Capital equipment is an article of nonexpendable, tangible property with a useful life of more than one year, and an acquisition cost of $3,000 or more per unit. The $3,000 value threshold includes:
- The item itself;
- Expenditures necessary to put the item in place; and
- Ancillary charges such as taxes, duty, protective in-transit insurance, freight, and installation costs.
Throughout the over one hundred buildings that comprise Rensselaer are millions of dollars of capital equipment — some purchased, some on loan, some donated and some fabricated on-campus.
The Controller's Office is responsible for ensuring compliance with federal regulations and Institute policies governing the management of all capital equipment, including its use, location, maintenance and disposal.
Inventory Acquisition Processes and Procedures
The Controller's Office is responsible for keeping a capital equipment inventory system current with all capital equipment. Concurrently, the Controller's Office depends upon the cooperation of the responsible individuals in the various departments, offices, centers, etc. to assign the correct account codes for purchases, know the location of all equipment within their responsibility, and notify the Controller's Office of any changes in status or location of that equipment.
A list of Capital Equipment Account codes and their uses can be found on the “Capital Equipment Account Codes” page.
The Controller's Office has established the following procedures to ensure that the capital equipment inventory system works efficiently:
When a department enters a requisition for capital equipment, they are required to select the Special Approver box - Asset Management in OSCAR, which routes the requisition through the Controller's Office for proper account code review and approval, or for rejection and return to the department for correction. Procurement processes the requisition and a purchase order is generated. When the invoice is paid, it then appears on the Controller's reconciliation report. A record is created in the capital equipment inventory system and a tagging sheet and red bar coded capital equipment tag is sent to the department to attach to the purchased capital equipment. The capital equipment tagging sheet is required to be completed with the appropriate information and returned to the Controller's Office.
Fabricated Equipment
Rensselaer researchers often have a need to fabricate specialized laboratory or training equipment in order to conduct their research projects. Anyone planning to fabricate capital equipment with an estimated completion value greater than $3,000 and a useful life of more than one year should contact the Controller's Office, and request a red bar coded capital equipment tag so that all subsequent requisitions can note the red bar coded capital equipment tag on the requisition.
Government Capital Equipment
Any government-owned capital equipment purchased or acquired on a research fund is tagged and inventoried. Responsibility for the maintenance and use of this capital equipment resides with the principal investigator in conjunction with the Office of Research and Financial Administration.
Prior to receiving gifts-in-kind of capital equipment, the department need to complete and submit the Gift-in-Kind Acceptance form with the Office of Development in the Department of Institute Advancement. When these forms have been completed, the Office of Development forwards a copy to the Controller's Office. Please see the Gift in Kind Policies and Gift-in-Kind Acceptance form linked here.
Equipment being transferred to the Institute should either be purchased, following the guidance for new purchases above, or if being given to the Institute at no cost, should be treated as a gift-in-kind, as outlined in the Gift-in_Kind section above.
Responsibilities of the Controller's Office and Departments/Centers
- Maintain accurate, current records for each piece of capital equipment. These records include the red bar code capital equipment tag number, serial number, model number, PO number, FOAPA, description, department, responsible person, location, and the capital equipment's acquired and depreciated value.
- Ensure that capital equipment records agree with financial records.
- Conduct on-site capital equipment inventories, and provide lists and statistical analyses when required by Institute policy, special requests, or government agencies.
- Maintain the capital equipment in their possession, and keep it in a safe location.
- Assign correct account codes for all purchases.
- Know the location of all capital equipment within their responsibility at any given time.
- Cooperate with the Controller's Office to tag newly acquired capital equipment.
- Notify the Controller's Office if capital equipment is moved, sold, traded in, disposed of, or is otherwise no longer under their responsibility.
- Idle equipment: Capital equipment which is currently idle but may be used in the future is still tracked in the capital equipment inventory system. The department/principal investigator is responsible for the care and safekeeping of capital equipment for which they are responsible within their department.
- Items having no value: Capital equipment which is fully depreciated and in use is still tracked in the capital equipment inventory system, regardless of age. The department/principal investigator is responsible for the care and safekeeping of capital equipment for which they are responsible within their department.
- Loaned equipment: The Controller's Office does not track capital equipment on loan to Rensselaer. The department/Principal Investigator has the responsibility for the loaned capital equipment.
Capital Equipment Physical Inventories
The Controller's Office inventories all capitalized equipment. Capital equipment includes office furniture, scientific equipment, teaching aids, computers, vehicles and machinery, as well as components (children) to existing pieces of capital equipment which will be linked together with the master (parent) in the capital equipment inventory system.
The Controller's Office conducts revolving physical inventories over a two-year cycle. The Controller’s office partners with the Business Managers in each school/portfolio to perform the physical inventory process. The Controller’s office provides reports of the equipment items due to be inventoried and it is the responsibility of each school to inventory those items by the end of the fiscal year. The schools are responsible for updating the report to reflect any changes in location of the equipment or disposals of any equipment. The Controller’s office then makes updates in the property management system, Vertere, to reflect the most recent status of the equipment.
Each department is responsible for accounting for its capital equipment at all times and must be able to tell the Controller's Office whether the department has moved, sold, or disposed of any such equipment. The department must also submit the appropriate forms to record the disposition of capital equipment. See the “Capital Equipment Disposals/Sales/Transfers” page for more details around equipment disposal processes.
Missing Equipment
Rensselaer's departments, centers, and offices are responsible for the capital equipment in their possession. If an item is stolen, or a faculty or staff person discovers something missing, the department must report the situation to the Department of Public Safety immediately so that the Department of Public Safety can investigate.
If the capital equipment still cannot be found, or if it is discovered damaged, an important second step is to notify the Controller's Office, which will update its inventory records accordingly to reflect the loss or damage.
Links to Other Capital Equipment Sites
- Capital Equipment Sales/Disposals/Transfers
- Capital Equipment Account Codes
- Capital Equipment Available for Campus
Forms