Purchasing New Equipment

The Purchasing and Contracting Services department has established rules and guidelines that apply to all purchases of equipment and supplies. Click here for a link to the Procurement/Contracting web page. When processing an invoice in the Banner system to pay for the purchase of minor equipment (unit value is $5,000 or less), use 20200. Invoices for capitalized equipment (unit value is more than $5,000) should be processed using account codes 4010X acct code series (service centers and auxiliaries use acct code series A80XX). Before completing the invoice, include the necessary information in the text field of the invoice to assist with the updating of inventory records.

Property Control is responsible for updating the fixed asset inventory records. On a periodic basis, the Property Control Coordinator runs an extract program in Banner to identify invoices processed using capital equipment account codes. OUS policy indicates that all capitalized equipment purchases are to be added to the inventory records. Property Control uses the information entered in the text field for capital asset purchases to update the inventory records. Therefore, it is important that all of the information pertinent to the capitalized asset be included in the text field of the invoice. The following is a list of the information to be included in the text field of the invoice for capitalized equipment (Note: There may be additional information required as part of the regular purchasing process. Refer to Purchasing Policy.)

• Description of equipment purchased with the noun, or what the item is, listed first.
• Inventory tag number assigned to asset (or "to be assigned")
• Organization code
• Location code
• $ value of asset
• Serial number
• Model number
• Manufacturer (if different from vendor)
• Information to calculate the percentage of federal participation in the cost of equipment (if purchased with more than one fund source) contact SPS for specifics.
• Date that the asset is put into service.

Note: There may be additional steps/approvals required as part of the purchasing process. These may include, but are not limited to, completing an Request For Proposal, filing an Invitation To Bid, or obtaining Department of Justice approval even if purchased on a grant or contract. Be sure to check out the Purchasing link above for the current purchasing guidelines.

Approval Levels

There are various levels of approval that may be required for the purchase of an asset. For the complete and updated guidelines regarding purchasing approvals, please refer to the Procurement/Contracting web page.

Hard Copy Documentation To Maintain

After a department has purchased and paid for capitalized equipment, there are specific hard copy documents that should be maintained as supporting documentation. These documents must be retained for inventory purposes:

• Purchase order (electronic copy or hard copy)
• Vendors Invoice (remember to note the Invoice Document Number assigned by Banner on the vendors invoice)

Adding Assets to Fixed Asset Inventory Records

Property Control is responsible for adding, changing, and deleting capitalized assets from the inventory system. When an invoice is processed using capital equipment account codes, the invoice is routed to an approval queue that is monitored by Property Control. Each asset item purchased is then added to the inventory records using the extracted information and the invoice data in Banner.

Government Acquired Property

Property purchased with state funds is considered UO property. Property purchased with federal grant funds is conditionally UO property subject to the requirements of the specific grant or contract making the purchase, the granting agency and the general federal requirements of OMB Circular A-110 and FAR. It is important that we properly account for and track government acquired property. Failure to do so could prevent the University from receiving future grant funding.

When an asset, regardless of value, is purchased using grant funds, the department must include in the text field the granting agency (supplier of grant funds), and the grant or contract ID number.

After the vendor invoice for the item is paid, Property Control will apply the UO Inventory Tag and take a photogragh of the asset.