Equipment Acquisitions
The University of Illinois System assumes the title to equipment that is acquired through purchase, constructed using U of I System funds, or received as a donation or transfer. All equipment must be recorded in the FABweb system, including Capital Development Board equipment.
You do not have to include items in your departmental inventory in the following circumstances:
- Your storeroom unit acquires equipment for resale.
- Your unit has purchased items for the use of a non-university entity.
Coding equipment and property, using the correct account code, is important because these codes affect many activities in the life cycle of the equipment. If account codes are incorrect, processing a new acquisition in FABweb, conducting biennial inventory for your unit, or responding to auditor questions will be difficult.
Equipment Coding
Equipment Tags - Numbers & Labels
Equipment Threshold Change
Purchased Equipment
If your unit purchased equipment through the requisition/purchase order process using a PCard, a standing order, direct pay, an equipment account code, or an initial record, an Original Tag (OTag) will be created in FABweb for you to complete. For an explanation of how equipment purchases are entered into FABweb, consult Equipment-Banner Tags Process Flow. For information about processing purchased equipment, consult the Business and Financial Policies and Procedures Manual, 12.1.5 Process a New Acquisition in FABweb.
Determining the Value of Equipment
To value equipment, the initial purchase price of the equipment, along with all ancillary charges necessary to place the equipment into its intended location and condition it for use, need to be included in the final cost. These costs include things like shipping, installation, transit insurance, testing, professional fees, site preparation costs, trade-in-allowance, and training if it is required for initial use of the equipment. If any of these charges are on an invoice with multiple items, use the prorated amount based on the total invoice amount, adding the appropriate expenses to the related equipment and non-equipment expenses. Some ancillary charges such as installation may be charged to some equipment and not to others and excluded from supplies or consumables.
Do not include finance charges, AppleCare, warranty expenses, or maintenance contracts in the cost valuation of the equipment as these items should be individually expensed to an appropriate non-equipment account code. Also refer to 12.1.3 Determine the Value of Equipment or Property.
Non-Cash Additions
A non-cash addition is a term used to describe adding equipment to Banner inventory that has a fair market value of $2500 or greater and is not acquired in exchange for cash. Since there is no invoice payment, no Otag is created in the normal purchasing process, and the equipment will not automatically appear in the unit’s FABweb new acquisitions. Therefore, you must request this addition to inventory using a link in FABweb. Property Accounting will manually add the non-cash addition to Banner inventory.
Common examples of non-cash additions include:
- Found Equipment: Equipment that is discovered within the unit and has no apparent PO or invoice. At the time of finding the equipment, it has a fair market value at or above the inventory threshold of $2,500.
- Donated (gifts): Gifts of equipment to a unit must be reported to the U of I Foundation. These donations must be added to inventory if the fair market value is at or over the inventory threshold of $2,500.
- Loaned Equipment: Equipment received on loan from an institution outside of the University may be considered a non-cash addition if it is at or over the inventory threshold of $2,500 and will be on campus in excess of one semester. The correct “Title-To” code must be on the equipment if not owned by the State of Illinois. Contact Property Accounting for assistance.
- Transfer to the U of I System with Researcher: Equipment transferring from another university with faculty member or researcher is considered a non-cash addition and must be entered in FABweb if the fair market value of the equipment is at or over the inventory threshold of $2,500. Contact Property Accounting for assistance.
For additional information about all non-cash additions consult policies 12.1.7 Identify Donated, Found, and Other Non-Cash Addition Equipment and 12.1.8 12.1.8 Add Donated, Found, and Other Non-Cash Addition Equipment to FABweb.
Equipment Transferred from University Surplus
If your unit has received equipment from the surplus warehouse, you will receive a notification email that the transfer has been completed. If the equipment obtained from the Surplus Warehouse is at or above the inventory threshold of $2,500, the tracked equipment has already been transferred to your unit equipment inventory. You must update the attributes for that inventoried item in FABweb. Important attributes for this type of update include updating location, custodian, equipment manager, and condition code. If the equipment has an Entity code associated with it, this will either need to be updated or removed. For additional information, consult policy 12.2.4 Maintain Entity Codes for Self-Supporting Activities.
Transfer of Equipment within the U of I System
To learn how to completes transfers of equipment from one unit to another in FABweb, please consult the following resources:
Title Transfer from Sponsor
Equipment purchased with certain sponsored project funds (grants, contracts, gifts, or federal appropriations) may be titled to or owned by the sponsoring agency and the University of Illinois System is the temporary custodian of that equipment used for research purposes. Contact Property Accounting for assistance.