Equipment Inventory Overview

The Equipment Inventory Office is responsible for tagging and reporting all movable equipment purchased for Ohio University. Policy 19.054, Equipment Inventory Control, outlines the responsibilities of departments and the policy requirements associated with properly maintaining equipment inventory records. Movable equipment must meet the following criteria to be capitalized as an asset:

• Must be movable and not permanently affixed;
• Have a cost of $5,000 or greater when purchased, or be a gift with an appraised value of $5,000 or more;
• Have a useful life of one year or more and be non-expendable.

There are two types of tagged equipment that must be tracked:

• University-owned equipment is tagged with a green inventory tag and is referred to as a “green-tagged” item.
• Equipment purchased using external funds from a grant or contract; or equipment that is furnished or loaned to the University while the title to that equipment remains with the sponsor of the grant or contract, is tagged with a red inventory tag.  This equipment is referred to as a “red-tagged” item. The Grants Accounting Office audits red-tagged equipment each year.

Purchasing Object Code

When purchasing equipment that will be tagged a specfic range of object codes must used to on this purchase. These object codes are used exclusively for tagged equipment. Please be sure to use them when making any purchase that meets the above criteria.

If you have any questions about object codes please reach out to finance.equipmentinventory@ohio.edu.

Gifts

If your department has received any gifts or has purchased equipment that meets the criteria for moveable equipment and the equipment is not currently tagged please contact Equipment Inventory for guidance and next steps. 

Fabricated Equipment

Fabricated equipment is defined as an item of equipment that is built or assembled from individual parts. When a completed item of fabricated equipment has an aggregate cost of $5,000 or more it is considered capital equipment. Contact finance.grants@ohio.edu to capitalize fabricated equipment.

Disposal of equipment

At no time can a University department or office discard a University asset without proper authorization; nor can a University asset be given or donated to any individual, private corporation, or non-profit organization. If you have any questions about this section of the policy, please contact Equipment Inventory.  

Biennium Inventory

Every two years, the Equipment Inventory Office notifies each department equipment contact person about the biennial auditing process.  This process involves verifying each departmental inventory listing and certifying that:

• Any additions, deletions or transfer of equipment have been properly recorded;

• The equipment inventory listing is complete and accurately reflects the equipment owned by the department.

Audits

Equipment inventory is periodically audited by both internal and state auditors as well as University accounting personnel. Accurate inventory records are important to ensure that:

• The value of equipment owned by the University is reported properly in financial statements.
• A complete and accurate record of inventory exists. 
• Ownership for an asset can be easily identifiable.

For questions related to the equipment inventory process, please contact finance.equipmentinventory@ohio.edu