Equipment Inventory
The Equipment Inventory office is responsible for tagging and control reporting of all university movable equipment, purchased for Ohio University. This includes the five regional campuses and various regional teaching sites across Ohio. Equipment must meet the following criteria:
- 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.
Equipment owned by Ohio University shall be tagged with a green tag. Equipment owned by a sponsor where title remains with the sponsor shall be tagged with a red tag. Both green and red tag equipment are recorded in the Fixed Asset system. The responsibility for equipment accountability is assigned to the Principal Investigator (PI) or department. Finance is responsible for equipment reporting. The PI or department shall notify Finance of any disposition plans. The office responsible for sponsor equipment reporting is Grants Accounting and may be contacted at finance.grants@ohio.edu.
Please see the Equipment Inventory Quick Reference Guide for information on pulling a listing of inventory.
Purchasing Object Code
When purchasing equipment that will be tagged, a specfic range of object codes must be used. These object codes are used exclusively for tagged equipment. Please be sure to use them when making any purchase that meets the above criteria.
| Object Code | Object Code Description | Description | IDC charged on this Object Code? | Costs moved to another Object Code? | Taggable? Red or Green Tag? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 741115 | Computer Equipment | Computer and computer equipment having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. [note 1: Components that each cost less than $5,000, AND make up one unit, AND are purchased on the same PO or P-card transaction, AND have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. Shipping IS included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes. Software IS NOT included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741120 | Education Recreation Equipment | Equipment used for recreational and educational purposes having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. examples include, but are not limited to: projectors; recorders; phonographs; gymnastic equipment. [note: components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741125 | Food Handling Equipment | Equipment used in storing, preparing, and serving food having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. [note: components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741130 | Maintenance Custodial Equipment | Equipment used for maintenance and custodial operations having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. [note: components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741135 | Medical Lab Therapeutic Equipment | Equipment used in medical, laboratory, and therapeutic operations having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. examples include, but are not limited to: operating tables, x-ray machines, oxygen equipment, microscopes, heat lamps, ambulators, wheel chairs, physical therapy devices. [note: components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741140 | Motor Vehicles | Motorized vehicles and equipment having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. EXAMPLES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: automobiles; buses; trucks; golf carts; bulldozers; tractors; graders; scrapers; mowers. [Note: Use 714520 for a vehicle sold internally by Motor Pool to a department, regardless of the cost. This is to avoid capitalizing a vehicle twice.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741145 | Office Equipment | Equipment normally used in business operations having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. [notes: (1)this type of equipment with a cost of less than $5,000 falls under Object Code 711510; (2)components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 741150 | Research Equipment | Equipment used to support research funded activity and having a cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of 1 year or more. [note: components that each cost less than $5,000, and make up one unit, and are purchased on the same po or pcard transaction, and have a combined cost of $5,000 or greater are included here. shipping is included when determining final equipment cost for inventory purposes.] | No | No | Green tag |
| 744600 | UNIV-OWNED COMPONENTS OF FABRICATED EQUIP | For use in the Grants Module when equipment is fabricated at Ohio University and will be owned by the University upon completion. These costs are exempt from IDC but if no equipment results from development then the fabrication costs will be transferred to supply expense and IDC will be assessed at that time. | No | Will be transferred to appropriate capital equip (no IDC), or supply object code (IDC allowed) based on costs at completion. | Green tag if transferred to capital equipment object code after completion. Not taggable if transferred to supply object code upon completion. |
Sponsor owned equipment must use the following Object Code:
| Object Code | Object Code Description | Description | IDC charged on this Object Code? | Costs moved to another Object Code? | Taggable? Red or Green tag? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 715210 | EQUIPMENT TITLE VESTED IN SPONSOR | To be used in the Grants Module when Sponsor has title to equipment | No | No | Red tag |
| 744500 | SPON-OWNED COMPONENTS OF FABRICATED EQUIP | For use in the Grants Module when equipment is fabricated at Ohio University and will remain at University, yet owned by the Sponsor upon completion. These costs are exempt from IDC but if no equipment results from development then the fabrication costs will be transferred to supply expense and IDC will be assessed at that time. | No | Will be transferred to 715210 (no IDC), or supply object code (IDC allowed) based on costs at completion. | Red tag if transferred to 715210 upon completion. Not taggable if transferred to supply object code upon completion. |
Additional asset information:
| Object Code | Object Code Description | Description | IDC charged on this Object Code? | Costs moved to another Object Code? | Taggable? Red or Green tag? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 715110 | NON-CAPITAL EQUIPMENT | Non-Grant components when equipment is fabricated at Ohio University. This object code is also used for non-capital equipment less than $5,000. | Yes | Completed fabricated equipment will be transferred to appropriate capital equipment, or supply object code based on costs at completion. | Not taggable if minor equipment and less than $5,000 fabricated equipment. Fabricated equipment more than $5,000 will be green tagged upon completion. |
| 744700 | RESTRICTED NON-TAGGABLE EQUIPMENT | To be used in the Grants Module for non-capitalized equipment less than $5,000 as designated by the sponsor and owned by Ohio University. Also for greater than $5,000 items that are non-accessible, i.e., buried or in space. | No | No | Not taggable |
If you have any questions about object codes please reach out to finance.equipmentinventory@ohio.edu.
Disposal of Equipment
At no time can a University department or office discard or sale a University asset without proper authorization; nor can a University asset be given or donated to any individual, Private Corporation, or Non-Profit Organization. Please work with University Moving and Surplus for equipment disposal or sale. If you have any questions please reference the Equipment Inventory FAQs page. If you need more information please contact us at finance.equipmentinventory@ohio.edu.
Policies and Regulations
All equipment must adhere to University Policy 19.054: Equipment Inventory Control. More information regarding receiving and handling of equipment is available for both Green Tag Equipment and Red Tag Equipment.
Fully depreciated assets should remain on the books of the University and continue to be inventoried.
"It would be incorrect accounting treatment to remove a fixed asset cost and related accumulated depreciation from the accounting records as long as the underlying asset is still being used, for two reasons:
- Metrics. The presence of such a large amount of accumulated depreciation for an asset should be stated, so that someone analyzing the financial statements can discern that the company tends to retain its fixed assets for a long period of time; this can be an indicator of multiple issues, such as good maintenance or the imminent need to spend cash for replacement assets.
- Asset recordation. If an asset is on the premises and in use, then it should be recorded. Its deletion would remove the asset from the fixed asset register, so that someone might conduct a fixed asset audit and observe the asset, but not see it in the company's records.
When a fixed asset is eventually disposed of, the event should be recorded by debiting the accumulated depreciation account for the full amount depreciated, crediting the fixed asset account for its full recorded cost, and using a gain or loss account to record any remaining difference."
https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/what-is-the-accounting-for-a-fully-depreciated-asset.html