Property Services Equipment Expenditure Types

Overview Equipment expenditure types Determining title Implications of acquiring Government / other owned property (including JPL) Other Issues –Fabrications –Items under $5,000

“Equipment –Caltech” Use the “Equipment - Caltech” expenditure type if: –Caltech will have title to the asset, AND –Unit cost is $5,000 or more (including freight and tax), AND –Item has a useful life of 2 years or more, AND –Item is a stand alone asset.

“Equipment –Govt” Use the “Equipment - Govt” expenditure type if: –The Government retains title to assets over $5,000, AND the additional equipment criteria are met OR –The Government retains title to items under $5,000, AND the additional equipment criteria are met (typically included on awards from National Laboratories e.g Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Sandia, Argonne National Laboratories,) OR –The item does not meet the Caltech or Government threshold BUT appears on the list of ‘sensitive’ items that need to be tracked (again, typically included on National Laboratory awards)

JPL Funded Acquisitions JPL requires that all equipment with an acquisition cost of $1,000 be controlled (i.e. tagged and tracked) – use “equipment govt” expenditure type If any JPL funds are being used to purchase items (even if JPL is not the major source of funding) then the item will be govt owned and JPL threshold will apply Additionally, ‘sensitive’ items between $100 - $999 purchased with JPL funds must be tagged and tracked – use “equipment govt” expenditure type JPL funded equipment and sensitive assets are subject to an annual inventory (Caltech performs a biennial inventory)

JPL Sensitive Items (Not Comprehensive) Binoculars Calculators Printers CD-Rom units Tape recorders Fax machines Modems Monitors External disk drives Cameras (video, still, movie, digital) Projectors Dictation units Telephones (cellular, cordless, non-cellular, portable) Typewriters Microscopes Scanners Full list available on Property Services web site

“Equipment – Other Owned” Use the “Equipment – Other Owned” expenditure type if: –The non-federal sponsoring agency retains title to assets over $5,000, AND the additional equipment criteria are met OR –The non-federal sponsoring agency retains title to items under $5,000, AND the additional equipment criteria are met Example CARA

Determining Title Sources of Information: Oracle: POTA_PKG.startup POTA_PKG.startup –Type in award number –Double click on ‘award detail’ –Scroll down to equipment Award document / Resume Office of Sponsored Research

Why is Title Important? Govt / other owned property –Subject to more stringent regulations on use, reporting and disposal –Subject to more frequent audits –Annual property reports required (including subcontractor equipment) –Must be tagged and recorded in the equipment database within a reasonable period of being received –Cannot be used on any other projects without first obtaining prior approval from the funding agency

Why is Title Important? Govt / Other owned property –Must report lost or damaged property to the Govt: include an explanation of the time and origin of the loss, destruction or damage Must be able to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it was not as a result of willful misconduct or lack of good faith to establish and administer a system for safeguarding government property –When no longer required on a project Caltech must request either title or disposition instructions from the awarding agency / cognizant officer

Fabrications Equipment expenditure types should not be used on fabrications –Technically, a component purchased for a fabrication is not a stand alone asset therefore it doesn’t meet the definition of equipment –In practical terms using equipment expenditure types on fabrications impacts Caltech reporting to agencies Charges hitting a fabrication PTA are overhead free therefore no fiscal implications to using ‘supplies – allocable’

Items under $5,000 In general “Supplies - Allocable” should be used for Caltech owned items under $5,000 Exception: upgrades & improvements to current assets –Must either extend the useful life of the current asset by 2 or more years OR significantly add to the benefit that equipment can yield –The tag number of the original equipment MUST be included on the purchase requisition –The upgrade / improved item will not be separately tagged, the additional cost will be added to the original asset within the Fixed Asset database –Use the appropriate equipment expenditure type for upgrades and improvements