Red Tag Equipment

Equipment purchased using external funds via a grant or contract or equipment furnished or loaned to the University where title remains with the sponsor shall be tagged with a red tag and recorded in the Fixed Asset system. The responsibility for equipment accountability is assigned to the Principal Investigator (PI). The Division of Finance is responsible for equipment reporting. The PI shall notify Finance of any disposition plans. The Finance office responsible for sponsor equipment reporting is the Grants Accounting office who may be contacted at finance.grants@ohio.edu.

Regulations

All equipment must adhere to University Policy 19.054: Equipment Inventory Control. Sponsored equipment must be in compliance with the following regulations:

• Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 52.245-1 “Government Property”
• Uniform Guidance for grants:  PART 200—Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards §200.313 Equipment.
• Sponsor Regulations

Receipt of New Equipment

• Purchased Equipment: When equipment is purchased using external funds where title remains with the granting agency and the equipment is in the possession of Ohio University it should be charged to object code 715210.
• Loaned or Furnished Equipment: When equipment is loaned or furnished directly to the PI it is the PI's responsibility to notify Finance.

Tagging of New Equipment

Purchased equipment and loaned or furnished equipment will require the following information to be provided by the PI responsible for the equipment:

• Description of equipment
• Serial or Manufacturer identification number
• Date acquired and placed in service
• Location (building and room number)
• Unit acquisition cost
• Purchase order number
• Name of department
• Employee name
• Grant award number
• Agency
• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number

Changes in Status of Equipment, Maintenance, and Disposition

Changes in the status of equipment must be reported to Finance by the PI that is accountable for the equipment. The Equipment Status Change form (Excel) should be used for this purpose. Status changes are to be reported as they occur and will be reported to sponsor agencies as needed. Examples of status changes include:

• Stolen
• Scrapped (i.e., sent to Campus Recycling)
• Traded in
• Returned to vendor
• Transferred to another department or responsible person
• Relocated to a different room or building

The department or PI will be responsible for any maintenance required to be performed on equipment and will also be responsible for maintaining maintenance records as required by the agency involved.

When the grant ends or when the equipment is no longer needed, Grants and Contract Accounting will work with the PI to determine the disposition and the process required by the granting agency for disposition of the equipment.

Annual Inventory

Each year, Finance will furnish each PI with a sponsor equipment certification requesting sponsor equipment be audited and certified. The PI must report all corrections to Finance on an Equipment Status Change form. The certification form must be signed by the PI or Department Administrator and returned to Finance.

Audits

Equipment inventories will be periodically audited by both State auditors and University accounting personnel. Therefore, it is imperative that all transactions affecting movable equipment be properly recorded.