Overview
Physical inventories of University-owned, Federal-owned, and Agency-owned equipment must be completed by University departments every two years. Audits of the physical inventories taken by departments are performed annually by various state, federal, private, and internal auditors. Non-compliance with physical inventory requirements may result in the discontinuance of federal funding.
Physical inventories are lists sent to departments by Equipment Inventory, based on a schedule, for tracking inventory assets. Departments are required to perform a manual count and verify the location/serial number/tag number/custodian of each item listed. All departments are required by state and federal regulations to complete a physical inventory on a regular schedule. The Equipment Inventory Office (EIO) coordinates the process for all University of Washington Academy departments.
Final inventories are final inventories of equipment furnished by or purchased with agency funds that must be taken by the principal investigator upon termination of contracts or agreements. Under some contracts, unused supplies (non-capital property) on hand at the termination of the project with a combined value of $5,000 or more must also be inventoried. Upon receipt of a listing of agency-owned equipment from the Equipment Inventory Office, the principal investigator should verify the physical presence of the equipment and, after verification, may recommend that:
- The property's title become vested with the University for continued use in the department on similar research projects;
- The equipment be transferred to a follow-on contract;
- The equipment be returned to the government agency; or
- The equipment be removed by the government agency.
The Equipment Inventory Office will recommend appropriate action to the contracting officer.
Benefits to the Department
Departments benefit from completing a physical inventory because it facilitates a process for departments to confirm Unit Asset Coordinators are promptly and regularly updating asset records in Workday to align with asset’s physical status in accordance with state, federal, and agency compliance requirements. Some examples of asset attributes checked during physical inventory, include: Status, Location, and Custodian.
Types of Inventories
A Federal Inventory is the process of locating equipment that was purchased with Federal grant or contract money and for which the sponsor has retained title (ownership). The funding source (for example, Department of the Navy) requires the University to track the assets belonging to the Federal government (not University-owned). Timely completion of federal inventories is extremely important.
An Agency Inventory is the process of locating equipment that was purchased with private agency grant or contract money where the sponsor has retained title. The funding agency (for example, Honeywell) owns the assets and requires the University to track them.
A University Inventory (also called "State" inventory) is the process of locating all other assets tracked by the University. The funding can come from the State, a Federal agency or a private agency but the University owns the equipment. This also includes gifts and equipment transferred in from other institutions.
A Inventory of Sensitive Items is the process of locating all university assets deemed "sensitive" (weapons). The funding source can be from the state, a federal or private agency with University ownership.
Note: Assets with a blue bar code tag are UWMC (Hospital) property and maintained separately by Hospital Accounting at 206-598-7933. Assets with a purple bar code tag are non-inventorial assets, should not be included in your inventory.
Responsibility for Physical Inventories
Inventories will be sent to an Inventory Taker (Workday role: Unit Asset Coordinator). Final responsibility rests with the department head; therefore, completed inventory(s) will be sent to each department head for review and approval.
The individual(s) who perform the physical inventory must have no direct responsibility for the assets. For example:
- An Inventory Taker is eligible to inventory all their unit’s equipment except assets issued to them as the asset’s custodian, because they have direct responsibility for that equipment.
- A principle investigator (researcher) is not eligible to inventory lab equipment for which he/she has direct responsibility as this would create a conflict of interest.