets  the requirements, Property Control will prepare a property card with the following information:

1. Description of Equipment
2. Serial Number of Equipment
3. Vendor or Manufacturer
4. Building and Room Number where equipment was delivered.
5. Source of Funds
6. Plant Fund where asset will be reported on UNC Financial System
7. Responsible Department
8. Voucher or IMO that paid for equipment
9. Purchase Price
10. Classification code of equipment

After the card is prepared, the silver property tag is attached and  either:

• The card and tag are sent to Bear Logic in the case of computers or related equipment, to be tagged when delivered.
  
• Or, if not a Bear Logic purchase, the card and tag are filed until the equipment is purchased, then the tag and a property tag notice are sent to the person who initiated the purchase order. That person tags the item and returns the notice with information to complete the inventory records.
  

The Sponsored Programs and Academic Research Center (SPARC) and the UNC Foundation periodically notify Property Control of gifts that have been received on behalf of University  Departments. From the information they provide, cards and tags are made  in the same manner as from purchase orders, and a property clerk will locate and tag the equipment.