Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Capital Asset?
Capital Assets are either movable or non-movable assets that benefit more than a single fiscal period. Typical examples of non-movable assets are land, land improvements, infrastructure, buildings, and building improvements. Movable capital assets include equipment.
What is the definition for equipment?
Any tangible, non-expendable personal property that has a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.
How does Capital Asset Accounting Office know when to create assets for equipment?
Transactions that are coded to equipment object codes are fed into the KFS Capital Asset Builder (CAB). Documents such as PREQs, advance deposits, disbursement vouchers, general error corrections, distribution of income and expense, internal billings, purchasing card, and RCUH transactions will appear in the KFS CAB only if they are coded with equipment object codes.
What is the difference between controlled property and non-capital assets?
Controlled property is defined as tangible, non-expendable personal property less than $5,000 per unit which is not capitalized and meets either of the following criteria:
- any firearms or weapons and
- property which is federally-owned or agency-owned under the provisions of an extramural award and is accountable to the University. Controlled property assets are established by Capital Asset Accounting Office.
What is an asset tag?
An asset tag is the unique UH control number assigned and affixed to the asset, when possible, for identifying an item or property which is supported by record of cost, location, asset representative, etc.
What if it is impossible to affix the asset tag onto the equipment?
In those situations where asset tags are impossible, if not impracticable, to place on the property, records with the issued asset tags shall be maintained indicating the location and description of such property.
How does a department obtain replacement asset tags?
Capital Asset Accounting Office purchases sequentially numbered tags from a vendor and once the original tag is lost or physically damaged, CAAO cannot issue a replacement or duplicate tag. The tag number assigned to an asset remains with the equipment for life. Custodial departments, asset representatives or fiscal administrators shall use alternate methods to affix a replacement label onto the equipment which should indicate “University of Hawaii” and the tag number.
Can University of Hawai`i equipment be used for personal use?
Personal use of UH equipment is not permitted. Equipment may be removed from campus if it is in the best interest of the UH and used in conjunction with UH activity or work. An equipment loan eDoc must be submitted in the CAM module.
What do the letters at the end of the asset object codes mean?
The letters at the end of the object codes are the ownership codes. Ownership codes are designated by the alphabetical suffix assigned to the last position in the moveable and non-moveable asset object code as follows:
- “A” – Owned by another agency
- “F” – Owned by the Federal government
- “G” – Owned by the University and funded by the Federal government
- “U” – Owned by the University
How do I go about donating equipment?
When transfer of excess equipment to another department within the University or to another State of Hawai`i department is not feasible, the surplus property may be donated to a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization or to a city or county agency within the State. Submit an asset retirement global eDoc in KFS.
What if a building room number is not listed in the Kuali Financial System?
Contact Capital Asset Accounting Office to request the addition of the room number into KFS. You will be asked to provide the room number and the building room type (i.e., office, classroom, research laboratory, conference room, etc).
What cost(s) should be included in the acquisition cost of a capital asset?
Costs incurred to place the asset in service shall be included such as cost of modifications, attachments, and accessories necessary to make the property usable for which it is acquired. Other charges such as the cost of installation, transportation, taxes, duty, or protective in-transit insurance shall be included in accordance with University accounting practices. Refer to AP 8.509, Property and Equipment Overview.
Can software cost be capitalized?
Software costing $25,000.00 or more with a useful life of more than one year can be capitalized. Refer to AP 8.550, Capitalization.
Asset is fully depreciated, can I remove it from inventory?
An asset’s cost and accumulated depreciation is reported on UH’s financial statements regardless of book value. We are accountable to the tax paying public and cannot drop them off the system when they have fully depreciated. Assets are not physically removed from the inventory until final disposition is approved by the Capital Asset Accounting Office via an Asset Retirement Global E-doc. Refer to AP 8.543, Property and Equipment Transfer and Retirement.
How and where can I get a current listing of my equipment?
The Annual Inventory Verification report is available for download by logging into JasperReports Server. Once connected:
- Type in “Annual Inventory Verification” into the search field box at the top right hand corner next to Log Out and click search
- Click the report name to run it
- Enter the 3-digit FO code into the Input Controls box
- Click Apply and then click OK
Are you getting this error message? “On capital asset accounting lines, each line must be unique in order to be properly attributed to a single asset by the Capital Asset Builder module. If you have multiple, identical lines, please combine them into one.”
A unique identifier (ORG REF ID) is required for all accounting lines processed within the same Financial Processing eDoc containing the same account and equipment object code. This is a free-form field that can accommodate up to 8 characters (alpha and/or numeric). (Org Ref ID error)
Are you getting this error message? “Room Number is not allowed for non-moveable assets.” And “Building is not allowed for non-moveable assets.”
Enter the Asset Type Code (Asset Type error)
Are you getting this error message? “Object code must be all capital or all expenses.”
This appears when the processor is trying to divide the tax amount between equipment and supplies without itemizing them. Equipment and supplies and their appropriate tax amounts should be in separate line transactions, one with equipment object codes and the other with supplies object code. (Shared Expenses on a Purchase Order error)