Frequently Asked Questions

The revenue source code tells the funding source of an expenditure. If it is 01 through 60, then the expenditure was federally funded. If it's 00 or 61 through 99, then the expenditure was state funded (this includes start up funds and anything not federal/agency).

Yes, however, there are many considerations that come in to play with these types of transfers.  Please see process guidance on our External Transfers page. 

Please visit the Post Award Fiscal Compliance page for information on disposing of these assets.

If a fabricated item is to be delivered to an external entity or is not University owned, the equipment is not subject to being tagged or inventoried. Salaries, supplies, and other costs incurred in fabrications should be left in their original expenditure object code, not transferred to the 06-XX object code by JV. These costs will incur the usual indirect costs for grants and contracts. Individual parts or equipment items that fall into this category and meet the standard definition of equipment should be coded 06

Fabrication JVs are an exception to this, though we hope to be able to process these through the Financial Desktop eventually. Currently, the Transactions application only allows for the transfer of existing expenditures. Fabrication JVs don't move existing expenditures, they create a second set of expenditure debits (05-XX, 01-XX, 03-XX, etc) and a 21-XX credit. Please see 'Note' under the Department's portion of the Procedure section of the Equipment Fabrication web page.

The easiest way to handle this is to add cost the 06-XX asset to the fabrication and not include it in the fabrication Journal Voucher (JV) request.

No. A fabrication is defined as one piece of equipment that is built (fabricated) because an existing piece of equipment with the desired functionality does not exist. The fabricated item should remain together for the lifetime of the asset. The entire cost of the fabricated asset is depreciated over its useful life and the costs incurred to build the asset are excluded from indirect cost.

It should be explicitly stated in the copy of the Fellowship.  Please verify what is allowed before making any purchases. 

Any time a department orders equipment on a Fellowship (80-XXXX) budget, Equipment Inventory is required to see if the equipment is intended to stay at the UW permanently or if it is intended to be the fellow's personal property.  If the equipment is to become the fellow's personal property, please provide supporting documentation (award documentation or an email from the sponsor) stating the equipment may become the personal property of the Fellow and code the equipment as 05-40 Non-inventorial Equipment regardless of cost. If the equipment is to stay at the University, please state "Item will stay with the UW" in the comments and code as the appropriate 05-4X or 06-XX object code. 

Immediately contact Equipjment Inventory at 543-4663 and we'll see what we can do to help you correct the error.

Yes, but they have to note that the item will remain UW property.  As a part of the ProCard approval process, EIO will check to make sure the student doesn't plan on keeping the item and will let them know to enter a note on the transaction that "This item will remain UW property.

You have three options in determining fair market value (FMV) on gift equipment:
1. The donor should have that information available for you;
2. If they don't, you can go to the manufacturer's web site and look at the manufacturer's suggested retail price for the item;
3. If these first two do not work for you, contact Surplus for more assistance on determining a fair market value.

Please see the 'Gift Transmittals' page for the Gift Transmittal Form. Contact the University Advancement's Gift Processing unit with questions relating to the form.

Enter the information into our UW Equipment Information Card (Web Form). When you submit this web form, the information is sent directly to Equipment Inventory and we will enter it into OASIS for you.

Equipment Inventory prepares and submits all closing and annual reports. Occasionally, Equipment Inventory will contact the department for clarification and assistance.

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and the sponsoring agency negotiate to determine the ownership of equipment.

While submitting the closeout property report, Equipment Inventory (working with University research departments) asks the granting agency to vest title with the University. Note: Title never vests with an individual.

Please see the Post Award Fiscal Compliance page for further information.

No, you are not required to reallocate the cost of the equipment.  Most sponsors allow for equipment to be used by other Awards.  Federal regulations, in particular, allow for equipment to be used by other Awards without having to reallocate the cost or obtain sponsor approval (click here for more information).  For non-Federal Awards, review the Award requirements to determine if cost allocation is required.   Keep in mind that such cost allocations present both a high risk transaction (subject to audit) and a large administrative burden.  In most cases the cost of equipment does not need to be reallocated so ensure that there is a specific requirement to do so before reallocating the cost.  For more information click here

The University is subject to accounting standards developed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. In June 2007 the board issued standard number 51, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Intangible Assets that is effective as of July 1, 2009. Failure to comply with the accounting standard could result in a unfavorable audit opinion by auditors. This would adversely impact the University's reputation with legislators, grantors, donors and creditors.

Intangible assets are capital assets that have the following characteristics:
Lack physical substance
They are not financial instruments such as: cash, investments and receivables
Initial useful life greater than 1 year
Examples: easements, water rights, patents, trademarks, computer software (not the transmission media, just the programming)

In discussions with the State Office of Financial Management and auditors it was determined that $1 million was the appropriate capitalization threshold for these assets. This balances the benefit of tracking the assets with the cost of tracking the assets. For example, to arrive at the cost of software generated by University personnel it would be necessary for employees to track the time spent in development of an approved project. Costs incurred prior to project approval and for program implementation would have to be expensed. Departments would be required to keep detailed records of project activity to support the asset balances that would be subject to audit.

For questions related to the recharge rate, please contact MAA  - Recharge and Cost Center Accounting  recharge@uw.edu.

The threshold for the M&E Tax Exemption is $200. We are not required under the RCW to use the UW's capitalization threshold of $5,000. The equipment:

• Must have a useful life of more than one year
• Must be directly used more than 50% of its useful life on qualifying research; and
• Must have an acquisition cost of more than $200

Note:  Add costs to existing pieces of M&E qualifying equipment can also qualify for the exemption, even if they are under $200.

No. The exemption as stated in the law is for 'new purchases' only. M&E Exemption must be requested and approved prior to purchase. The University does not retroactively allow purchases to qualify.

Yes, but the department will need to cancel the current purchase requisition and re-enter a new purchase requisition using the correct object code(s).