Receiving and Inventory Control

Policy

It is the policy of the College to be in compliance with all RCW’s and WAC’s governing receiving and inventory of College assets as outlined in the OFM State Administrative and Accounting Manual (S.A.A.M.).

All college assets may only be used for official College activities.  Assets may not be loaned to other organizations nor may they be used by College staff for personal use.

Purpose

The purpose of receiving and inventory control is to provide accountability over the College’s assets and to gather and maintain the information needed in the fixed asset system for the preparation of financial statements.

To Whom Does This Policy Apply

This policy applies to all Tacoma Community College staff, students and community members who utilize state resources.

References

RCW 43.19.1917  Records of equipment owned by state

S.A.A.M. Chapter 30 - Capital Assets

Definitions

Accessories or attachments to assets - unit or equipment with: 1) asset value over five thousand dollars ($5,000), 2) adds useful life to an existing capital asset and 3) does not replace the original asset. Such items must be purchased, transferred, coded, recorded, tagged and inventoried within the fixed assets system as described in these procedures.

Administrator - the person(s) authorized to approve purchases on behalf of a college department and has the authority to redistribute or surplus assets.

Asset Value - the acquisition cost of an asset calculated 1) without regard for trade in allowance 2) including taxes, installation and/or calibration charges, 3) freight and 4) educational and other discounts are taken into consideration.

Capital Asset - item or equipment with: 1) asset value over five thousand dollars ($5,000), 2) a useful life of one or more years, and 3) legally considered either real or personal property. Such items must be purchased, transferred, coded, recorded, tagged and inventoried within the fixed assets system as described in these procedures.

Fabricated asset - item or equipment constructed by a college department for College use. Such items should be coded as equipment five thousand dollars ($5,000), 2) a useful life of one or more when the fabrication charges are made and treated as a capital or non-inventoried asset as described above. All labor, supplies, and materials used in the construction should be considered the asset value. The fabricator must notify the Receiving staff to code, record, tag and prepare an inventory input form for the item as soon as it is completed.

Fixed assets system – inventory system used to record and account for all capital assets.

Gift - a capital, small and attractive or non-inventoried asset received without any college expense incurred. The Tacoma Community College Foundation must officially accept all donations, including gifts designated for a particular area or purpose. The Tacoma Community College Foundation shall notify the Purchasing Office in writing of the donation to include a description of the item, the receiving unit, location, value of gift, donor's name, and date received. The asset shall be treated as a capital, small and attractive or non-inventoried asset as described above. The value of the gift shall be considered the asset value.

Non-inventoried assets - item or equipment with: 1) asset value below five thousand ($5,000) dollars, 2) a useful life of more than one year 3) does not meet the definition of a capital asset. Such items must be inventoried according to the internal procedures of each department.

Office of Financial Management (OFM) - the Washington State Agency responsible for the oversight of state assets.

Property - any asset, material, equipment or supply belonging to the college.

Property custodian - person assigned by a department administrator to maintain the department’s property list and work with the assigned inventory inspector during the biannual physical inventory.

Small and Attractive Assets - Weapons, Firearms and all items in the commodity class code major group 10XX with an asset value under five thousand dollars ($5,000).

Surplus property - any unserviceable, obsolete or excess college assets, materials, equipment or supplies, tagged and untagged regardless of whether or not the item is part of the colleges fixed assets system.

Transferred asset - item or equipment received from another government (federal, state or local) agency (often with freight the only cash expenditure) shall be treated as a capital, small and attractive or non-inventoried asset as described above. The cost shown on the transfer document shall be considered the asset value.

Procedure

The Director of Financial Services is responsible for developing and administering property management processes and the data integrity of the fixed assets system.

Each Administrator or their delegate, is responsible for developing procedures to maintain physical control and maintenance over all assets (inventoried and non-inventoried) purchased and assigned to their department.

Financial Services staff is responsible for:

• recording and maintaining inventory records of capital assets in the fixed asset system,
• preparing asset inventory reports,
• coordinating the biennial physical inventory and
• reconciling property inventory and fiscal records

 

Receiving, Tagging and Delivery of Property:  All material acquisitions shall be received by the College’s Receiving department.  The College becomes responsible for all property upon delivery.  The campus Receiving operation is responsible for:

• Delivering information technology related goods to the Information System (IS) staff.  The IS staff is responsible for delivering and installing all information technology ( IT ) related property.
• Delivering non-information technology related property to the ordering department unless delegated to someone else.
• Tagging all capital assets before delivering them to departments unless delegated to another area. The receiving staff is responsible for assigning and permanently affixing college inventory tags and other identification markings on these assets as appropriate.  Direct delivery of capital assets to offsite centers will be coordinated with Receiving to ensure property is appropriately tagged.  The college inventory tag number must be noted on the equipment inventory input form for recording into the fixed assets system by Financial Services.

Lost or Stolen Property: If property is missing, the Administrator or their delegate must notify the campus Public Safety office indicating the item missing and the circumstances under which the item was lost or stolen. A Public Safety officer will complete a report as required and notify the Vice President of Administrative Services and in the case of a capital asset, the Financial Services department.  Upon conclusion of the investigation, the campus Public Safety office will forward a copy of the case report to the Vice President of Administrative Services, the affected Administrator and, in the case of a capital asset, the Financial Services department.

If evidence clearly indicates a capital asset has been stolen, the Purchasing Manager shall prepare and file a GA form 267A internally, including any back-up material in addition to the case report from Public Safety. Notification to the State Auditor’s Office, Risk Management and Attorney General will be made, if required, by the Vice President of Administrative Services.

Small and Attractive Assets:  OFM requires each agency to perform a risk assessment (both financial and operational) on the agency's assets to identify those assets that are particularly at risk or vulnerable to loss.  Assets so identified that fall below the state's definition of a capital asset are to be considered small and attractive assets.

OFM requires, at minimum, that all items described in commodity class code major group 1005-1095 defined as Weapons, Firearms, Signal Guns, and Accessories will be considered and managed as small and attractive assets.

Tacoma Community College considered several factors when determining which assets should be included in the small and attractive assets category. 

The first was whether or not tracking the item would provide a disincentive for theft.  It was determined that, in most cases, tagging an item would not necessarily by itself prevent it from being stolen. 

Secondly, would tagging allow any lost or stolen items to be more readily identified?

Third, information technology related and electronic devices valued at less than $5,000 have a relatively short useful life and are routinely replaced rather than repaired.

The College determined the cost to tag and inventory any item with an original purchase cost of less than $5,000 exceeds the benefit.

As a result of this consideration, Tacoma Community College will tag, input into the fixed asset inventory system and manage only those assets within the commodity class code major group 1005-1095 to be considered as small and attractive, as required by OFM.  Examples of assets included within this commodity group are described as: Weapons, Firearms, Signal Guns, and Accessories.

Financial Services will annually review and update this procedure to determine if changes in technology or theft experience warrant inclusion of any additional assets as small and attractive.

Each Administrator or their delegate, is responsible for developing procedures to maintain physical control and maintenance over all assets (inventoried and non-inventoried) purchased and assigned to their department.  Procedures may include sign-out forms, listing of assets, locked cabinets, etc.

Physical Inventory:  Each department is required to maintain a physical inventory of all tagged capital assets.

Financial Services will conduct a campus wide inventory of tagged capital assets at least once each biennium, working with departmental staff to reconcile the inventory.

Each department administrator will assign someone to be the property custodian for the department.

During the inventory, staff will note exceptions on the property list such as:

• Asset on inventory list but not found;
• Asset found but not on inventory list;
• Incorrect description or location

A report of the results of the campus-wide physical inventory will be maintained by Financial Services.