30.40
Capital Asset Inventory Records Policy

Which assets need to be inventoried or cataloged?

The following assets are inventoriable assets and must be carried on the property records of an agency:

• All assets meeting the state's capitalization policy (refer to Subsection 30.20.20),
• Assets with a unit cost (including sales tax and ancillary costs) less than $5,000 identified as small and attractive assets (refer to Subsection 30.40.20 below),
• Art collections, library reserve collections, and museum and historical collections that meet the criteria in Subsection 30.20.22 which are not required to be capitalized, are required to be controlled by means of a perpetual inventory or a recognized cataloging system, and
• Collections under the control of a state historical society as defined by RCW 27.34.020 are required by RCW 27.34.070 to be cataloged.

Trust lands are to be accounted for by the administering agency.

Small and attractive assets

Each agency should 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 capitalization policy are considered small and attractive assets. Each agency should develop written internal policies for managing small and attractive assets.

The agency should implement specific measures to control small and attractive assets in order to minimize identified risks. Periodically, the agency should perform a follow up risk assessment to determine if the additional controls implemented are effective in managing the identified risks.

Agencies must include as small and attractive assets all items in the commodity class code major group 10XX – Weapons, Firearms, Signal Guns, and Accessories. Otherwise, agencies have discretion in setting their definition of small and attractive assets. However, absent a risk assessment and development of written policies for identifying and controlling small and attractive assets, agencies must include, at a minimum, the following assets with unit costs of $300 or more as small and attractive:

5822

Communications Equipment, Public Safety: Audio and Video

6651

Optical Devices, Binoculars, Telescopes, Infrared Viewers, and Rangefinders

6710-6730

Cameras and Photographic Projection Equipment

7012-7013

Microcomputer Systems, Laptop and Notebook Computers

7034-7039

Other IT Accessorial Equipment and Components (Scanners, Data Displays, etc.)

7420-7450

Office Equipment

7730

Record Players, Radios, Television Sets, Tape Recorders, VCRs, and Video Cameras, Home Type

Inventory records requirements

Agencies are to maintain a capital asset inventory systems that include records for all inventoriable assets.

Agencies are to use the Capital Asset Management System (CAMS) operated by the OFM Accounting Division for all assets that meet the state's capitalization policy. Agencies may use an alternate in-house system provided written approval of OFM Accounting Division is obtained prior to acquisition or development of the system.

For assets defined as small and attractive, agencies may use either CAMS or an alternate in-house system without OFM approval.

Agency capital asset inventory systems should contain, at a minimum, the following data elements, except as noted below.

Agency Name and Code Number - The agency name and three digit agency code number.

Account - For proprietary and trust fund type accounts, this is the account in which the asset is being used. This may or may not be the original purchasing account.

For governmental fund type accounts, this is the account that originally purchased the asset.

For those assets acquired prior to July 1, 1982, for which an account cannot be identified or is no longer in existence, such assets are to be identified as assets of the General Fund - Basic Account.

Acquisition Date - The date the agency takes title to, or assumes responsibility for, an asset.

Commodity Class Code - The code assigned to a capital asset that correlates to a descriptive title. Refer to Subsection 30.50.10 for Schedule A-Capital Asset Commodity Class Code List and Useful Life Schedule.

Cost - The total cost (value) assigned to the asset. Refer to Subsection 30.20.10 for clarification.

Depreciation - The portion of the cost of a capital asset representing the expiration in the service life of the asset attributable to wear and tear, deterioration, action of the physical elements, inadequacy, and/or obsolescence which is charged systematically over the useful life of the capital asset. Refer to Subsection 30.20.70. This element is not applicable to small and attractive assets.

Description - Name of the asset.

Disposal Authorization - When required, either the number assigned by the Department of Information Services (for information technology related equipment and proprietary software) or the Office of Commodity Redistribution, Department of General Administration (for all other capital assets), granting an agency the authority to dispose of an asset or as provided by specific statutory authority. Refer to Subsection 30.40.45.

Disposal Date - With proper authorization, the date that the agency officially relinquishes responsibility for the asset.

Inventory Control Number - The control number inscribed on, or contained on the inventory tag attached or referring to, an asset.

Location Code - The identification code of the county in which the asset is located. Refer to Subsection 30.50.20 for Schedule B for Location (County) Codes.

Manufacturer - The name of either the manufacturer or the commonly accepted trade name; if none, then vendor name.

Order Number - The number of the purchasing document used for the acquisition of the asset.

Ownership Status - An indication as to possible claims against the asset by outside parties (e.g., federal government).

Parcel Location Identifier (For Land Only) - The county assessor's parcel number of the land, or other code used by the agency to specifically identify the location of the land. If a county where the state land is located does not use a parcel numbering system for exempt land, use an alternative numbering system. This element not applicable to small and attractive assets.

Quantity - The physical count of the inventoriable items. For equipment, this number is to be expressed as whole units; for buildings, as square feet; for land, in acres to the nearest tenth, except for tidelands and shorelands which are to be expressed in front footage; and for construction in progress, as number of capital projects under construction.

Salvage Value - The estimated portion of a capital asset’s cost that is recovered at the end of its service life less any disposal costs. This element is not applicable to small and attractive assets.

Serial Number - The sequential identification number assigned by the manufacturer. Do not confuse this number with the model number.

Useful Life - The estimated useful life of the capital asset in years. Refer to Subsection 30.50.10 for Schedule A - Capital Asset Commodity Class Code List and Useful Life Schedule. This element is not applicable to small and attractive assets.

Adding capital assets to the inventory

Upon receipt and acceptance of an inventoriable asset, the agency inventory officer is responsible for supervising the addition of the asset to the inventory system. This includes assigning tagging responsibilities to specific individuals as well as developing and implementing procedures to ensure that the necessary information is entered into the agency's capital asset inventory system.

Removing capital assets from the inventory

Agencies are to adopt internal policies and procedures regarding the timely removal of capital assets from inventory, including procedures for the proper approval of disposal requests.

Capital assets are to be removed from active inventory based on the completion of a Property Disposal Request (Form S.F. 267-A or equivalent).

Agencies are to maintain records of capital asset dispositions in accordance with approved agency records retention schedules.

When disposing of and removing capital assets from inventory, agencies are to follow policies and guidelines issued by:

• The Information Services Board at the Department of Information Services (DIS) for information technology related equipment and proprietary software (refer to RCW 43.105.041). DIS policies identify the threshold at which these assets are required to be reported to DIS. Although agencies are not required to report these assets under the DIS threshold to the Office of Commodity Redistribution (OCR) (refer below), as public agencies, they are encouraged to make these assets available to other state agencies, school districts, and nonprofit organizations prior to being offered to the general public. To accomplish this, agencies are urged to use the services of OCR for disposing of these assets.

• The Office of Commodity Redistribution, Department of General Administration, for all other capital assets (refer to RCW 43.19.1919), or

• Other specific statutory authority.

Department of General Administration requires information about surplus property

Agencies must report all capital assets classified as surplus to agency needs (excluding information technology related equipment and proprietary software) to the Office of Commodity Redistribution (OCR) of the Department of General Administration (GA) in the format and manner specified by GA (Refer to Subsection 30.40.45 and RCW 43.19.1917).

Lost or stolen property

When suspected or known losses of inventoriable assets occur, agencies should conduct a search for the missing property. The search should include transfers to other divisions or agencies, storage, scrapping, conversion to another asset, etc. If the missing property is not found:

• Follow the loss procedures in Section 20.30.
• Have the individual deemed to be primarily responsible for the asset, as well as that individual’s supervisor, complete and sign a Property Disposal Request (Form S.F. 267-A or equivalent). Include on the Request a description of events surrounding the disappearance of the property, who was notified of the loss, and steps taken to locate the property.
• Remove the lost or stolen property from the agency’s inventory and accounting records where applicable (refer to Subsection 85.60.50).
• Maintain records for losses of inventoriable assets in accordance with approved agency records retention schedules.