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DPA MEETING NOTES
May 2003

TOPICS

UCAR RECYCLING PROGRAM
DPA IS DIVISION PROPERTY CONTACT
JUNE 2003 MEETING
HOME LOAN FORMS
FIXED ASSETS LAST 5 DIGITS REPORT (fxrela)
FAIDNT CHANGES
F4 MENU CHANGE
ASSET DESCRIPTIONS
PRICE vs. COST


UCAR EQUIPMENT RECYCLING PROGRAM - Liora Pitcher, from Transportation Services, explained UCAR's current recycling programs and plans for the future. She will be working with the divisions to coordinate more uniform recycling efforts for UCAR. We look forward to hearing more about this as efforts progress.

DPA IS DIVISION PROPERTY CONTACT - Please be reminded that you, as DPA, are the property contact for your division. That means that you should be communicating all property information to your division staff that might impact them, as well as fielding their property questions. If you do not know the answer to a property question, you should contact the Property Office for guidance (rather than directing division staff to do so). In this way, you will gradually learn about the issues and solutions that relate to your division. Also, if matters are raised at DPA meetings and you do not know whether they impact your division, you are responsible for checking with appropriate administrative or technical staff to make that determination. The Property Office is available to provide any guidance or assistance you need but depends on you to identify what those needs are.

JUNE 2003 DPA MEETING - The June 2003 meeting will be Thursday, June 26, 2003, 9:30-11:00 A.M. at CG1, Room 3416. (We will try different CG meeting rooms over the coming months and decide which we all like best. Then we'll stick with that one, depending on availability.)

HOME LOAN FORMS - The "Equipment Loan Form for Employees" is available in the Forms Library on the web and must be used whenever a division loans equipment or furniture (both fixed assets and non-fixed assets) to an employee for use at their home or any other non-UCAR/NCAR site. (A field project is considered a temporary UCAR/NCAR site.) Such loans "are for the benefit of the organization and the convenience of the employee." When equipment is returned, the return(s) should be noted on the form and a copy sent to the Property Office.

The form notes that, "In the event of termination of employment, the employee must return all loaned equipment prior to receiving his or her final paycheck." The Property Office reviews Corporate Recovery forms before the final check is cut. If Property Office files contain a loan form that does not reflect loaned equipment as returned, we cannot sign off on the form until that issue is resolved which may delay issuing the final check. It is important that these forms be closed out and returned to the Property Office when the employee returns the equipment to the division.

FIXED ASSETS LAST 5 DIGITS REPORT (fxrela) - Some divisions have asset records that share the last 5 digits in common but have different prefixes to indicate the records are related. This report generates a list of such FAIDs, sorted by the last 5 digits so you can see the related FAIDs grouped together. If you have such related records, this will be a reminder that there may be more than one FAID record for a single asset. (Two scenarios in which this can occur are a) when split funding requires that depreciation be managed differently or b) when a deliverable asset is phased in over multiple fiscal years.) If you have assets on this list but don't know why, the Property Office would be glad to provide an explanation.

FAIDNT CHANGES - The changes to the FAIDNT screen discussed previously have been made in Starburst. These changes include:

F4 MENU CHANGE - The unused FADB screens have been removed from the menu to make moving between screens easier.

ASSET DESCRIPTIONS - Please remember that asset descriptions must be understandable by non-technical personnel. Revised descriptions may be provided by the division on the tagging form and the Property Office will make the change in the FADB. However, if the description is not provided on the form and the one that automatically populates the field is not adequate, the DPA will be asked to change it. The Property Office can help to clarify inadequate descriptions but it is ultimately the responsibility of the DPA to be sure that asset descriptions are adequate to locate the asset in an inventory or audit.

PRICE vs. COST - The price of an asset is the amount quoted prior to purchase. The cost is the actual amount paid. These are often the same, but not always so if you are looking for the cost of an asset be sure to go to the FADB or the Bitech general ledger (FADB cost comes from the GL). Do not use requisitions to determine the cost of an asset because the amount paid might be different or the requisition might include shipping or other costs that are not capitalized as part of the cost of the asset.

 

Contact the Property Office at anytime with questions or for assistance.
We're here to help you manage your division's property.
Janet Campbell, ext 8858, janetc@ucar.edu; Chris Knoetgen, ext 8573, knoetgen@ucar.edu