FIXED ASSET INVENTORY MAINTENANCE AND REPORTING Introduction and Purpose
The Finance Department shall maintain a property control program that is structured to:
• Provide officials with information required to control the use and location of school property, • Assist administrators in planning for equipment replacement,
• Identify property for insurance purposes, and
• Provide information required for district and county financial reports.
It is the responsibility of each school or department to ensure that all property and equipment under their control is properly accounted for in the Fixed Asset Ledgers. The department director or school principal (or designee) controlling the asset shall be responsible for securing personal property assigned to their department/school and may be held responsible for any lost or missing School assets.
Definitions of Fixed Assets
The school division shall maintain two fixed asset ledgers:
a) Capitalizable Assets – The first ledger shall include all assets that must be capitalized and depreciated according to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). These are referred to as Capitalizable Assets. A capitalizable asset is defined as any asset or group of assets that has a useful life in excess of two years and at the time of acquisition has a fair market value or cost of at least $5,000. Examples include land and improvements, buildings, easements, vehicles, and machinery.
b) Controllable Assets – The second ledger shall include fixed assets for which capitalization is not required by GASB. A controllable fixed asset is defined as any asset that must be inventoried and requires security from theft. Generally, controllable assets have a useful life of two or more years and a fair market value or acquisition cost of less than $5,000. Controllable assets include the following:
o Computer equipment (computer workstations, laptops, printers, scanners)
o Audio-visual equipment including television monitors/receivers, compact disc players, portable stereos
o Video projectors
o Camcorders and digital cameras o Power tools (lathes, table saws, etc.) o Two-way radio equipment
o Other equipment subject to loss or theft
Controllable assets are not subject to depreciation and are expensed in the year acquired. Security is important for these items as they are easily converted to cash. Fixed asset tags shall be
attached to these assets and they must be recorded in the Controllable Fixed Asset Ledger. Controllable assets shall be secured in a manner consistent with its operational use and which minimizes the risk of loss or theft.
DI-R Page 2 Property records are not required for assets costing less than $5,000 and which are not defined as controllable. Property that does not require record keeping includes furniture, equipment having less than a two-year life, and equipment not susceptible to loss or theft. The list of property defined as controllable property shall be modified as circumstances change.
Valuation
a) Valuation of fixed assets shall be at original acquisition cost, including shipping and installation costs. Acquisition costs are net of any discounts received at purchase. Valuation of a donated asset shall be the fair market value of the asset at the date of acquisition.
b) Valuation of Group Assets – Group assets are those assets that individually are valued for less than $5,000, but that are collectively valued above $5,000. The following two criteria shall be used in making such a determination:
1. The expected economic useful service life of the entire group of assets and;
2. The materiality of the total purchase price or acquisition cost of the group of assets involved. The administrator responsible for finance shall identify group assets.
Depreciation
Capitalizable fixed assets can be either depreciable or non-depreciable. Land is not subject to depreciation. Practically all other capitalizable assets are subject to annual depreciation. The straight-line depreciation method shall be used on all depreciable fixed assets in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles. A composite life table shown below shall be used as the basis in determination of an asset’s useful life. The useful life of a particular asset may be adjusted based on the district’s experience as deemed
appropriate.
COMPOSITE ASSET LIFE TABLE
ASSET CLASSIFICATION
ASSET LIFE
(YEARS) ASSET CLASSIFICATION
ASSET LIFE (YEARS)
Athletic Equipment 10 Licensed Vehicles – General 8
Appliances/Food Service Equipment 15
Audio Visual Equipment 5 Licensed Vehicles – School Buses 12
Business Machines 10 Machinery and Tools 15
Communications Equipment 10 Musical Instruments 10
Computer Software 5 Outdoor Recreation Equipment 20
Maintenance Equipment 10 Stage and Auditorium 20
Computer Equipment 5 Buildings – general construction 50
Computers, Monitors, Printers 5 Building components: roofs 20*
Fine Arts and Antiques N/A Building components: Interior
construction
30* Building components: Plumbing,
HVAC, Electrical Systems
30* Furniture and Accessories 15 Building Components: Fire Protection
Systems and Elevators
25* Grounds/Agricultural Equipment 15 * Depreciation period on building components shall not
exceed estimated remaining life of structure
Lab/Science/Engineering Equipment 10 Portable Classrooms 25
Land N/A Custodial Equipment 15
Recording of Fixed Assets
The financeadministratorshall maintain a perpetual inventory of all asset records. Fixed assets shall be recorded onto the fixed asset ledger as they are acquired. The administrator of each site (school or department) is responsible for all property on the premises and for reporting all acquisitions, movements, and disposals to the Finance Department.
Generally, as property is acquired, the acquiring site shall securely affix a property control tag to the asset and complete the Asset Acquisition, Transfer, and Disposal Form (AATDF). The property listed on the AATDF shall include the number shown on the property control tag. The completed AATDF is then submitted to the Finance Department. See Fixed Asset Tags in next section for further discussion on the tagging of property.
The financeadministrator shall record AATDF Forms on the appropriate Fixed Asset Ledger. The finance administrator shall also review purchases of property in order to ensure that all newly purchased
equipment is identified and recorded in the Fixed Asset Ledgers. At least annually, the finance administrator shall reconcile equipment purchases from the division’s Financial Ledgers with those recorded in the Fixed Asset Ledgers.
At least annually, an inventory of fixed assets shall be taken at each school and department.
Discrepancies between the perpetual inventory records and assets physically present at each school or department shall be promptly reported to the finance director.
Fixed Asset Tags
The financeadministrator will provide property tags to all school sites. For most newly acquired property, it is the responsibility of the site administrator to ensure that a tag is affixed to the property.
Property tags are to be used whenever possible. However, some assets are not easily tagged while the use of other assets causes the tag to fall off or become lost. For those assets, the finance director will assign a separately identifiable eight-digit number. The eight digit number will begin with “20”. Property tags are not assigned to the following property:
• Land, land improvements, and buildings • Licensed motor vehicles and trailers
• Outdoor recreational equipment, bleachers, stage curtains • Refuse compactors, water tanks, and fuel tanks
• Wheelchair lifts
• Telephone systems and computer network servers • Other equipment not easily tagged
All other assets shall be tagged with a property control tag. The property control tag indicates that the asset is property of Isle of Wight County Schools and it contains a five-digit number and bar code. Placement Locations for Fixed Asset Tags
DI-R Page 4 Disposing of Fixed Assets
When a fixed asset is no longer of use to a school or department or it becomes obsolete and thus requires disposal, an AATDF form shall be completed and forwarded to the finance director. Contact administer responsible for finance transfer to another department or surplus disposition. When the disposal involves computer equipment, the AATDF should be forwarded to the director of technology for assessment of future use. The director of technology is responsible for notifying the financeadministrator of computer equipment deletions and transfers.
Annual Physical Inventory of Fixed Assets
Each school site (school or department) that holds or uses fixed assets shall complete an inventory of all capitalizable and controllable property at least annually. The financeadministrator will coordinate the annual inventory and provide administrators with a Property Report listing all property located at their site.
The school administrator is responsible for physically identifying all assets contained on the Property Report. Fixed assets that are not listed on the Property Report must be added to the division’s Fixed Asset Ledgers. AATDF forms shall be completed for all controllable and capitalizable property located on the school premises and that is not listed on the Property Report.
If assets listed on the Property Report are not physically present at the school site, the site administrator must complete AATDF indicating that the property cannot be located. The site administrator will also provide written explanations for missing property. Explanations should indicate the reason that assets listed on the Property Report are no longer present at the school site.
At the conclusion of the fixed asset inventory, the site administrator shall notify the financeadministrator
of such completion. The site administrator will submit AATDF forms for all missing and unlisted property along with a certification of all other property listed on the Property Report. The finance administrator shall prescribe forms appropriate for notification and certification of the inventory. The financeadministrator shall adjust the Fixed Asset Ledgers based on the AATDF forms and certifications submitted by site administrators.
Audit of Fixed Assets
The inventory of fixed assets shall be subject to audit internally by the Finance Department and externally by independent auditors hired for the annual fiscal year end audit.
Issued: May 24, 1993
Revised: December 11, 2003
December 19, 2007
Reference: DI Financial Accounting and Reporting
ASSET ACQUISITION, TRANSFER, AND DISPOSAL FORM
SCHOOL/DEPARTMENT1. Report all acquisitions, transfers, and requests for disposal of assets below. A form must be completed for all items that are maintained on the Fixed Asset Ledgers (inventory). 2. Assign a tag number and affix to all new equipment except buildings, land improvements, land, licensed vehicles, outdoor recreation equipment, trailers, refuse compactor, wheelchair
lift, servers, bleachers, stage curtains, tanks, telephone systems, and other items that are not easily tagged. Contact the Finance Department to determine if an asset should be assigned a physical white property tag.
Action Asset Number
Manufacture
Model No. Serial Number DESCRIPTION Date Received
Acquisition Cost
Purchase Order #
LOCATION (Building, floor, room)
Actions: A = Addition AF = Addition purchased with federal funds T = Transfer to new location RD = Request to Delete M = Missing/Lost TR = Traded-in
FOR ALL ADDITIONS: Affix a Property Control Tag to the asset as required by the Fixed Asset Policy. If the asset falls under the exceptions mentioned above, please leave blank and the Finance Department will assign an appropriate tag number. Also, attach a copy of the invoice or purchase order for the new asset.
Explain all requests for disposals, including lost property. Attach theft report for stolen property.
Principal or Director Signature ___________________________________ Date _______________________
Equipment tagged: ________ Entered in FA Ledger: ________
Send original to Finance Department and retain copy for your records. If requesting to delete or transfer computer equipment, send an
