Equipment + property management

Equipment consists of tangible nonexpendable personal property, including exempt property charged directly to the award having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.

Exempt property consists of tangible property acquired in whole or part with federal funds where the federal awarding agency has statutory authority to transfer title to the recipient without further obligation to the federal government. Exempt property may be titled to KUCR by the federal awarding agency at its option when statutory authority exists. Should a federal awarding agency not establish conditions, title to exempt property upon acquisition shall vest in KUCR. Exempt property titled with KUCR is without further obligation to the federal government.

Federally owned property remains titled to the federal government. All government-furnished property shall be identified to indicate federal ownership. KUCR shall annually submit inventory listings of federally owned property in its custody to the appropriate federal awarding agency(ies) or property administrator(s) using forms specified by such agency(ies). Upon completion of the award(s) or when the property is no longer needed, KUCR shall report the property to the federal awarding agency(ies) or property administrator(s) for disposition instructions.

Insurance coverage provides a means of recovering part of the property cost should a loss occur. Included is KUCR-owned property, government-furnished property (if required by the terms and conditions of the award), property acquired with federal funds, property loaned to KUCR by funding agencies or other organizations, and other property accountable to KUCR which has been entered in the KUCR property accounting system. The insurance policy has a deductible per year/claim which must be paid by the laboratory/center/unit at the time of the claim. The insurance is applicable only while the property is in the continental United States.

Intangible property includes but is not limited to trademarks, copyrights, patents and other property, such as loans, notes, other debt instruments, lease agreements, stock and other instruments of property ownership. KUCR may copyright any work that is subject to copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was purchased, under an award. The federal awarding agency(ies) has(have) reserved a royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable right to obtain, reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so.

Personal property means property of any kind except real property. It may be tangible, having physical existence, or intangible, having no physical existence, such as copyrights, patents or securities.

Real property, equipment, intangible property and debt instruments that are acquired or improved with federal funds shall be held in trust by the recipient as trustee for the beneficiaries of the project or program under which the property was acquired or improved. Agencies may require recipients to record liens or other appropriate notices of record to indicate that personal or real property has been acquired or improved with federal funds and that use and disposition conditions apply to the property.

Real property means land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances but excludes movable machinery and equipment. Real property shall be accountable according to the terms prescribed by the requirements of the funding agency or agencies through the award(s).

Title to property acquired by KUCR with federal funds shall vest in KUCR, subject to the following conditions:

 

1. Equipment acquired with federal funds shall not be used to provide services to non-federal outside organizations for a fee that is less than private companies charge for equivalent services, unless specifically authorized by federal statute, for as long as the federal government retains an interest in the equipment.
   
    
2. Equipment shall be used in the project or program for which it was acquired as long as needed, whether or not the project or program continues to be supported by federal funds and shall not encumber the property without approval of the federal awarding agency. When no longer needed for the original project or program, the recipient shall use the equipment in connection with its other federally-sponsored activities, in the following order of priority:
   • Activities sponsored by the federal awarding agency that funded the original project, then
   • Activities sponsored by other federal awarding agencies.
     
      
3. During the time that equipment is used on the project or program for which it was acquired, KUCR shall make it available for use on other projects or programs if such other use will not interfere with the work on the project or program for which the equipment was originally acquired. First preference for such other use shall be given to other projects or programs sponsored by the federal awarding agency that financed the equipment. Second preference shall be given to projects or programs sponsored by other federal awarding agencies. If the equipment is owned by the federal government, use on other activities not sponsored by the federal government shall be permissible if authorized by the federal awarding agency. User charges shall be treated as program income.
   
    
4. When acquiring replacement equipment, the recipient may use the equipment to be replaced as trade-in or sell the equipment and use the proceeds to offset the costs of the replacement equipment subject to the approval of the federal awarding agency.
   
    
5. Title to property shall vest in KUCR subject to the condition that KUCR shall use the property for the authorized purpose of the project as long as it is needed and shall not encumber the property without approval of the federal awarding agency.
   
    
6. KUCR shall obtain written approval by the federal awarding agency for the use of real property in other federally-sponsored projects when determined that the property is no longer needed for the purpose of the original project. Use in other projects shall be limited to those under federally-sponsored projects. such as awards, or programs that have purposes consistent with those authorized for support by the federal awarding agency.
   
    
7. When the property is no longer needed, KUCR shall request disposition instructions from the federal awarding agency or its successor federal awarding agency. The federal awarding agency shall observe one or more of the following disposition instructions:
   • KUCR may be permitted to retain title without further obligation to the federal government after it compensates the federal government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the property attributable to the federal participation in the project.
   • KUCR may be directed to sell the property under guidelines provided by the federal awarding agency and pay the federal government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the property attributable to the federal participation in the project — after deducting actual and reasonable selling and fix-up expenses, if any, from the sales proceeds. When KUCR is authorized or required to sell the property, proper sales procedures shall be established that provide for competition to the extent practicable and result in the highest possible return.
   • KUCR may be directed to transfer title to the property to the federal government or to an eligible third party provided that, in such cases, KUCR shall be entitled to compensation.

Departmental equipment coordinators are responsible for maintaining a separate listing of equipment items considered "highly vulnerable" to theft. This listing should include desirable items, such as computers, digital projectors, cameras, recorders, software, power tools, weapons, etc. Information that should be tracked on this listing includes: equipment description acquisition date, make, model, serial number and any other unique identifying information to assist KU Public Safety in case of theft.

Each individual who uses property in the possession of, under the control of, accountable to, owned by, or used by or for the KU Center for Research, Inc. is responsible for the care and protection of property to prevent loss, damage or destruction.

The primary objective of acquisition is ensuring that only those items and quantities authorized by contract terms and conditions or budget requirements are acquired or fabricated and to ensure the validity of property classifications. Reference is made to the KU Center for Research, Inc. purchasing and procurement policy for specific policies and procedures regarding purchasing, acquisitions, and procurement, including the acquisition of government property.

Each item of property or equipment must be identified to ensure accountability for insurance purposes and effective control and accountability.



Each accountable asset shall be assigned a barcode number, which shall be affixed to the property item by a tag, engraving, marking or other appropriate means, when possible. This task shall be accomplished by the KU Controller’s Office Property Team and coordinated through the KUCR property specialist.

Intangible property includes but is not limited to trademarks, copyrights, patents and other property, such as loans, notes, other debt instruments, lease agreements, stock and other instruments of property ownership. KUCR may copyright any work that is subject to copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was purchased, under an award. The federal awarding agency(ies) has(have) reserved a royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable right to obtain, reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so.

The recordkeeping system for property with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more is the PeopleSoft Financial System used jointly by KU and KU Center for Research. Please see the section below entitled PeopleSoft Capital Asset Management for a description of the asset management system and the procedures and requirements for recording property in the PeopleSoft Financial System. If you have questions concerning property recordkeeping, movement, transfer or disposition, please contact the KUCR property specialist or the assistant director of cash control for Fiscal Affairs before any actions are taken.

The process of moving all types of property from one point to another within facilities, in which KUCR operates, for any purpose, and protection during movement.



Each individual who moves property, for whatever reason or purpose, shall be responsible for ensuring the safeguarding of such property and that the property is moved under proper authority. Notification of such changes shall be reported timely to the property specialist to ensure updates to the PeopleSoft Capital Asset Management System.



Property that is to be shipped off-site for research experiments shall be reported to the property specialist with adequate time to allow for proper documentation, insurance coverage when appropriate, shipping arrangements, and proper preparations for shipment. The property specialist shall be the initial point of contact for all shipments, especially those involving movement outside of the United States. It is vitally important that the KUCR property specialist be contacted before property is moved or transported especially in those situations where movement or shipment outside the United States is involved or contemplated. This is to insure that the shipment/movement complies with current export control, technology transfer and other governing regulations. Violation of these regulations can involve civil and criminal penalties so contact with KUCR prior to any actions being taken is imperative.

Placing property in appropriate areas for effective control, protection and preservation is paramount for the operability and utility of the property and for proper protection of government property. Storage areas shall be clean, organized, limited to authorized personnel, properly lighted, and arranged for short-term and long-term preservation. Each individual who has responsibility for storing property shall ensure the appropriate safeguarding of the property. The department’s equipment coordinator shall be responsible for storing excess property.

Physically locating and counting property is necessary for loss, damage, and destruction control, risk management, and to ensure the availability of property to meet the mission.



The KU Comptroller's Office Property Accounting team conducts an annual physical inventory of all moveable capital assets with acquisition cost of more than $5,000. This inventory is conducted by the Property Accounting team with the assistance of equipment coordinators assigned at the department level. Each year the team develops a tentative site visit schedule to accommodate for possible departmental time conflicts. Property records are updated periodically throughout the physical inventory process.

Some funding agencies rely on reports from contractors regarding the value of property and number of items with the contractor. Reports are generally completed on documents specific to the needs of each funding agency. If you hold property subject to external property reporting requirements, contact the KUCR property specialist or the assistant director of cash control for Fiscal Affairs for assistance.

The process of using property for the purpose for which acquired is utilization. Principal investigators shall be responsible for ensuring that property is used in accordance with contractual authorization, when appropriate, according to the purpose for which it was designed, and in a safe manner. For government property, utilization includes the time period in which property has been authorized, insuring against usage on non-government work and proper recording of actual use.

Regular required upkeep and maintenance ensures property functioning and continuing operability of property. Principal investigators shall ensure the performance of regular required maintenance according to recommended schedules and when otherwise appropriate. Maintenance actions shall be recorded upon completion of the routine maintenance. Such records shall be analyzed when breakdowns occur to determine the cause and to ascertain the possibility of inadequate preventive or routine maintenance.

A prime contractor has responsibility for accountable property from a funding agency. Therefore, subcontractors are responsible to prime contractors for property under their control. The CFO, Financial Services shall ensure that subcontracts contain the proper clauses and provisions consistent with the property policy and procedures for the control, use, maintenance, repair, protection, and preservation of property. This may take place either through KUCR, as the prime contractor, performing surveillance of its subcontractors or through the prime contractor electing to rely upon the government's surveillance, when government property is involved, or through the operation of a support property administration delegation.



When government-furnished property is involved, the appropriate government property administrator shall be made aware of all such subcontracts, purchase orders, transfers, and other actions that contain or provide government furnished property to a subcontractor. The subcontract functions shall contain the required approvals by the appropriate government contracting officer for incorporation and description of the limited risk of loss provisions and the administration of the risk of loss provisions on behalf of the government.



The property specialist shall ensure the property has been tagged at the subcontractor's locations and shall require appropriate reports consistent with the requirements of the applicable funding agency(ies).

The following process outlines disclosing excess, requesting disposition instructions from funding agencies and effecting disposal of property:



Property that has been declared excess by projects, laboratories, centers, departments, or units to the property specialist shall be evaluated to determine condition, ownership and reutilization, when appropriate. Excess government property or property in which the federal government has reserved the right to retain title shall be reported to the appropriate agency for disposition instructions.



Disposition of government property shall be accomplished within thirty days of receipt of disposal authority. KUCR identification tags or markings shall be removed or obliterated from items to be returned to the government. Documentation shall be retained to include authority, disposal action, date of disposal and bills of lading or other shipment documents, when applicable.



Property in which KUCR retains title shall be made available for reutilization, if the condition warrants, or may be used as "trade-in" to the manufacturer or a vendor for upgraded or newer products, when appropriate. Priority for reutilization of property acquired with federal funds shall be to other federal projects. Priority for reutilization of KUCR-owned property shall be to KUCR projects followed by University of Kansas departments affiliated organizations.



Each item of excess property shall be published in an appropriate manner with widest dissemination through the most expedient means. Each item shall be retained for a minimum of three months after the initial publication to allow ample opportunity for reutilization. After three months, items shall be made available to public schools, stored for public sale, or disposed as scrap/salvage in accordance with the disposition instructions received from the funding or controlling agency.



Items determined to be in scrap/salvage (Condition Code 5) shall have all identification markings removed or obliterated and recycled through a salvage business, if economically feasible, or disposed through the trash removal system. Proceeds from scrap sales of government property shall be credited to the federal government or funding agency.



KUCR shall retain the right to accept or reject any or all bids. Proceeds from the sale of assets purchased with government funds shall be credited to the federal government or funding agency as appropriate.

Report excess property to the property specialist at KUCR by email. At a minimum, the report of excess property should contain the following:

• Inventory tag number
• Item name/description (please provide as much detail as possible).
• Model number
• Manufacturer
• Serial number
• Date acquired
• Acquisition cost
• Name of custodian/responsible person
• Condition of the item
• Intention to use as trade in or not
• Any special disposition schedules or needs

The property specialist will then contact you to arrange for disposition and removal. Research associated property often has special disposition requirements due to the nature of the equipment itself. Custodians are requested to make no disposition arrangements themselves without approval from KUCR.

If accountable property is lost damaged or destroyed, contact the KUCR property specialist should be contacted immediately. The University of Kansas Public Safety Office should also be contacted if the loss or damage appears to be the result of criminal activity. The equipment coordinator of the property will be given instructions by the KUCR property specialist and must provide a report to the KUCR property specialist. The report should, at a minimum contain the following information:

• Project/grant number
• Date of incident
• Items involved, including property tag numbers if available
• Narrative of the incident
• Police report, if available
• Cost of item(s)
• Recommended corrective & remedial actions

Upon review of the report, the KUCR property specialist will advise of record adjustments, disposal actions or other remedial actions as appropriate.

The process of closing out the property provisions of a contract or grant.



After notification from the principal investigator or Director of Research Administration and the Post-Award Services Team shall analyze each project that is in the close-out process to determine property accountable to such project. A final property report shall be prepared by the Post-Award Services Team according to the contract/grant guidelines and submitted to the appropriate agency. Disposition of government property shall be requested or, if in the best interest of KUCR, title to the property shall be requested with the final property report. Should the government contracting officer specify transfer of property from a completed contract to another active contract, the Post-Award Services Team shall annotate the property and project records of such transfer. Should the federal contracting or grant officer transfer title or abandon property to KUCR, the Office of Research Fiscal Services shall annotate property and project records.



The Post-Award Services Team shall interact with the principal investigator to ensure property issues are resolved during contract/grant close-out.

Assets with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more are "capitalized," which means they are required to be entered into the FITC Financials System. Their use is recorded over a period of time as depreciation and the depreciation is recorded in the financial records as an expense. The value of the asset is decreased accordingly by the amount of depreciation. Assets costing less than $5,000 are, as a general rule, recorded as an expense in the year that they are acquired. If you have any questions concerning the capitalization of assets, please contact the KUCR property specialist or the Assistant Director Cash Control, Fiscal Affairs.

The University of Kansas and the KU Center for Research use the FITC Financials System for financial record-keeping and reporting, including capital assets. As a general rule, KUCR Fiscal Affairs will take care of entering and recording capital assets in the FITC Financials System for you. However, we may request information about capital assets from time to time. If you have intentions to modify, dispose of, loan, move, ship, or transfer capital assets, we request that you contact the KUCR property specialist or Assistant Director Cash Control, Fiscal Affairs, before any actions are taken. These actions have legal and accounting system impacts that must be recorded formally in the FITC Financials System. KUCR personnel will handle these for you provided they are notified in a timely manner.

For reference, the following links to the KU Comptroller's website provide procedural guidance for recording capital assets in the FITC Financials System. If you have any questions concerning use of the FITC System, please contact the KUCR property specialist or the assistant director of cash control in Fiscal Affairs.

• Policies and Procedures
• Property Accounting Services
• Frequently Asked Questions (Comptroller's Office)

Contact the KUCR property coordinator to determine remaining useful life of the equipment, condition of the equipment, and ownership. Priority reutilization of equipment purchased with federal funds is to other federally funded projects. Excess equipment titled to KUCR is offered to other KUCR research units first, university departments second, thirdly to public schools or not-for-profits. If the equipment is still unclaimed, it may be sold by public bid — cannot be sold to an individual — or disposed as scrap/salvage if it is obsolete technology.

This is a complex process that can involve several university offices. It is recommended that you start by informing your department chairperson or unit director of your intent. Then contact the KUCR property coordinator to begin the process of identifying the property and obtaining authorization for the transfer. Post-Award Services will be responsible for transfer of the grant.

The following criteria apply:

• The equipment is not needed at KU/KUCR by other faculty and/or staff.
• Grant funded equipment and/or supplies may be transferred at no cost as long as the grant is also transferring with the researcher, with the approval of the department chair or center director.
• Non-grant funded equipment and/or supplies may be “sold” to the new organization based upon a negotiated value, with prior approval of the department chair or center director, as appropriate.
• The minimum value that the University will accept for equipment is:
  • Net book value (Original Cost less Accumulated Depreciation): Central Property Accounting will provide this value for all centrally tracked assets and will assist in calculating this value for non-centrally tracked assets.
  • 5% of original cost: For fully depreciated assets.
• The department chair or center director, as appropriate, must negotiate and approve all transfer requests.
• All negotiated transfers must be documented via written agreements between KU/KUCR and the new organization. Either KUCR Accounting Services or KU Central Property Accounting can assist with draft written agreement, depending on the source of funds used to procure the items and where the items are recorded.
• KUCR Financial Services or KU Central Property Accounting, as appropriate, must receive the written agreement signed by all parties before any equipment is removed from campus.

Note: All transactions associated with equipment, assets and/or supplies purchased with any of the KUCR funds are subject to the KUCR costing policy.

Reminder: These types of transactions take a significant amount of time to coordinate. We highly recommend that departments with this issue contact KUCR Accounting Services as soon as they become aware of the request. 

Equipment purchased via KUCR grants or contracts is titled to either KUCR or the U.S. government or other funding agency.

KUCR is required by federal guidelines to have an approved property system to qualify for federal grants and contracts. The Office of Naval Research, San Diego Regional Office is the designated federal property administrator for KUCR federal grants and contracts, unless stated otherwise. ONR may conduct a desk or site review of the KUCR property policy and procedures annually or as necessary. Our property policy dictates we must track equipment and conduct a physical inventory at least every two years, updating location and condition of equipment.

Equipment is defined as tangible nonexpendable personal property with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. KUCR will maintain records for equipment. The department or unit is responsible for the accountability of all supply and equipment purchases.

Contact the KUCR business services manager or KUCR property coordinator. You will be asked for information dealing with issues like payment arrangements, mode of transportation, dimensions and weights of shipping containers, insurance and customs clearance that will help us to coordinate the shipment.

Make a copy for your files and send the original to the KUCR property coordinator. This information is critical in annual federal property reporting.

Obtain a police report. Then contact either the KUCR business services manager or the KUCR property coordinator, who will determine if a claim will be filed with the insurance carrier.

Property titled to KUCR may be used for "trade in" for newer or upgraded equipment. However, equipment not titled to KUCR may require funding agency or university approval check with KUCR property coordinator.