Best Practices

Is your department hanging onto equipment no longer in use? Reasons why this is important to the campus:

  1. Assets that are no longer being used for their intended purpose are considered impaired; e.g. using an old desktop to run just one old software program because new operating systems are incompatible with the software program; or some of an item’s features don’t work anymore so the item is operating at a much lower capacity. The auditors ask for a list of impaired assets each year. Rationale: Overstatement of asset value.
  2. Assets that are no longer being used but are kept as replacement parts for fabrications, computers, etc. These assets should be removed from our books once they are cannibalized. Rationale: Overstatement of asset value. Please request permission to cannibalize equipment with the disposal form or email property@colorado.edu.
  3. Other departments on campus may be able to use the equipment you are no longer using. Budgets are tight and your equipment can be loaned (if you think you might want it back) or transferred to a department that can use the items, saving valuable budget money. You can even arrange for the other department to pay for the item. Rationale: Maximizing asset utilization and cost savings to CU.
  4. Storing unused assets takes up space, in some cases creates safety issues, and reduces auction value with each passing month. Just 6 months of storage for a computer reduces its value by half at auctions and also reduces its effectiveness for another department.
  5. Safety issues arise from old refrigerators, computers, monitors, combustible materials, etc. that are stored in rooms that our Safety Department is not aware of being there during fires or floods.

Please contact Property@Colorado.edu if you have any unused equipment, thanks!

Do you need help keeping track of where your department's assets are?

  • Use this  poster outside your labs, offices and other rooms that have equipment in them.

Inventory Time Saver!

Inventories need to be a snapshot in time not a 2+month-long video.

  1. Taking two pictures of each tagged item can help you find assets quickly during inventory.
    1. First picture: The tagged item within the room, showing where it is and what it looks like.
    2. Second picture: A close-up showing the tag on the item where the number is readable.
  2. Store the pictures in a way that they are mobile either in a folder or electronically on a tablet or laptop.
  3. Inventories that run longer than the allotted time allowed per GAAP/GASB/State/Campus Guidelines will be rejected and the department will be asked to start over. The additional 5-10 minutes upfront will save you time each inventory cycle that you have the tagged item.